💡 How It's Made - classic Malaysian treat in 7 steps!

Discover the secrets of Asian cuisine! I have recorded the process of preparing one of the traditional Malaysian snacks! Find out how fish paste is made!

From this paste, you can prepare fishcake and fish balls, which are served all over Asia! I had the opportunity to visit with my camera the small family factory where this treat is made, so today I will show you the stages of its production! 

Step 1

Firstly, you must prepare 100 kg of frozen meat! In a small cold store, they keep squid, fish, pork and chicken meat. But the most popular is the fish-flavoured paste.  The meat is frozen very quickly, at a very low temperature, so it retains its taste and all properties.

Step 2

A portion of frozen fish meat is added to the special machine and finely chopped. As you can see, there are no heads or tails here, but only 'white' high quality meat.

Step 3

During mixing the salt, sugar, water and flour are added to the machine. These are the only ingredients that improve the taste of the meat. There are no conservants or pigments inside.

Step 4

The machine maintains a low temperature of the mass and mix it until it is sticky. Once it has the right consistency it is the time to divide it into portions! To ensure that everything runs smoothly in the plastic bag, into which the mass is packed, is placed in the can. Each porch weighs exactly 1 kg.

Step 5

The next step is the forming paste into the right shape. The bag is kneaded so that the mass fills it evenly. This makes it easier to store and transport.    

Step 6

The ready portion is heat-sealed to make it tightly closed.   

Step 7

Finally, the bag is sent to a special freezer and spends 3 hours in it at a very low temperature. Thanks to the fact that the paste freezes very quickly it retains all its properties and can be stored for up to 6 months!

The ready-made fish paste can be used to prepare many dishes and snacks. Take a look at two the most classic.

The fishcake

The fishcake is prepared by forming from the paste a quite large ball, which is slightly flattened and then fried in deep oil to a golden colour.

The fish balls

The fish balls are cooked in the broth and prepared in this way they are simply amazing! They are so delicate and juicy that they literally explode with taste after biting.

Now you know how to make traditional Malaysian snacks!
Which of the classics you would prefer to try a fishcake or fish balls?
Let me know in comments! 😉