In Kuala Linggi, horseshoe crab is the catch of the day

Election fever may be building across Melaka, but in Kuala Linggi, another kind of buzz is drawing people in – plates of horseshoe crab cooked in a range of rich, spicy gravies.

At Restoran Citarasa Belangkas, owner Azizi Buyaman serves the unusual seafood in several styles, including masak lemak cili padi, lemak berempah, sambal and asam pedas.

The recipes come from his mother, Fauziah Yasin, who began developing them more than three decades ago.

For Azizi, 33, the restaurant grew gradually from a much smaller operation. About 10 years ago, he began selling the dishes on a modest scale and delivering them to customers.

“The response was good, and things slowly picked up until we finally had our own restaurant,” he told Bernama. “We have customers who travel a long way just to enjoy our horseshoe crab dishes.”

The dish remains unfamiliar to many Malaysians. For those who enjoy it, Azizi said, the attraction lies in its distinctive taste and the different ways it can absorb bold local flavours.

Each serving costs between RM30 and RM35 and is large enough to be shared by five or six people. During school holidays, demand can rise to more than 30 horseshoe crabs a day, compared with around 15 to 20 on ordinary days.

The restaurant gets its supply from fishermen at the Kuala Linggi jetty, helping tie the dish closely to the surrounding coastal community. Some of the catch is frozen, so the restaurant can continue serving customers when fresh supply is harder to come by.

Preparation, however, requires care. “We have to make sure the poisonous parts are removed and everything is properly cleaned before cooking,” Azizi said. That’s right – parts of this prehistoric-looking crustacean could make you ill or, in severe cases, even prove fatal!

That specialised handling is part of what makes the dish more than just another seafood item on the menu. It reflects local knowledge passed down through experience, along with a cooking tradition that has found an audience well beyond Kuala Linggi.

Although horseshoe crab is the star, the restaurant also serves dishes such as prawn noodles and takes on catering orders. With campaigning under way for the Melaka state election, some of those orders have recently come from political parties feeding their teams.

For Azizi, though, the attention is less about politics than keeping the kitchen busy and the family recipes going. In a coastal town better known to some as a stop along the way, horseshoe crabs have become a reason to linger in Kuala Linggi.

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