Once upon a time, there was a fish called ikan terubuk. Such was its legend and legacy that it was traded for hundreds of years in the Malay Archipelago – not for its flesh, but for its eggs.

There was a time when ikan terubuk roe was inextricably linked to Malay culinary culture. Because the trade of terubuk eggs was so important in the Malay world, the islands that were host to ikan ...