The tasty fish head dish is no less respectable than a dish that consists of fish meat. Apart from suitable seasonings, the process of finding the chewable parts of the skull bones adds to the level of delicacy.
By
J Galuh Bimantara
·5 minutes read
The tasty fish head dish is no less respectable than a dish that consists of fish meat. Apart from suitable seasonings, the process of finding the chewable parts of the skull bones adds to the level of delicacy.
At a restaurant on Jl. Cipete Raya, Cipete Selatan village, Cilandak, South Jakarta, the fish head gets a special stage. The name of the restaurant is “Kepala Manyung Bu Fat” (Bu Fat’s Manyung Head). From the restaurant terrace, the scent of smoke combined with coconut milk broth is tempting the guests to get closer.
Near the entrance, various dishes are arranged in such a way that makes the guests feel even hungrier. There are a variety of vegetables and foods, ranging from sambal (chili sauce) and botok (food made of grated coconut) to smoked fish such as stingrays, manyung fish and heads of manyung.
The smoked fish will later be covered with coconut milk sauce rich in seasonings. That is called mangut. Manyung head is, as one might expect, at the top menu at the Kepala Manyung Bu Fat restaurant.
Banik Yoandanny, 25, the owner of the restaurant, said someone had come and asked how to eat the fish head. "In fact, all parts can be eaten except bones. Gills can also be eaten because they are clean,” he said on Thursday (01/09/2020).
The fish heads are offered in five standard sizes. The small size is offered at Rp 110,000 (US$7.85) and is big enough for one person. The super-jumbo one serves six to seven people at a cost of Rp 300,000. There is also a bigger one. One of Banik’s employees showed a fish head weighing about 4 kilograms and that was only half a head! Hands immediately want to tear apart the visible flesh.
The sprinkling of cayenne peppers on the head of the fish adds to the allure. After being dipped in gravy, the meat from the head is quite tasty.
Hands are busy dismantling one by one the bones of the skull to hunt down the meat that can still be chewed. The gills are also tasty. Do not also miss the skin and fat. The best way to enjoy fish heads, according to Banik, is to use bare hands.
In addition, it can be accompanied by warm rice, kecombrang sambal, papaya leaf vegetable, papaya flower vegetable, and shrimp gimbal (crackers).
Banik said the main spices for many of the heads of the manyung fish menu consist of coconut milk, cayenne pepper, red chili peppers, onions, salt, sugar, brown sugar, and various spices, such as ginger and galangal. The sauce is quite spicy.
The meat is commonly used as a popular salted fish ingredient called jambal roti. The fish can grow up to 1.5 meters long.
"Within a day, we use up to 15 kg of cayenne pepper at the Cipete restaurant,” he said. The Manyung fish live in the sea and can be found in a number of Indonesian waters, such as around Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and in the Arafura Sea near Papua. The meat is commonly used as a popular salted fish ingredient called jambal roti. The fish can grow up to 1.5 meters long.
The late Fatimah (died in 1999 at the age of 55 years) or commonly called Bu Fat, was the inventor of a number of dishes using Mayung fish heads in Semarang, Central Java. She opened a stall in Krobokan, West Semarang, in 1969. A daughter then continued her business by opening a branch in Banyumanik, Semarang.
Banik is part of a third generation that apparently cannot stay away from his grandmother\'s business. The restaurant in Cipete, which has been operating since November 16, 2019, is the second Banik restaurant. His first restaurant is located in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta. He serves customers every day from 10:00 to 22:00.
A food stall with typical Padang dishes at the Santa market in South Jakarta also offers delicious curry kakap (snapper) heads. The small restaurant is located behind stalls selling vegetables, fruit, spices, and various basic needs in the market.
The restaurant is named RM Ranah Minang Padang, with a size of 2 by 2 meters. It can be reached only through a 2-meter wide alley. The owner of the restaurant, Syafril Tanjung, 34, grabbed the head of a black snapper from a pool of gravy curry in a metal basin. He invited customers to taste its best products. The taste of the curry fish head Ranang Minang is lighter than that of Bu Fat. The taste is predominantly salty because there is no sugar in the composition of the ingredients.
Even so, the savory flesh, skin, gills, and fat from the snapper head curry makes it hard for the mouth to stop chewing. Moreover, the fish head curry is eaten with rice, cassava leaves, sambal, and rendang seasoning.
To enjoy a portion of curry of a snapper head complete with rice, one need only spend Rp 25,000, which includes free warm fresh tea. Bang Sam, Syafril\'s close friend, said that all the food in his restaurant, including the snapper head curry, was cooked by his mother at their home on Jl. Wijaya I, Petogogan, Kebayoran Baru. However, he admitted that he could also cook.
"In my village, everyone, both women and men, can cook," said the man who has sold the Padang food since nine years ago. He comes from the Limau River, Padang Pariaman, West Sumatra.
Bang Sam only provides two to five snapper heads per day. Come there quickly if you want to enjoy the super delicious fish heads. The restaurant is open every day from 7:00 to 16:30. A fish head dish sold in a small restaurant in a market certainly cannot be underestimated.
The unique taste of the restaurant’s fish head specialty should not be missed. Whether it\'s in a big restaurant or just in a stall in the market, fish heads are quite tempting.