Pindang refers to a cooking method in the Indonesian and Malay language of boiling ingredients in brine or acidic solutions.
[8][9] Usually employed to cook fish or egg, the technique is native to Sumatra especially in Palembang, but has spread to Java and Kalimantan.
The Indonesian dictionary describes pindang as "salted and seasoned fish, and then smoked or boiled until dry for preservation".
However, seafood such as red snapper, milkfish, mackerel, tuna, grouper, or shrimp can be cooked as pindang as well.
[16][17] The cleaned fish flesh is boiled in water mixed in spices, including tamarind juice, garlic, shallot, ginger, turmeric, lemongrass, galangal, chili pepper, daun salam (Indonesian bayleaf), citrus leaf, shrimp paste, palm sugar and salt.
[4] Pindang variants can be differentiated according to the kind of fish species used, or according to specific regional recipes which use different ingredients and spices combination.
Pindang recipes can be found in various cooking traditions of Southeast Asia; from Javanese, Betawi, Palembang, and Malay cuisine.