Not many food souvenirs that can last long. One of them is Otak-Otak Bandeng Bu Muzanah from Gresik, East Java. It established since 1969 through generations. Nowadays, it has its own store, Bu Muzanah Store at Jl. Sindujoyo No.68 Gresik, East Java.

I had already taste it around 2010 and suddenly love it. Couple days ago, a colleague bought me otak-otak and bandeng asap Bu Muzanah. I almost forget it since I moved to Jakarta for long time.

Surprisingly, everything is the same. You will see a big and long milkfish in the box. The length of the milkfish is about 40-50 cm, as long as adult’s hand. Awesome!

Otak-otak bandeng is full of milkfish’s meat mixed with some ingredients like egg, coconut crumble and milk, onions, shallots, chilis, and other spices.

At first, they take all the milkfish’s meat and leave the skin. Then, crushed the meat and mixed it with spices. Put it again inside the skin and make it as never put out. Clamp it with a piece of bamboo and put in order, so that you will see the whole milkfish. Then, grilled it.

Therefore, it combines the rich taste of milkfish, spicy from chili, and savory from coconut. Usually, eating milkfish is troublesome because it has lots of spines. Meanwhile, you can easily enjoy otak-otak bandeng without having to sort the spines.

Bandeng asap also has no spines. The making of bandeng asap quite simple compare to otak-otak bandeng. First, clean all the spines. Then, hang in some place and give a smoke under. The result is smoked milkfish. We can enjoy it with their sauce made from petis (shrimp paste) and other ingredients.

I like both of them, but my most favorite is otak-otak bandeng. Different with otak-otak tengiri (Spanish mackerel) in Jakarta or West Java which is mixed with flour, otak-otak bandeng is full of meat. Imagine the meat of milkfish around half kg with other ingredients. Rich of flavor!