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Fish and seafood from Indonesia

Inasuainasua

Inasua is reef fish split, rubbed with 20–30 % salt, pressed under stones and fermented in a closed jar for about 12 weeks, either in salt alone or soaked in coconut sap. It was made as a food store for the lean season when fishers could not go to sea. In the study, Lactobacillus plantarum was the dominant lactic acid bacterium in both types.

Fully documentedFish and seafood2.8 months

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe producers' batch sampled by Mahulette et al. (2018) at Layeni village, Seram; 2.5 kg went into each type.
Gurara fish (Lutjanus vitta), split lengthwise with gills and viscera removed5 kg[mahulette2018b]
Salt20–30 % of the fish weight[mahulette2018b]
Coconut sapEnough to cover the fish, for inasua with sap only[mahulette2018b]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.8 months

Start
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Close-up: salt moving into a fishSalt 20–30 %

What changes: Split fish are cleaned and rubbed with salt

Step 1 of 4
Split, clean and rub with salt
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
20–30 %
Reported
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
L. plantarum
L. mesenteroides
Lactic acid bacteria
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Inasua is reef fish split, rubbed with 20–30 % salt, pressed under stones and fermented in a closed jar for about 12 weeks, either in salt alone or soaked in coconut sap. It was made as a food store for the lean season when fishers could not go to sea. In the study, Lactobacillus plantarum was the dominant lactic acid bacterium in both types. Made in 4 steps over 2.8 months. The longest step, ferment in a closed jar, takes 2.8 months (Mahulette F 2018) and runs at 26–29.8 °C (Mahulette F 2018). Salt is 20–30 % (Mahulette F 2018). Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (as Lactobacillus plantarum), dominant in both types and still dominant at the end in inasua with sap and Leuconostoc mesenteroides, dominant at the end in inasua without sap do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2.8 monthsReported[mahulette2018b][mahulette2018a]Ferment in a closed jar
Temperature26–29.8 °CMeasured[mahulette2018b]Ferment in a closed jar
Salt20–30 %Reported[mahulette2018b]Split, clean and rub with salt
AciditypH 6.7 → 4.91Measured[mahulette2018b]Ferment in a closed jar

What makes this one different

Inasua is pressed under stones and fermented for about 12 weeks, often soaked in coconut sap. The sap makes it softer, less salty and more acid than the salt-only kind.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Inasua with sap (inasua-S)Pressed fish soaked in coconut sap; softer and less salty.
  • Inasua without sap (inasua-NS)Salt only; hard, very salty; made when sap is hard to get.

Safety

Histamine was 1.63 mg/kg (dry basis) in inasua with sap at the end and not detected without sap (Mahulette et al. 2018). Salt-only inasua reached a water activity of 0.74.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Inasua is local knowledge of the Teon, Nila and Serua communities. It was first made from porkfish (Ruvettus tydemani); that fish is now rare, so reef fish are used. It served as a food reserve in lean times and as stock on voyages when the communities sold cloves to other islands. Teonese makers use salt alone or salt with coconut sap, Nilanese makers salt alone, and Seruans salt alone, with some adding coconut vinegar.

  1. [mahulette2018b] Mahulette F., Mubarik N.R., Suwanto A., Widanarni 2018, Microbiological and physicochemical characteristics of inasua traditional fish fermented from Maluku Islands, Biosaintifika 10(2):298-305paper
  2. [mahulette2018a] Mahulette F., Mubarik N.R., Suwanto A., Widanarni 2018, Diversity of lactic acid bacterial in inasua fermentation, Iranian Journal of Microbiology 10(5):314paper
  3. [mahulette2022] Mahulette F., Kurnia T.S., Serpara R., Rupilu M.R. 2022, Processing of inasua as local wisdom from Teon, Nila and Serua communities in Ceram Island, Komunitas 14(1) (abstract)paper