Keumamah, The Wooden Fish, Typical Acehnese Cuisine

Hi, how are you all, I hope you are well and always in prosperity.

introduce the cuisine from my area, namely "Keumamah".

The 'wooden fish' dish has become a favorite menu for the freedom fighters in "Bumi Rencong". Besides being savory and spicy, it is also able to last a long time.

Indonesia is known for its variety of traditional cuisine, including dishes rich in spices and not a few that have a spicy taste. One of them is typical Aceh cuisine made from sea fish. His name is "eungkot keumamah" or better known as "keumamah". The basic ingredients are tuna or skipjack tuna.

This dish is often served as a mandatory menu at local community celebrations or celebrations. Then the fish is removed from the boiling place using a wooden container and dried in the hot sun. After drying, the fish is then split into two parts to removing the bones. Not infrequently also split the fish into 3-4 parts to make it easier to work on removing the bones. Then it is dried again by tying it to hang on a wire that is stretched like a clothesline. This is useful so that the water content is dripping out of the fish's body. This process is carried out for about three days in hot sun conditions.

The result, makes the weight of the fish can be reduced by up to 70 percent of its weight when just caught. The basic condiments of "keumamah" are cayenne pepper, red chili, shallot, garlic, turmeric, coriander, ginger, lemongrass, and enough water. Other ingredients are "sunti" acid, starfruit which have been dried and then salted. Keumamah can also be mixed with potatoes for variations in its contents.

But who would have thought, behind the pleasure of eating the processed fish menu, there is a long history. Namely, the fierce struggle of the Acehnese leaders against the colonialists in the past. The fighters have to guerrilla in the forests for a long time, so the logistics of war must always be there, including food. The Acehnese warriors in the past processed wooden fish.