Every city has a dish that is more than food. In Palembang, that dish is pempek — a fish cake made from ground fish and tapioca, fried or boiled, then drowned in a dark, sour, barely-sweet vinegar sauce called cuko. It is sold on almost every street corner. It is eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner, […]
Pempek: The Ancient Fish Cake That Tells Palembang’s Entire History Read More »
The call to prayer echoes across the Musi River five times a day in Palembang. Women in hijabs fill the morning markets. The Grand Mosque dominates the skyline. Now look down. Somewhere beneath the asphalt and the centuries of a living city lie the remains of the most powerful Buddhist empire Southeast Asia has ever
How the Srivijaya Empire Became Islamic — Without a Single Battle Read More »
There is a dagger sitting in a wooden box in a house in Central Java right now. It has a name. It has a personality. It has dietary preferences — certain foods are placed near it during specific nights of the Javanese calendar. The family that owns it consults it before making major decisions. When
The Real Story Behind the Kris Dagger: Why Indonesians Believe Their Weapons Are Alive Read More »
Here is what we know about the greatest empire Southeast Asia has ever produced: At its peak, it controlled every major sea lane between China and India. Its navy was the most feared in the eastern ocean. Its capital was a city of such wealth that Arab traders wrote about it in stunned disbelief —
The Lost Kingdom of Srivijaya: Where Did Indonesia’s Greatest Empire Disappear? Read More »
