Tekwan (Tekwan)
Overview
Tekwan is a fish ball soup from Palembang in South Sumatra, Indonesia. Small, chewy balls are made from minced mackerel or snakehead fish mixed with tapioca starch and boiled until they float. They are served in a clear, savoury broth made from dried shrimp, shrimp heads and garlic, with thin strips of jicama, glass noodles, wood ear mushrooms and sometimes lily flowers. The soup is topped with fried shallots, celery leaves and spring onion, and sweet soy sauce and chilli are added to taste. It is light, sweet from the shrimp and full of textures.
History
Palembang is famous for foods made from river fish and tapioca, the best known of which is pempek. Tekwan uses the same dough, and the name is often said to come from Palembang Malay words meaning sitting together around a pot, though this is uncertain. It is eaten as a snack or light meal across South Sumatra and is sold wherever Palembang food is found.
Main ingredients
Fish balls of fish and tapioca, shrimp broth, jicama, glass noodles, wood ear mushroom, fried shallots. The soup is built on shrimp broth and is usually served hot. Diet: pescatarian; not usually gluten-free.
Explore: Fish and seafood soups · Noodle soups · More soups from Indonesia
Recipe
Method
- 1
Mix the fish with salt, water and tapioca to a soft dough and pinch into small balls.
- 2
Boil the balls until they float, then drain.
- 320 min
Simmer the shrimp heads with the fried garlic for 20 minutes and strain.
- 45 min
Add the jicama, glass noodles, mushrooms and fish balls and simmer for 5 minutes.
- 5
Serve with fried shallots, celery leaves and spring onion.
- ✓
Serve. About 1h 10m from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
