Cakalang Fufu in Manado: Where to Buy Smoked Skipjack and How to Cook It

Cakalang fufu is smoked skipjack tuna from Minahasa, North Sulawesi. The best market for it in Manado is Pasar Bersehati, before 09:00. Pasar Tomohon, Pasar Bahu and the village smokehouses at Kema and Aer Madidi are good alternatives. The fish keeps for a week without a fridge, and Minahasan families eat it every week.

Like much North Sulawesi food, cakalang fufu is little known beyond the region. This guide explains how the smokehouses make it, where to buy it, how to judge quality, and how Minahasan cooks use it.

How the smokehouses make it

1. The smoker guts a whole skipjack and opens it flat, like a butterfly.
2. Two split bamboo battens clamp the fish. The smoker ties them together at each end.
3. The fish hot-smokes for four to six hours over a fire of coconut shell and dried mango leaves.

The finished fish keeps for about a week at room temperature, and for about a month in a cool kitchen. Sunday markets across North Sulawesi sell it whole, still in its bamboo clamp. A typical household eats one fish a week.

What a finished fish looks like

• Size. Most fish measure 30 to 45 cm.
• Clamp. Two narrow bamboo battens, each about 1 cm thick, hold the fish flat.
• Colour. The flesh is a dark amber brown. The skin is darker still, and a little papery.
• Texture. The smoke cooks the fish through and removes some of its water. It is not a salted dried fish like ikan asin. The flesh stays soft and breaks into moist flakes, never into powder.

Good fish, bad fish

Look for three signs of quality:

1. The smell. It should be soft and a little sweet, the scent of coconut shell. Plain woodsmoke is a weaker sign.
2. The clamp. The battens should grip the fish tightly. Press the flesh. It should not move.
3. The surface. It should be matte. A shiny fish means the smoker added oil. This shortcut makes the fish keep less well.

Reject a fish that smells as if it was going off before smoking. Another warning sign is a thin pool of bright oil at the base of the clamp. Do not buy it.

Where to buy in and around Manado

Pasar Bersehati, central Manado

This is the main city market. It is busiest on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The fufu sellers stand together at the south end, near the place where buses drop passengers. Arrive before 09:00. By 10:00 the best fish have sold. At the time of writing (2026), a clamped fish cost about €3 to €4.50, depending on size.

Pasar Tomohon

Tomohon's well-known Saturday market sits in the hills above Manado. Find the fufu sellers at the back, behind the fruit and vegetables. Prices are a little higher than at Bersehati. In return, most fish are smoked nearby and reach the stall sooner. Buy here if the market is already on your plan.

Pasar Bahu, Manado

A local market close to the airport. The choice is smaller, but many stalls use the same suppliers as Bersehati. It is a good stop on the way to a flight home.

Village smokehouses

Smokehouses still work in Kema, Aer Madidi and small villages along the coast to the east of Manado. They have no signs. Ask in any village shop, and someone will show you the way. You pay the market price. In return you get a fresher fish, and you choose the size.

Which size to choose

The price rises about in step with the size.

Three ways Minahasan cooks use it

Cakalang fufu rica-rica

This is the classic dish. The cook pulls the flesh from the bones. It goes into a hot pan with a paste of red bird's-eye chilli, shallot, garlic and ginger. A squeeze of jeruk nipis (calamansi) finishes it. Serve it with white rice and greens, often bunga pepaya (papaya flowers) or kangkung. From cold fish to plate takes about 15 minutes.

Cakalang fufu suwir

The cook breaks the flesh into salted flakes. These go on top of rice noodle soup, or on bubur Manado, the Minahasan rice porridge with pumpkin, corn and greens. In Manado, bubur without fufu is not real bubur Manado.

A simple breakfast

Warm a piece of fufu over the fire for a moment. Eat it with white rice and dabu-dabu, the Minahasan fresh chilli relish. Older families in Manado often eat this on Sunday morning before church.

Taking it home

Domestic flights. A whole fufu is fine in checked luggage on a flight within Indonesia. Wrap it in newspaper, then in a plastic bag, to hold in the smell.

International flights. A whole fish is hard to carry abroad. It needs heavy wrapping, the smell is strong, and customs officers will ask many questions.

Ready-flaked packs. Small Minahasan food shops near the airport sell cakalang fufu suwir in vacuum packs of 200 grams. It is clearly worse than fresh fish. It is drier, and the smoke tastes flatter. But it survives a long journey, and it works for rica-rica in your own kitchen.

Recent changes

Two things have changed in recent years.

• Price. Fufu now costs more, and the price has risen faster than general inflation. Fishing pressure on skipjack in the Sulawesi Sea has grown, so wholesale fish prices are higher.
• Fuel. Several smokehouses in Tomohon now burn briquettes made from coconut husk instead of whole shells. The fuel is more efficient, but the smoke tastes a little less round. Older eaters notice the difference. Younger eaters do not.