Mie Kepiting Aceh Razali, originally uploaded by bayuamus.

Aceh is the northern most province of Indonesia. It is also a stage of harsh military conflicts for many years. Beside of that and Tsunami disaster, Aceh was also known as the major region which supplies Ganja to Indonesian drug market. If you're unfamiliar with this term, it's the other name of Marijuana.

One of the main reason why Aceh is famous with this particular reputation, perhaps was due to its culinary culture. Rumors has it that back in the old times, Acehnese doesn't treat ganja as drugs, but as common ingredients in the traditional Acehnese food as an appetite arouser! Hence why then, it's been a sacred journey for some, to discover the genuine Acehnese food in hope to encounter the said special ingredients in their meal.

But beside of the rumors, Aceh do have some interesting culinary culture to begin with. Though perhaps less famous than the neighboring Padang cuisine, but it does has its on merit.

In general, Aceh cuisine very much resembles all the same cuisine from the Malay region; Aceh, Medan, Padang, Riau, and so on. One of its main characteristic is the dominant role of coconut milk in the dishes, and the fondness of having curry-like dishes or curry flavored cookings. Other strong influence on Aceh food is the Arabic influence; this was due to the alternative name of the province itself which is "Serambi Mekkah"; or "front yard of Mecca", the holiest city of Islam. A legacy from the early days of trade route opening between ancient Indonesia and Persian merchants.

One of the notable Acehnese cuisine that spreads wide in this modern age, is the Mie Goreng Aceh; fried noodles a la Aceh, and it's unique in many ways; first, Malay cooking rarely involves noodle, since their main staple food is rice. Second, they're using this special mixture of herbs to create the pungent and spicy taste which resembles more towards Indian food than Malay food, and third, it's most preferred protein ingredients is crab; a whole crab!

Pempek is a chewy glutinous fish cake in a spicy sweet and sour sauce, usually served deep fried

Pempek originated from Palembang region of Sumatera island, Western Indonesia. It is basically a steamed dough consisted of mixed tapioka flour and fish meat. It is eaten deep fried, grilled, or mixed in an omelette as pictured above. The other important ingredients is the cuko or sweet sour hot sauce and the grained ebi (dried shrimp). They usually topped also with dices of cucumber, and so'un (glass noodle). Mixed altogether, the pungent richness of the fish meat taste, danced in rhythm with the dried shrimp aroma, and accompanied in harmony by the serenade of sweet, dark, sour, and spicy hot sauce. A kind of sensation hard to find anywhere else. Be warned though, that inexperienced stomach tend to fall victim to the sharp taste of the sauce. The cucumber dices could help calm down your digestive system, so do not skip them.

For the fish meat, they usually uses Tenggiri (Spanish Mackerel), though some more original version uses Belida (Palembang unique species of fresh water fish). Beside the meat, some pempek variation uses fish skin instead, usually marked by darker color of the dough.

There are several variations of pempek, and most notably are "Kapal Selam" (submarine) which consisted of boiled chicken eggs inside and shaped like a clam, and "Lenjer" which shaped in cylinders. The omelette version, is called "Lenggang" and consist of either Kapal Selam or Lenjer that sliced thin then oil-fried in egg batter.

Less common to be sold by mobile street vendors, Pempek usually available in roadside stalls, warungs, or food courts. Expect to pay about 10K - 20K for a good quality of pempek, and less for economical version with bland taste and less alive cuko. (bay)