Empurau Feast

Some time back, a friend graciously gave me a 2.7 kg Kelah (Tor tambroides) and it was sitting in my freezer for awhile while waiting some an occasion to be savoured. Well, this fish has many names depending where you are in Asia (generally called Mahseers) and in Sarawak, it is called Empurau. Restaurants like to call it "Wang Pu Liau" meaning unforgettable to justify its pricy tag (at RM1000 a kilo on the dinner plate, who'll ever forget!!!). Whatever and whichever, it sounds terrible to ever say that I actually grew up eating tons of these because in the olden days, this fish is just 'a fish'. My father would go fish hunting with his buddies or my uncle almost every week with a spear gun and came back with gunny sacks of these in all sizes. The one that we had at 2.7 kg would have been a tiny one in those days ( I have seen one the size of a 10 year old child when I was a boy and in the 90s at Kuala Medang, scales of a kelah bigger than a fifty cent coin selling at RM14 a kilo)....we had so much of it that it actually kind of a traumatised me and it took me quite awhile to get over eating freshwater fish.

Well, taste wise, a good river fish (kelah/emparau, krai, tenggalan, patin buah and jelawat) should have a fruity aroma at its belly and skin because they would have grown up eating a diversified diet inclusive of wild figs, fruits and semi-aquatic herbs (especially the aromatic Kesum that gets flooded on banks of rivers during the monsoon). Cage-reared fishes do not have these qualities but many restaurants still pass them off as river fish - so be prudent.

As there weren't any occasion, and that the fish should not be kept too long in a freezer, we decided to take it down to KL for dinner with my sister's family and they have chosen this restaurant called Big Nose at Kuchai Lama. Here's the result...

Salted egg bitter gourd - surprisingly delicious and savoury

 Steamed trio of eggs - fresh egg, salted duck egg and century egg.

 Herbal chicken soup served individually

I like this vegetable - a cross between garlic and leek called Green Dragon vegetable in Chinese. This is a recent hybrid slowly getting popular in Chinese restaurants.

 Deep fried sweet-savoury pork - the kids loved this addictive dish.

 De-boned chicken with fish paste - don't like this dish as it has a funny taste combination: fishy stuff doesn't mix well with chicken.

 Star of the show - the Empurau. It must be steamed with its scales intact to avoid damage to the sensitive skin which is deliciously infused with a fruity arome. Some even deep fry the scales to be eaten as crackers. An excellent fish.