It good to read about the local business in the area. Reading this made me hungry for some smoked salmon cream cheese bagel...yummy.

Until the next time, cheers.

The Star, Monday July 30, 2012

No business without smoke

Tucked somewhere in the industrial area of Sungai Chua in Kajang is a gem of a find for any culinary enthusiast.

It is a smokehouse that produces a variety of smoked fish for the local and export market. The smokehouse’s location is not easily discoverable — unless with GPS — as it is situated along a row of car workshops.

For the past 10 years, Albatross Exim (M) Sdn Bhd has been providing its regular customers with a variety of quality smoked fish, both local and imported, such as Norwegian salmon, mackerel, sea bass, tuna, squid and red snapper.

According to its director Roelof Schoemaker, the company has captured nearly 20% of the local fine-food market with its terrine, raw fish, and pasta offerings and hopes to increase its market share in the region. However, in the smoked-fish business, Albatross Exim is a rather big player with 35 % share of the market and also exports to the Middle East.

Get hooked: Some of the imported whole fish found at Albatross Exim.

 

Schoemaker still considers his production, which rolls out a few hundred kilos of smoked fish in each cycle, as fairly small.

He describes the business as very capital-intensive and where artisanal know-how is needed to ensure the products are as good as those imported from Europe.

Schoemaker worked as a food technologist for the United Nations before venturing into this business.

Unless a buyer reads the fine print behind the packaging, it is not immediately obvious that the products are produced locally.

At his factory in Kajang, huge whole fish are filleted, deboned and skinned before they are salted and smoked, cold or hot, with a mixture of imported oak and beech wood chips. The temperature and mixture determines the flavour and intensity of the finished product.

As Schoemaker walked us through the process, it becomes clear that it is definitely labour intensive and has a firm focus on quality. After the fish are filleted and skinned, the workers meticulously pick out tiny bones from the fillets with small pliers.

The fillets are salted with a mixture of salt and sugar for half a day before they are slotted into the smoker.

“Hot smoked fish is basically (to smoke until) the fish is cooked,” explained Schoemaker, adding that the smoking process gives products a nice golden shine and a delicate smoky flavour.

In the cold smoking process, ice is placed at the bottom of the smoker to regulate the temperature of the smoke.

He said it is important to use certified wood to ensure there was no pollution in the product. In another corner of the smokehouse, two women could be seen slowly removing the remaining bits of flesh from the just-filleted fish to make sure nothing goes to waste.

More than just a meal: Fillets of salmon getting ready to be salted before ending up as the perfect appetiser, snack or ingredient in other recipes.

 

The scraps are sold to Japanese restaurants to be used in the preparation of lunch boxes.

After the fillets are smoked, they are gently slipped into a slicing machine, which Schoemaker said is the most important piece of equipment in the smokehouse. It is vital to slice the fish without breaking it.

The company’s products, certified halal by the Islamic Development Department, are supplied mainly to local supermarkets and five-star hotels.

Schoemaker said the company’s strength lies in being able to customise production according to the client’s specifications in terms of preparation and amount required.

“Being based here allows me to be in close contact with my clients and to cater to their needs,” said Schoemaker.

The company’s products are sold under the Bonfishken Norwegian brand and includes salmon terrines, gravad lax, smoked salmon tartars, smoked trout and smoked salmon sushi cuts.

■ Visit http://SwitchUp.TV to watch Harvest Chef Tan Kel Vin’s visit to Albatross Exim’s factory