TUMPAT, July 19 — Technology has made cooking easier and faster, but Rosli Mohd Nor still opts for the traditional way of cooking in preparing his fish and beef serondeng or floss.

Rosli, 52, who operates his serondeng-making business in Kampung Laut here, has his own reasons for keeping to the traditional way of cooking the serondeng, despite the inconvenience.

“Many residents in Kampung Laut produce serondeng for sale, but they all have their own identity and taste.

“I still prefer to cook using the traditional way of cooking because the serondeng tastes better and it can be kept for a longer time,” he told Bernama when met at his house here.

The even colour of serondeng cooked the traditional way, as it cooks evenly, tastes better, and can be kept for up to a year, says maker Rosli Mohd Nor. — Bernama pic

Rosli said many of the serondeng makers in his village had shifted to modern way of cooking, like using gas stove.

“I use firewood,” said Rosli, a former soldier. “The technique takes longer time, like up to seven hours, but I am satisfied with the end product.

“The serondeng is of better quality as it has even colour, cooks evenly and tastes better, not like when it is cooked in a machine.”

He said serondeng cooked using the traditional way of cooking could also be kept for a longer period, like more than a year.

Rosli, who has been making fish and beef floss since 10 years ago, said it was also because his serondeng was prepared using the traditional way of cooking that his product was highly demanded nationwide.

Rosli said he could produce up to 600kg of serondeng a month and had to increase his production to by several times to meet demand for Aidilfitri.

“However this year, our production to meet the demand for Aidilfitri could only start two weeks before Ramadan, which is very late because we normally start two months earlier.

“This is because of the floods in December last year which destroyed all the equipment and I have to repair the cooking area, which was badly damaged by the floods,” he added.

He said production this year was reduced by 60 per cent. — Bernama