June 29, 2010

Tamu Day in Kuala Belait - Saturday

Kuala Belait Tamu day is Saturday. Many would flock around it and enjoy buying the freshest of the greens.


This Kou Ji Choi or Wolfberry leaves. Very nice stir fried like cangkok manis. Or cooked in soup with egg beaten into it.


A nice bundle of kow Ji choi.


This is the Nagasaki Bitter Gourd - very tasty and good for one's longevity.



Softened squid. Nice in a photograph.


Close up of squid.



this is the rattan shoot. Nice for stir fry with a bit of meat.


Tepus...also a kind of jungle shoot. Good with chicken.

Fern tops.


Banana flowers.


Laila is locally produced rice from Brunei. Nice for making of porridge.



Local Brunei herbs - great for the balancing the body's yin and yang. "Cukup bagus untuk badan Mak Cik!!" I was told.

This is the famous Binjai Pickle from Brunei.


This fish is 6 kg!! Have to buy the whole fish. (Which I did not)

I love the red colours all around the tamu - different kinds of chillies.

Lovely bananas...any type you want...cooking ones and ones for eating!!


Colourful umbrellas.....

Lovely lovely time spent walking around the stalls on Tamu day in Kuala Belait....And one can fill up the whole car with fresh food!! But what I miss most is buying lots of food for a growing bunch of children. Now that they have flown the nest I just wonder what I should buy ...some of the vegetable bundles are just too big for the elderly people!! Any way...it is good to stroll along as the sun sets and we have to get home.

Perhaps it is nice to savour the freedom one gets when the kids are not around and one does not have to rush home to prepare a large dinner.

On the other hand it is alright to buy some vegetables and fish and present them to a good neighbour!!

11 comments:

Ah Ngao said...

i loves Tamus or the local market,you never know you may come across something "new" but it's actually been around or something "old" but it's actually something new,....kekeke
i seldom miss my local weekend market in Kuching,unless i'm really occupied.during the 80's,there were exotic game for sale,like labi(terrapin),monitor lizard,python meat...,not now. the 6kg fish is a Trevally,tasty fish and even tastier if deep fried when it is smaller in size .i loves ikan goreng pedas but i try not to take too often - not healthy.

Ah Ngao said...

oh i missed out one more thing,the Wolfberry leaves is the one that i planted in Styrofoam box(i did a posting about this vege quite sometime ago) the Cantonese folks claims that its good for the eyesight.

Ensurai said...

Hi Ah Ngao
Nice of you to write about Tamus in Kuching. I haven't been to one for sometime. Would like to go to Satok Tamu one day....any where else? Sirikin is nice of course.

Oh yes I miss the old time exotic meats like terrapins...

Ensurai said...

Ah Ngao
Thanks...I must read your post as I do intend to

Ensurai said...

grow some myself soon....(sorry clicked too early...)

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

The chillis look so pretty.

How come there are not many people buying? Sign of recession.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

How come I never heard of the word Tamu before? I often hear of the word market or Sunday market.

Ensurai said...

Hi Ann
The time is roughly about 3.30 time and I suppose those who have to buy have bought already..and those who come out later in the evening will be here at about 5 p.m.

Also recession....the huge fish was still waiting for some one to buy.

Ensurai said...

dear Ann
Tamu is an Iban word. It was first used by the Colonial government for the Penans to come out of their jungle settlements to meet with others to trade gaharu and rattan. The tamu then were supervised by British Officers...and it must have been very interesting and tense as fair trade had to be maintained. Hence the presence of the officers.

Tamu is more often used in the Baram and thus Miri than in Sibu for instance. Sibu folks continue to use Native Market and the politically incorrect term L. pasar....or pasar Iban....I am also not too sure why Tamu is not used in the Third Division. Must ask ah Ngao or other government officers.

Bengbeng said...

this version of bitter gourd is something new to me..

Ensurai said...

Bengbeng
This is the Japanese or Nagasaki Bitter Gourd...very healthy...I love it.

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