May 25, 2010

A Good Long House Style Meal - A Cyber Birthday Card

Today is my eldest daughter's birthday. It has been too many years she has not celebrated a birthday in Sarawak.

This is a birthday card which includes photos and text on a possible feast for her - organic food from the longhouse.

This is her favourite dish - ubi leaves cooked in the same as Mrs. Kuntai our relative would cook. Young tapioca leaves (the top leaves - yes as in tea leaves) are plucked and then pounded using pestle and mortar)and then squeezed with salt. This is then fried with ginger and some pork or ikan bilis. The texture is lovely and the taste heavenly.



This is Winter Melon - a soup simply cooked by throwing in cubed winter melon and ikan bilis into a large pot of boiling water. Add salt towards the end.
 For better taste use a chicken stock.

Kampong chicken or free range chicken cooked in oyster sauce slowly over a wood fire until the flesh leaves the bones at the touch of a fork.


Bell chillies cooked with ikan bilis and belacan. You can eat double portion of rice with this alone.


Long house rice - black organic rice from the hills. Very fragrant and very sweet.

Iban terong - cooked slowly over a wood fire - until the sugar present in the golden brinjal caramelises. It is all at once sweet and tangy at the same time. It can be eaten cooked like this or it can be used as part of tom yam prawns or fish or masak asam.


Our all time favourite - home grown and organic cangkok manis fried with free range eggs.


Freshly plucked jungle fern (paku) stir fried with some belacan and home grown ginger.

Happy Birthday to you across the Pacific.

14 comments:

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

I would have gate crash. and if I live on this food, I will lose some weight.

Where is your daughter?

William said...

I like Iban terong, cangkok manis, and ferm very much! Of course kampong chicken will be the best of all chicken.

Ensurai said...

Hi Ann
This is really good organic food and very tasty...do you know that torch ginger is a good ingredient for making Iban cooking very special?

She is in California.

Ensurai said...

Hi William

so the food in these pictures would really appeal to you!!

Eating these food would not give you a bigger waistline. Smile...
Thanks for dropping by...

Cheers.

The Observer said...

one can only sit in front of the monitor and salivate by looking at the pictures of sarawak home cooked food online.... I'm salivating now!

happy birthday to her...

and for her mum, I think this blog is one blog that tells its readers what is the closest to the heart.

love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, and it does not boast... that's what it is.

Ensurai said...

Dear Observer
Thanks for the comments.
I hope I can deliver good articles at all times...

And thanks for the quotation : love is always patient.

Thanks for dropping by.

Ah Ngao said...

you got a fondness for ikan bilis...

Jason said...

It's been decade since I had my last taste of the tapioca leaves, prepared the way that you mentioned above, so simple yet heavenly taste.
I guess we do not need to be complicated in life too. Things can be so simple and yet they just can make you happy.
I will trade any Mcdonald meals or even some the so called 5 star restaurant menu for those above, cangkuk manis, paku, terung iban, tapioca leaves, they are just marvelous.
Glad I managed to catch this post today, really made my day.

Superman said...

What a feast there. Guess more to come as Gawai is just around the corner. Food cooked with wood fires are delicious! drooling now.

Ensurai said...

Dear Ah Ngao
These dishes were cooked in Rh Chendang by a group of ladies. At home I would also use quite a bit of ikan bilis especially for these dishes.
We try our best to avoid aji no moto too.

My favourite ikan bilis dish - traditional ikan bilis pickle - chilies with onions and lots of vinegar and ikan bilis..

Ensurai said...

Dear Jason
Yes I think the good life includes simplicity ..and good food is usually quite simple really. After trying out many different kinds of chicken recipes I will still consider my steamed ginseng kampong chicken as delicate and superior.
Indeed I have stopped eating deep fried food! (No McD or KFC for me unless I have no choice e.g no kitchen or no other shops opened).
Thanks for dropping by....my blog is all about homecooking and ordinary stuff close to the heart. (quote)

Ensurai said...

Dear Superman

Hope you get a holiday break too....yes I love to use wood and I dream of having an Italian pizza oven in my backyard!! It will be just lovely...but may be not that practical...

cheers.

Anonymous said...

Wow my mouth is watering already just looking at these....

Ensurai said...

Hi Anonymous...thanks for dropping by....may be you should get yourself invited to a Gawai do if there is one near your place...don't be shy. Ibans are usually very hospitable and accomodating....Nice people really!!

Soh Mien on First Day of Lunar New Year

 Today 10.2.2024 is the first day of the New Lunar Year of the Dragon. Yes I have cooked the chicken and made the soh mien. Happy New Year!!...