June 1, 2011

Gawai barbequing long house style (Ulu Limbang)


By nine a.m. on lst June. every man in the longhouse would be dying to put some foot on the Barbie for the evening meal...no matter how tired he is. Ngabang or visitation would only start in the afternoon of the lst. Family bonding comes first and it is usually at the" back  yard" of the longhouse. Here some one has caught a rare tengadak for his family...and it goes right on top of the Barbie.


This is a small piglet (local pig) weighing in at 15 kg. The head has gone to the person who dressed the pig as a"reward". this is a partially "smoked" style. It is not the same as the Cantonese roasted piglet.


Ikan sultan


Some one got a head of a pig here!!



Lovely ears...


Some more raw meat for the barbeue....this is a lower half drum style.

Another family's barbie set in the back yard....



chicken wings are already done and ready for the visitors in the afternoon.


This is my slab of 3 kg. belly pork bought in Miri....over a slow fire (fully drum with excellent wood fire...I call this partially smoked and roasted pork.


The other side of my belly pork.


One of the ladies prepared an excellent soy + lime and chili sauce...with lots of cucumber floating in it to give it an extra juice.....




Most people who have travelled far and wide to work overseas or further away in Sarawak itself or in Sabah or even West Malaysia would be home in the longhouse by 31st May. While barbeque-ing of meat might start on the 31st (for the family members and guests who are staying) most of the cooking would be done on the lst of June for the visitors.

Every one would be excited to see an uncle or a cousin or a brother in law arrival by a Kancil or a good Nissan X Trail . This is the era of the road transport as river transport would be too exorbitant and fairly unnecessary for the people of Rh.Aling.



For several days Rh. Aling experienced an unusual heat wave and all the men have to work bare chested....temperatures must have been around 40 degrees outside!! Talk about global warming!! (The background used to be the temporary longhouse after the original longhouse was burnt down. Today the people are still keeping the temporary structures as store houses for their rice and pepper.


These are three ladies who are already having a good time while waiting for their barbequed meat... R and R at the backyard. Some even call it their five foot way....Kaki Lima Rumah Panjai

Here Penghulu Robert Kunyut is having a nice meet the people session at the back of one of the Biliks (family rooms). Beer (Tiger) and Vodka are free flow. It is practical not to wear any shirt when roasting and smoking fish and meat.....


a large ikan patin after it has been smoke-roasted in an open fire - ready for the visitors at 14:13 on lst of June.

2 comments:

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

I see the long house had evolved too. Very different from the Durin's ones.

Ensurai said...

Yes...this Rh Aling is the third one ever built by the community. This is the best so far...all concrete and the best of tiles. Many of the younger generation are civil servants and timber workers who bring in foreign currency....

Even their food has also evolved.

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