Chefs at work: Fabiane (left) and Suguna showing how they fillet the keli. They then mix the meat with seven secret herbs to give their fish fingers a classic, spicy Malaysian oomph.
GEORGE TOWN: Some fish get a bad name just because they are ugly and a prime example is the whiskered Malaysian catfish or ikan keli.
Although inexpensive, easy to farm, and packed with Omega-3 fatty acids, the keli is sometimes seen as a poor man’s protein because some consumers dislike the taste of freshwater fish while others are turned off by the keli’s whiskers.
Recognising the nutritional value and sustainability potential of the keli, two food technologists – Suguna Migeemanathan and Joshua Fabiane of the University of Wollongong Malaysia (UOW) – have devised a method to turn keli meat into crunchy, spicy fish fingers.
Their fish fingers won two gold medals at the Penang International Invention, Innovation and Design Competition in 2021 for Best Product and Best Promotional Video.
“We were looking for a sustainable food product based on fish protein. We settled on the keli because it has been a Malaysian food fish for generations but lost its popularity due to misconceptions,” said Suguna, the project’s principal researcher.
The duo are lecturers at UOW Malaysia KDU Penang University College’s School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts.
She said their research proved that the keli was hardy and cost-effective to cultivate, on top of being nutritionally on par with other “more glamorous” fish.
Even better, lab analysis showed that the keli had negligibly low levels of mercury, a common problem shared by nearly all wild-caught fish, which can have alarming levels of this toxic substance, depending on species.
The fish fingers can be used in wraps or enjoyed on its own with dips.
While the keli can be skinned, filleted and de-boned much like any other fish, the challenge was developing a way to mince the meat into paste.
Because unlike lean fish meat, which is commonly processed into balls and cakes, the keli flesh is juicy and fatty.
Suguna and Fabiane have developed a proprietary method to mince keli meat, which is then moulded and breaded into fish fingers.
Their process, combined with seven secret herbs, gives their fish fingers a classic, spicy Malaysian oomph, while those with milder taste buds can opt for the “original” flavour.
“From the beginning, we wanted our fish fingers to be not just tasty and nutritious but also to come from a sustainable source. We don’t want to strain wild fisheries,” he said.
Fish farmers in Malaysia produce 30,000 tonnes of the keli annually, according to data from the Fisheries Department.
The department has a decades-long keli aquaculture consultation programme and even supplies the first batch of fingerlings free to farmers who are just starting the programme, using only local species instead of invasive types such as African catfish.
“On Penang island alone, there are five aquaculture sites producing keli,” said Fabiane.
After a pause caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the duo obtained a commercialisation grant from UOW Malaysia last year, and the fish fingers, branded Nutrilele, are sold as fish finger wraps and fish and chips on the Penang campus. Frozen fish fingers are also sold to home cooks.
UOW Global Enterprises group chief executive officer Marisa Mastroianni said UOW Malaysia was eager to collaborate with corporations in the food production sector to share its innovations.
“Every nation needs stable, sustainable food production systems, and supplying protein deserves special emphasis.
“Our lecturers are also researchers, and our campuses around the world support their work, especially those that can potentially increase sustainability,” she said.
