Did you hear or taste Pliek U? If you answered yes would have been familiar with the name of the sauce pliek u not. It turns out that the patriarchs have a good prospect in Aceh, although many rarely see this opportunity.
The process of making Pliek u in Aceh
One of the mainstay menu in Aceh is Kuah Pliek (Sayur Pliek U). Kuah Pliek is a mixture of several types of vegetables cooked with coconut milk. The main ingredient for cooking Kuah Pliek is Pliek U itself. This one commodity is only produced in Aceh, the processing process is divided into two stages.
Fermentation
The coconut used to make Pliek U is an old coconut. The flesh is hard, contains a lot of coconut milk. After peeled from the skin of the fruit (coir), then re-split batoknya to remove water. The hemisphere is not separated into two parts, just to remove water. After that, the coconut was left for two days to soften the flesh, letting the bacteria break down the starch.
After that, the coconut is measured and then stored in a container (as Fermentor) for over a week. Every day, at least twice should be stirred; inverted reverse. Effective morning and afternoon. The material is stirred by hand, so that the spoil is evenly distributed. If not done so, then the heat on the material is uneven, so that the maggots breed makes the oil and Pliek U become rancid.
Usually, after entering the fifth day, has formed a puddle of oil on its surface. This oil is called Minyeuk Simplah. Coconut oil that has not been exposed to sunlight. This oil is believed to have many benefits. To reduce child fever as well as to care for the skin. The longer the amount of oil produced. It's just that, if it is too long not to dry the coconut will be more decomposed until it can not be extracted again. The optimal storage period is 7-9 days.
Drying
The fermented coconut is now dried in the sun. On the first day to the second, only drying alone, to remove water content in the material. The third day, drying done gradually with pressing. Hot conditions facilitate the extraction of oil.
The extraction tool used is a set of traditional tools consisting of Klah, Peuneurah and Weng. Klah is a container for placing materials. Peuneurah is two wooden blades (boards) are thick and long, stuck to the ground. both boards are pressed with Weng. The strength of the crush should be adjusted to the condition of the material. In order to extract the oil puree.
This drying and pengempresan done repeatedly. If the condition of the sun is good, it usually takes just two days to extract the oil. So Pliek U lived as a residue. The bacon which is then roasted to be the basic ingredients of Kuah Pliek. The process is not simple, is it? Hence reasonable if Pliek U price is relatively expensive in the market.
