Empek-empek Ahong (asli Palembang)

If anyone asked me: who sell the best empek-empek in Medan? I would definitely give them one answer only: Empek-empek Ahong. I have other empek-empek, but no matter which restaurant/ hawker center I went to, not one can beat Ahong's. And you will get to know why.

Lenjer

I have known this place for almost 10 years. It all started when a friend of mine who lived around Jln.Singa told me that there was a stall that sold the best empek-empek he had ever had. I was skeptical because I have eaten empek-empek in any of the restaurants in Medan that served them but none of them tasted good and fresh. Even the one that claimed itself serving the best empek-empek in town failed to satisfy me. I was reluctant to try. I thought it would be wasting my money and my time, but my friend, knew that I was a heavy eater (still am), kept on nagging me and demanding me to try. Feeling annoyed, I decided to give it a try. And with a hidden agenda: to stop him from constantly annoyed me.

Ever since then, I was more than thankful to my friend who have dragged me all the way to this place. Empek-empek Ahong did served the best empek-empek I have ever had in Medan.

When I first went there, there were only two people taking care of the stall. The uncle and the aunty. The uncle passed away around November 2013 (may his soul rest in peace). Now, there was only the aunty with some workers.

Keriting - very crispy!

Their empek-empek was homemade and very, very, fresh! I once went there at 8 AM and the uncle told me they're not open for business yet because they were still making them. There was once when they were not open for business for around a week because the fish they used were out of stock. When I asked the uncle why not substitute the fish with another fish, the uncle told me that the reason why their empek-empek tasted so good because they were made of carefully selected good and fresh fish. Back then, they didn't have fixed supplier yet, so they had to rely on the fishmonger on the market. The number of empek-empek they made everyday were also limited to ensure its quality and texture. More over, they were both quite old and they believed that it was not wise to push themselves too hard. Oh, have I mention that they were both from Palembang too?

Menus that I remembered and loved: Ikan Pindang Patin (not always in stock), Lenjer, Keriting, and Adaan (Fish or Shrimp). Oh, the kerupuk was good! Must try!

Keriting was like a curly ball which would be divided into six parts before being fried. There were two type of lenjer: the small and the large one. I would always ordered the large one because the meat was thicker (obviously duh!).

I urged myself to blog about this place because I believed they deserved attention. Their food was great but the business was not so good. Around January 2012 (if I remembered correctly), they had almost moved to Bandung because they believed that the market would be better there. Unfortunately, they had to cancel the plan because the uncle fell from his motorbike and he was too weak to move. Too much for two good souls like them.

Now that the uncle had passed away, the aunty had to make all the empek-empek all by herself. Sometimes, I saw her workers helping her, but when the uncle was still alive, he told me that he and the aunty prefered to make the empek-empek by themselves (although it was tiring) because they didn't want to disappoint anyone. The uncle even worked although he had to walk around with crutches and after he had some surgeries on his knees.

Even though the uncle had passed away, the quality was still as good. So, please give them a try. You will like it. I have recommended this place to practically everyone who asked me, and all of them agreed that this place served the best empek-empek in town.

Here's a map that I made via Paint to guide you to this place. Please don't mind the lame map. At least, I tried!

Empek-empek Ahong

Jln. Singa