Holiday Ayo - Indonesia is a country with a lot of varieties of dishes from different cultures. Almost all Indonesian foods have a rich taste due to being cooked with spices like chili, garlic, onion, candlenut, turmeric, lemongrass, galangal, pepper, coriander, and many others.

Every region in Indonesia has dishes that are typical of that region alone. These dishes are what attract tourists who love culinary tourism.

In Belitung Island, culinary tourism is dominated by seafood dishes because the area is close to the sea.

There are dishes made from shrimp, lobster, crabs, clams, and many kinds of fish. One of the dishes that are typical of that area that tourists will love is Gangan.

Gangan is a soup that is typical of Belitung. It tastes sour because it uses Belitung pineapple, with spicy yellow broth.

It can use many types of fish, like golden threadfin bream or rabbitfish. It can even use other seafood like crabs for example. But the most common in Belitung is Gangan made of blackspot tuskfish or “ketarap” in Indonesian. This fish can be hard to find, so it is quite expensive.

Blackspot tuskfish has hard scales, but after you clean it, you will find that the flesh is very tender. This is the reason why this fish is very popular for making Gangan.

While the quality of the fish can influence the taste of the dish, seasoning is also important.

The seasoning for Gangan usually uses spices like turmeric, chili, onion, lemongrass, candlenut, and shrimp paste.

All the spices are mashed together until it becomes soft. The mashed spices and the fish are then boiled together in a pot of water.

Blackspot Tuskfish Gangan is usually served with other foods like fried fish or sautéed kale.

It tastes spicy, sour, and savory. You can find many places that serve this dish in Belitung, like the tourist destinations of Kepayang Island and Ahok Village, and even in some hotels.