PEPES IKAN

'Pepes' refers to the way the food is done. .So it can be chicken, even beef or soybean cakes or tofu; but the original material to get 'pepes'ed is fish. Pepes is one of healthy food because it's cooked without oil by traditonal methode.

The oldest sort of pepes is made of gold fishes ('iwak mas' in Javanese, 'ikan emas' in Indonesian, alias 'carp').

'Pepes' necessitates nearly all of the Javanese seasoning agents (see them at the third page of this section), plus tomatoes and red chili. Sere, or 'serai' in Indonesian, plays an important part here, while it is rarely used except for 'heavy' dishes such as curry and in some food influenced by the Balinese.

The seasoning materials are pounded and made to wrap the fish or whatever it is that you 'pepes'; then all of them are wrapped inside a piece of banana leaf whose edges are fastened with tiny bamboo sticks or palm leaf's ribs. This sealed package is then roasted on hot charcoals (or put into an oven) until no water is visible anymore, at which point the 'pepes' is considered well-done.

Pepes is always sold and served the way it is, i.e. still wrapped securely inside the banana leaf. This dish can get re-heated several times and it stays edible for a few days.