April 29, 2017

Sarawakian Local Delights : Motherwort or Kacangma益母草姜酒鸡



Motherwort or Leonurus cardiaca is a herbal plant from the mint family. It is originally from Central Asia and SE Europe but it is also found in abundance in my ancestral land, Fujian, China.

Used as a traditional medicine in Central Europe, Asia and North America, it can cure a number of ills. It is called motherwort because it has been used by midwives to prevent uterine infection in women  (Wikipedia)
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The Chinese legend...

It is used by the Hakka women for health purposes, especially to warm up the womb after delivery. The Motherwort, Ginger and Wine Chicken is now a restaurant dish also and has become very popular. The indigenous people of Sarawak have also developed a liking for the dish. In fact motherwort is grown in many longhouse gardens.No photo description available.



April 24, 2017

Sibu Tales : "Taming the Yams"

In the olden days, most Foochows were afraid of eating yams besides the Pinang or Betel Nut variety.
The Betel Nut variety has purple streaks and are really lovely to eat, especially when they are Image may contain: foodmashed and made into a nice savoury pudding, which is a favourite Foochow dessert.

This betel nut taro or yam is the most importnat ingredient in the Chinese restaurant dish called Yam Ring or Yam basket.Image may contain: food

Nowadays there are many different varieties of yam or taro from all over the world, the Thai variety, the local Sarawak variety and even the Polynesian variety.

One of the reasons which the Betel Nut variety is pricey is because this yam does not cause itchiness to the tongue or the skin. Other varieties do.

So one of the best ways to "tame the yam" is to soak the slices in tamarind juice for half an hour. Very often those with sensitive skin must wear rubber gloves when preparing the yams.

Edible yam stalks (the variety that is grown as vegetable and one that does not grow a root system) have become  a very popular dish nowadays in Sarawak.

There are some reasons why yam ring is a must have dish in a Foochow banquet. Firstly that yam or taro helps in one's digestion after a heavy meal. The yam ring dish usually comes out towards the end of the banquet.

Secondly, yam or taro rhymes with HEAD or tou (yam is wou). Eating yam means one can become a leader. It is also one of the reasons why yams are served during festive seasons and also for special occasions like promotions and birthdays.


April 23, 2017

Sibu Tales : Chicken with sesame seeds 左宗棠雞

I have two aunts and several cousins who studied in the USA. And they would tell us about the Chinese food they ate in the places they studied. The most common dish they ate was Chop Suey , which they would find most unappetizing. 

However they liked General Tso's Chicken. And so they would prepare that dish when they came back to Sibu, to great success. My father in particular loved his sisters very much and admired their cooking. Once my aunts roasted a good chicken dinner and invited their colleagues to come to the house to have a good meal. The meal was served at our living room, on the table that my uncles lovingly bought for my father for his 50th birthday.

I was told that they ate the chicken very carefully and later assembled all the bones to make a good exhibit. I wonder if my 8th ad 9th aunt (Aunt Pick and Aunt Greta ) remember that.

However General Tso chicken is different because it is  deboned chicken.

In 1953 Admiral Arthur W. Radford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Taiwan for talks with President Chiang Kai-Shek. The presidential palace chef, Peng Chang-Kuei (彭長貴), was asked to create a banquet to entertain the illustrious guest. After planning some traditional Hunan dishes, he decided to create a few new dishes for the menu. One of them was General Tso’s Chicken. Thus the world’s most famous Chinese dish was born.
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Today this dish is also found in most restaurants in Sarawak.

The chef must have loved Chinese history. The general was  Zuo Zongtang (Tso Tsung-t'ang) (1812–1885), a Qing dynasty statesman and military leader from Hunan Province.

Notes from Wikipedia :  Zuo could not have eaten the dish or known of it.] The dish is found neither in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, nor in Xiangyin County, where Zuo was born. Moreover, Zuo's descendants, who are still living in Xiangyin County, when interviewed, say that they have never heard of such a dish

April 22, 2017

Sibu Tales : Rock Cakes


Love across the ocean - Mrs. Lora Temple loved teaching her Girl Guides in the First Company Sibu. And she was particularly fond of my family, as two of us sisters were Girl Guides together. Perhaps we were obedient, cheerful and willing to learn too.
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Many years after she went back to the states, she made a tin of rock cakes and asked her husband, our beloved , Mr. Temple to give it to my sister in Sibu..

It was so touching. My sister continued to write to Mrs. Temple and after so many years she still keeps the biscuit tin.

It was love across the ocean. 

Sibu Tales : Wearing of Blue Cotton

The wearing of blue cotton in Sibu actually dated back to the times of our ancestors in Fujian.

While the women were fonder of wearing red floral materials, men would wear blue cotton underwear. It was very socially acceptable for the Foochow men to be bare chested and sporting just a pair of home made blue cotton "under wear"

The underwear would either have a rubber waist or a string waist.

Fishermen, boatmen and carpenters would not think that it was impolie to be seen in their blue shots.

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The blue cotton cloth is used for funerals also. Maternal grand children would wear this blue during the funeral of a maternal grandmother or grand father.

During a funeral, the red cloth would be given to all who brought materials or Wang Lien as a parting gift for the dearly departed. This wang lien would then be divided among the mourning children. In modern days, all wang lien have been declined, and instead white gold or bah ging is accepted by most. In return, a towel and a red strip of material is reciprocated.

the red piece of cloth was often used for many different purposes in Foochow households.

Durian Flowers




They grow in clusters of 1 to 45 flowers directly from the trunk or main branch. The large flowers are creamy white to golden-brown in color. The outer part of the flower is fleshy and has 5 fused sepals and 5 petals. Long stamens hang down from the center of the petals. This flower caught by my camera is at its best at 2 p.m.


In my search for edible flowers I am delighted that my own durian tree is flowering this month!!

I had seen the small buds but did not realise that they will bloom so gloriously!! And then like a disappointed lover the flowers dropped the next day. Such a short life of beauty!


What are the mechanics of getting the durian flowers to become the glorious king of all fruits then?

I never knew that the flowers have a strong odour which will attract the small dawn bat!The flowers have a strong odor which attracts its principle pollinator, a small bat called a Dawn Bat (Eonycteris spelea). The flowers are hermaphrodites, meaning they have a stamen and a pistil in the same flower. However, the flowers can't pollinate themselves because the stamens and pistils from the same tree come out at different times. The flowers are nocturnal bloomers and open from around 3 pm to midnight. The pistils with its female stigma come out first and get pollinated
by flowers fromother trees. By the time the anthers of the stamen emerge, the pistils on the same tree are no longer active. By midnight all the flower parts except the pistil fall to the ground.
(http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org)

How do we cook the flowers?

It can be eaten raw as a salad with some sambal belacan. When eaten raw, the whole flower can be eaten - the petals, stamen, pistil and sepal. The sepal is sweet with a tinge of bitterness.

The flowers are delicious stir-fried with prawns, calamari, or shell fish , with chicken pieces, with tofu. When stir-frying, use only the petals, stamen and pistil. Do not use the sepal which turns acrid when heated.



Simple Yet Delicious

Quickly immersed flowers in boiling water, remove and drain. When cool, serve with sambal belacan.

Stir-fried with Calamari - spicy

Blend onions, garlic and fresh red chillies. Stir-fry in some oil until fragrant. Add prawns or calamari, salt and some sugar to taste. If desired some belacan can be added. Add flowers for a few quick stirs, and serve. Yummy.

Stir-fried with Prawns : Chop onions and garlic. Stir-fry until fragrant. Add prawns, salt and sugar. Add flowers, stir fry quickly, serve. For those preferring a bit of spiciness, add chopped chilli padi as garnish.


You can also prepare a dish called stir-fried asparagus with prawns, oyster sauce and of course, durian flowers.





April 19, 2017

Sibu Tales : Give to All equally, or Don't Give at all


When buildings go up,Foochow towkays and contractors all had to be very careful in whatever they said and did to prevent any workers from putting a curse on the work or even on the building that was going up.

This was a common belief in China which was carried to Sibu.

Thus the Foochows in Sibu in the olden days were always very careful when they were building their houses. There were so many things they should not say. A moral story came to mind a few days ago.
This guy who wanted his house to be built was not exactly a fair man and the workers he hired had noticed it. Usually some tea and biscuits were offered in the morning and afternoon to the workers. However this guy only asked the senior workers to rest and have a break. As a result after a few days, one of the less skilled workers made a comment, "To be fair, every one must have together or not at all." In Foochow his comment was " Wu jeh jeh wu, moh jeh jeh moh."
The troubled started the next day. Every one wanted to use the toilet at the same time. This went on for a few days until a wise man came to solve the problem.
Hence we today know the moral story.

April 17, 2017

Spearing of a Piglet

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Re-enacting 50 years ago, how the groom came to make a proposal for the bride's hand in marriage.

He speared a pig to make known his intention.

The Groom , Holt Thompson was all dressed for the occassion beginning at 6 pm.

A very meaningful  50th Wedding Anniversary held in Sera, the newly completed longhouse. Rumah Tabor has moved from across the river to the present site.

The silver head band on the groom's head is more than 150 years old.

Friends from the USA who were Peace Corps serving in Bintulu during the time Uncle Holt was an Education Officer, came to celebrate the occsion.
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April 14, 2017

Sarawakian Local Delights : Mushrooms

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Today wild mushrooms are often foraged in the secondary forests of Sarawak and they are sold in the tamu in the small towns. Sometimes these mushrooms are found in great abundance.

The Jelutong mushrooms are now found in quite a number of places. In the olden days, the Iban farmers would know where to find them after a heavy thunderstorm. The mushrooms are picked early in the morning and if they are to be sold, they have to be sold as early as possible.

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The Ibans do not dry the mushrooms for future use. Only the very small variety can be dried and kept. These are usually found by the Kayans, Kenyahs and Kelabits in the more interior parts of Sarawak.

There are many varieties of wild mushrooms in Sarawak.

April 11, 2017

Sarawakian Local Delights : Wild Mushrooms and Long Beans

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Wild mushrooms can be cooked with long beans. It is one of the favourite dishes in the longhouse.

It is quite easy to find mushrooms in the secondary jungle as they do spread around a lot by spores. Most villagers know exactly where to find the wild mushrooms provided the jungle is not devasted by bad logging. Once a forest is badly logged and soils turned upsdie down, the old spores could not grow.

It is always a blessing for the longhouse people if they keep their foraging grounds in good conditions. In that way they will always be able to find wild mushrroms, wild fruits and other jungle vegetables.

That is why the Ibans would like their land kept in their natural conditions. It is their supermarket.

April 7, 2017

Nang Chong Stories : Going to the Lido Cinema

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An early morning boat ride to Sibu was significant if one wanted to watch a movie. My grandmother, cousins and I would plan to watch the ten o'clock morning movie, have lunch and then return by the last motor launch, which would leave Sibu town at 2 p.m. The Sin Hai Huong was the last boat to leave as it would berth quite near our uncle's jetty. Boats travelling further down the Rajang River would leave by 12 or by 1. This was because no boat would be able to travel safely after night fall. If a boat left at 2 in Sibu, it might not reach Sarikei by 6 p.m. after letting off travellers mid way. Boats to Binatang and Sarikei had to leave by 12 noon.
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Getting to the cinema early was important because we did not want to be disappointed. My cousin would rush to get the tickets to make sure that we all had seats. Usually Grandma would buy 2 tickets and take in 3 children and the door man would not mind. Grandma was a familiar old friend of his.

I would spend a bit of money to buy the "hammered" bbq sotong, as seen in the photos.Image may contain: food and indoor

Grandma would bring us to the coffee shop in the same building as the Lido Cinema. Called Liu Huong, the coffee shop had a nice Towkay Neo who was a widow and every one knew that she was a kind lady. So an old lady like my grandmother sitting at the coffee table with three kids was quite a positive scenario.

Grandma would order a kopi-o and some noodles for us to share. Her favourite was noodle soup or Ching Tong Mien.

We would all enjoy ice cold  sweet or syrupy water served in a Magnolia bottle which was only 10 cents a bottle. It was heavenly to us and definitely a luxury.

Grandma would never order satay for us even though a Malay uncle would be selling satay from his little box outside the coffee shop.

Remembering all these I actually cannot figure out when it was that I had my first stick of satay. But I will always eat my bbq sotong, dipped in sweet and watery chilli sauce.

April 3, 2017

Nang Chong Stories : One for all, all for one

My cousins children of Lau Pang Ping and Lau Pang Sing of  Nang Chong village did not move to Sibu until after 1972, during the Communist insurgency in Sarawk.

Before moving to Sibu, they had all gone to Chung Cheng  Primary and Secondary Schools and their teachers were mainly relatives of the Lau Clan or other close relatives.

Aunt Hung Yung was one of the teachers of CCSS and so was Uncle Hii Wen Hui. Both of them got all my cousins fairly straightened out. No one wanted bad reports to reach any parents' ears.

My cousins in a way benefitted from the sterness and discipline by our Uncle WEn Hui and other teachers. The Chung School laid a good foundation for them, giving them good values in their later lives.

If any one was to be disciplined or retained in school, after hours, every one of the siblings and cousins would wait and they would go home together. If a few had gone ahead and reached home, our aunts would immediately know some one was punished and thus the last to come home would suffer from more beatings. In order to prevent more punishments, the cousins would stick together keep their secrets.

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It was a proud moment for my Uncle Wen Hui to see his eldest going for further studies in the UK. Here many cousins also went to the airport to bid her good bye. My pretty and elegant Ngie Mah is in blue in the centre. I am on her right, carrying my first born.
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They practised the Three Mustketeers' Motto : "One for All, All for One."
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Today all of us are in our 60's and 70's but we would never forget our shared childhood in Nang Chong.


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!!...