Holiday Ayo - Woku Belanga is a fish dish typical of Manado, which uses a mixture of various herbs and spices. Woku pots are cooked using a clay pot. Woku pot fish is a variant of Minahasa's woku cuisine, North Sulawesi. This dish can be filled with a variety of animal proteins, including fish.

Woku is a Manado spice that is prepared from a variety of local spices to process meat. Which woku is a mixture of lime leaves, turmeric leaves, lemongrass leaves, pandan leaves, basil, and also other additional spices so that it has a fresh spicy taste and also aromatic.

Woku is divided into two, namely woku pot and woku leaves. Woku belanga means preparations cooked in a pot, as well as leaves means processed using leaves. The word woku comes from the word woka, where woka is the name of the leaf. Woka leaves or palm leaves are usually used as wrappers in some Minahasa processing or special dishes.

Long ago, the ancestors of the Minahasa tribe used woka leaves to wrap corpses before burial. Not only that, woka leaves are also used to replace the roof of the house as rain and heat protection.

Along with the times, woka leaves are used to wrap foods such as rice and side dishes. The use of woka leaves for cooking has been practiced since ancient times. This side dish which contains fish and spices that are grilled in a woka leaf package is called woku similar to pepes.

Urban communities cannot find woka leaves as easily as rural communities. So since then developed a way of cooking woku. Along with the development of the current era, woku are directly cooked in a frying pan or pot known as Woku Belanga.

To make woku pot fish, first, finely ground or chopped spices are first stir-fried in a pot. Then the fish is sauteed with this cooked seasoning. Can also be given gravy or not. Woku striped fish is very fitting served warm. Can be combined with warm rice or various other Minahasa specialties such as rice wraps

The mixture of various spices used in this woku dish produces a strong, savory, fresh taste with a thick sauce. The key to its enjoyment lies in the use of fresh fish with an abundance of spices and herbs.