Fish rubbed with a yellow spice paste, wrapped in banana leaf with lemon basil, tomato and chilli, then steamed and grilled.
What makes it pepes ikan
Wrapped in banana leaf and cooked in it.
A turmeric-yellow bumbu with lemon basil, lemongrass and salam.
Steamed, then grilled to scorch the leaf.
Where it comes from
Pepes is a way of cooking as much as a dish: something rubbed with bumbu and parcelled in banana leaf, cooked in its own steam and then over coals until the leaf chars. In West Java the fish is most often ikan mas, carp from the ponds, cooked long enough that its fine bones soften.
Tofu, oncom, mushrooms and even tiny river fish are cooked the same way, and the parcels are opened at the table.
How it varies
Pepes tahu
Tofu mashed with egg and spice, the same way.
Pepes oncom
With fermented peanut cake — a Sundanese favourite.