192 FISHERIES OF THE ORIENTAL REGION, 



or if obtained is coarse and uneatable, the dried salt fish is the 

 only article of food to be relied upon, and, so far as my expe- 

 rience goes, it is both palatable and nourishing. It is soaked and cut 

 up into small dice, and fried until quite brown. A small quantity 

 of this mixed with boiled rice makes a dish, which Chinese, 

 Malays and Europeans seem equally to relish. I feel that I owe 

 a debt of gratitude to this ' Ikan kering,' which I can only now 

 imperfectly repay. When travelling through the wild, untrodden 

 jungle, with much fatigue, and little to get in the way of nourish- 

 ment, except the inevitable and most insipid rice, Ikan kering 

 came as a boon and a blessing. The insipidity of the rice 

 modified the fiery saltness of the fish, and toned it down into 

 various flavors. It supplied just what was needed to endow it 

 with savor, and cause the most tasteless thing in the world to be 

 relished. For my own part I could always make a sufficient 

 meal on rice and Ikan kering, and so could my companions, which 

 is more than can be said of any other aliment. Moreover, it can 

 be obtained from every Chinese store throughout Malaysia. 



Both in Java and the Peninsula fish-fry are dried without 

 cleaning, and are sold to be eaten raw ; but another kind of 

 preparation which one meets with everywhere in the East, is the 

 Ikan merah or " Red fish." This is one of the most agreeable 

 delicacies of the East. It is made from EngrauUs commer- 

 sonianus, as already stated. The following is the mode of pre- 

 paration as described by Cantor. In fine weather the fishes are 

 caught in small nets, from shoals which frequent the shore. I 

 have captured thousands of them in this manner in the month of 

 July. After the heads have been removed from those of the 

 medium size, which are the best for the purpose, the fishes are 

 placed in flat, glazed, earthern vessels. Here salt is thrown on 

 them to the extent of an eighth pai't of the weight of fish. They 

 are then covered with plantain leaves and heavy weights for 

 three or four days. They are next freed from salt, and soaked 

 in vinegar made from palm-toddy. Those who know how sour 

 the toddy is, even when considered drinkable, can guess how 

 strong toddy-vinegar is. Powdered ginger and black pepj^er-coi'ns 



