An entry for Lulu : Temenung

This morning my mom told me over the phone that ikan kembong(chubb mackerel) which is also fondly known as ikan temenung in Perlis is selling cheap at the wet market – RM5/kg (normally RM8-9/kg in KL). She said she was thinking of going on a diet but ikan temenung had other plans for her. Over these past few days, she had fried them, curried them and made laksa out of them..

Ikan temenung has always been a staple in my family. The flesh is succulent and simply delish cooked in any way. Fried temenung, grilled temenung, temenung curry, assam pedas temenung, temenung masak cuka, temenung masak kicap and of course everybody’s all time favourite – laksa.

Over the years, I grew distant from the fish as my allergies acted up. I hated the blocked nose, headaches and red bumps after-effect. None the less, ikan temenung always conjures up fond memories of my childhood. Fried temenung particularly reminds me of the time when my sister and I were smaller.. 7 or 8 maybe. My maktok used to fry the fish and let us eat it with piping hot white rice and a dollop of tomato sauce. We lurveed it and would ask mom to send us to maktok’s again and again. However, my mom’s reaction to what maktok has been feeding us every time we were there is a story for another day.. :)

Anyway, no prize for guessing what I had for lunch today.. and no prize for guessing why I am finding it hard to breathe right now..