Melinjo leaves are used in the rural communities of Aceh in Indonesia and in the Karbis tribe Northeastern India for celebrations and important life events. Kuah pliek is a traditional vegetable curry that is often made with young Melinjo leaves and ied for keureudja and khanduri in the Aceh culture. In the Karbi tribe in Northeastern India, the Karbis refer to themselves as the “children of Hanthu and Mehek,” Hanthu meaning Melinjo, and Mehek referring to another wild plant. The Karbis use Melinjo leaves in religious rituals, where the leaves are cooked with the meat of a sacrificial animal. In addition to culinary uses, the sap of the Melinjo leaves is also used for eye infections.
Emping production is a home industry, with emping traditionally handmade in a labor-intensive process. The melinjo seeds are sauteed in a medium fire without oil, or sometimes using sand as a media. Some people boil the melinjo seeds to ease the peeling process. Both the softer outer skin and the harder inner skin of the seeds are peeled off by hand. Each of the gnetum seeds is whacked with a wooden hammer-like instrument or pressed with a stone cylinder to create flat and round emping, and later arranged in a tray made of weaved bamboo and sun-dried for a whole day.
