May 27, 2017

Sibu Tales : Coffee Cups



These China made coffee cups with green flowers are very popular items. To many of us coffee does not taste like coffee if it is not made in a cup like this.Image result for Chinese kopitiam green flower coffee cups

According to John Wong, the proprietor of a good shop in Sibu, these coffee cup sets come from China and they are imported according to weight, not in numbers as they are very heavy. They get broken easily.

These cups are thick and can therefore keep the coffee in them warm for a longer time. However, there is a secret too. These coffee cups are placed in a aluminium tray which is full of hot water. When a coffee is ordered, the cup would come out of the hot water and hot coffee is poured into it. This is one reason why the coffee served in this cup keeps it temperature and its aroma.

May 26, 2017

SibuTales : Liew Kiew or Kuchai - a lovely bulbous vegetable




This is a nice bulbous vegetables loved by all ethnic groups in Sarawak.

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The Ibans call it Kuchai and do eat it raw, like in a kerabu or salad. It has a very nice taste, oniony and spicy.

The  Foochows love it too and cook it together with eggs or fresh prawns. The Hokkiens would make pickles out of the bulbs and eat them with porridge.
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A neighbour grew a lot of it in the peat soil many years ago during the curfew days in Sibu. Because it could grow very fast, her family had it almost every day. We were also given a bunch every now and then. We were so grateful for the extra food which came free from across the road.



We should always be grateful for gifts we receive and remember the givers for the rest of our lives. Thank you Ah Hang's Mother. May she rest in peace.

May 25, 2017

Sarawakian Local Delights : Local Mango Salad

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There were lots of salad recipes from cookery books and many official functions would showcase the best of salads made by the wives of local officials and dignitaries.

Their salads would be the topic of conversation among wives for a short while. There would be envy, admiration and even jealousy.

Salads in Sibu were mainly made from important vegetables like tomatoes and carrots. Imported  Salad cream was then the all important and main ingredient. Some women claimed that they were the leaders of Salad making and were proud to stay at the top of the pecking order often not respecting the local style of dressing made from lime juices and local honey.

Today with plenty of recipes to choose from and with more TV cook shows, people have more choices and have great opportunities to DIFFER and be more innovative.

I have a mango salad which was served to an international group (one Indian, one Australian, and one Singaporean, if you call that international) apart from my usual Iban and Chinese friends. The mangoes were from my faithful tree and the water melon was from Beraya, not far from my house.  It actually was more salsa in a way. My salad dressing was not from a bottle, but from lime juices mixed with finely chopped torch ginger shoots, onions, deep fried onions, garlic and zest of kaffir lime and thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves and coriander leaves.

We had a good time having the home made salad and bbq pork out in the backyard on a balmy night. Conversation was great and no one was critical and negative about the simple food.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

May 23, 2017

Sibu Tales : Rectangular or square or Triangular?

How should kuih be cut? This was a big discussion among ladies in Sibu for sometime.

I don't think there should be a right shape for kuihs. It really depends on the texture of the kuih, whether it looks best in that particular shape. What would you think?






hOW YOU cut your home made kuih really depends on yourself. If I have made a large tray of steamed kuih I would cut is like a rhombus.

May 19, 2017

Why is it called Open Air Market ?

Cousins and sisters would often spend a few hours in an open market  combing for the best bargains and the best fresh vegetables. Sometimes we would look for a healthy free range chicken to cook for a healthy broth for the elders.No photo description available.

Growing up means spending time learning from our relatives what best to buy in the market and getting to know the vendors who would not cheat us. And surprisingly in Sibu and in Kuching most of these open air market vendors do not cheat (on their scales or in their packaging)

Who invented the open air market? No doubt the first open air market was  a vegetable market in the past had no roof over it.

Was it the Romans? The first open air markets in Rome can be traced back to the Emperor Augustus in the 3rd century BC. During the reign of Augustus, Rome’s economy was flourishing and its Marcellum market, located in the north of the city, was wildly popular. In later years, spurred by Rome’s successes, an indoor market in the form of a plaza was built by the military hero Agrippa, Augustus’ best friend and right hand. (Agrippa is also the man responsible for Rome’s first legendary Pantheon). Agrippa’s plaza hosted vendors selling merchandise and offices for businesses, and would inspire later concepts for bigger and more spacious areas to hold such commercial activities, like the Campo de’Fiori in the heart of the city.

Since then many indoor plazas and stores have been developed, but the open air market remains a tradition not only in Rome, but throughout Italy.

One of the largest open air markets in Europe, Porta Portese is estimated to have around 4,000 stalls that sell everything from religious iconography to books and fresh produce.

May 16, 2017

Pulor Seeds

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the pulor is a good fruit but in a way it is very unique as a food. Soups are usually made from the unripe fruit by the Ibans of Sarawak.

When the pulor fruit is too ripe, it will drop on the ground, expelling a lot of brown seeds . These seeds when boiled or roasted taste like chestnuts. Hence many people say that they are the chestnuts of Sarawak.

The Iban people like to eat the nuts as much as they like the soups made from the immature fruits.

May 15, 2017

Sibu Tales : Coolie


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Many Foochow migrants from Fujian started off as poor coolies in Sibu.

Coolie is a general term to mean unskilled worker, working for a towkay.  Work for the coolie could be anything from cutting of wood, to digging of soils, to carrying of water and any odd jobs.

Once a coolie has a skill over a period of years, he became a tukang, or craftsman. When he had earned enough, and had a group of coolie under him (or proteges, or students, or mentees), he became a sawu (teacher). After becoming a sawu, he would save enough to become a business owner. Then he would call himeslf a towkay or loh peng. This process would take years. Some people never moved upwards in the social ladder.

Personally I believe that in the olden days the social upward mobility was not that fluid. Prejudices abound and not many people were willing to lend a hand, or stretch out a hand to pick relatives from their rock bottom situations.

there were a few wealth and benovelent benefactors who helped the poor to succeed. But it also depended on a lot of determination on the part of the men who wanted to achieve something in their lives.

However there have been a lot of rags to riches stories in Sarawak especially among the Foochows.

May 14, 2017

Nang Chong Stories School Teacher of Chung Cheng School

Owning an outboard Engine in the 1960's was a luxury to most Foochows living along the Rajang River, from Sibu to Kui Nga Kerng (16 Company). And Not many actually did own one.

Travelling than was mainly by motor launches or by rowing a small wooden boat.



An outboard engine is called 掛尾車 because it was an engine you can lift up, taken up and carried away. The tail of the engine can also be lifted when the boat is moving to avoid a shallow bottom.

As a school teacher and with a wife, also a teacher, my late Uncle Wen Hui owned a small boat and he would go to school as early as 6 am in the morning and return around 3 p.m.

Because my cousins were nervous to travel with him to school, they would rather walk to school, which took a good half hour. I would never be able to really squeeze out the reasons why they would not want a ride in the boat.

Later my uncle decided to move to the school as he had young children and accomodation was provided. Much later, he moved across river to Kwang Hua School to be principal. Those were the early days of his career.









May 9, 2017

Sibu Tales : Tapah

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Tapah is one of the best river fish in SArawak. Its flesh is white and it is sweet. There is not fishy smell at all.

The tapah as a fish is not a pretty fish. It belongs to the catfish family and is sometimes called a Fresh River Monster Fish.

There is even a town in West Malaysia named after the fish, Tapah.

Tapah can weigh from 3 kg to even 100 kg. Many fishermen organize expeditions to look for them, in Perak, Pahang and Trengganu in West Malaysia. The Baram, Limbang, Rajang and Lupar rivers have this fish. It likes to swim in clear water. Any sign of pollution will not encourage tapah to spawn.
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When we were young, many small streams were be fenced up by guillotine-like fence.When the water was rising the fence was lifted to allow all sorts of fish to swim into the small streams. When the tide had reached its final height the fence was lowered. Thus the tide was low it was lovely to see all sorts of fish squirming on the mud flats.

The Foochows call this kind of trapping fish, Jek Ngii. Jek means to block.

There would be brown tapah, and black tapah, some ikan keli and other fish. Brown tapah was best. So it was a good time for family members to go down to the mud flats to catch their fish.

It is about time to conserve the fish and encourage its breeding.

May 7, 2017

Minqing Prawn Fritters

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It was early in the morning. My friends and I went to a corner shop to have a good Minqing breakfast.

Everything seemed to be so reasonably cheap. For 6 rmb we could have a bowl of soy bean milk, a small bowl of noodles, some cruellers (you tiau) and best of all a few pieces of prawn fritters.

I liked the crispy and crunchy prawn fritters and ate two although 10 were placed on the table for four of us to share.

There were not many in the eatery. They don't call the eatery coffee shop. It is just a eating place.

And the lady who made the prawn fritters and cruellers was outside the shop, and not part of the management.

The outlet did not serve coffee or tea. Just dou nai.

May 6, 2017

Sibu Tales : Arranged Marriages


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My happy adopted cousin, Tiong Yew Ping

My paternal grandfather was a wealthy rubber smallholder and later land owner. In his life he was able to "buy" a number of girls who were brought to him by the impoverished Foochow fathers who had to sell their daughters because they did not have enough .

Yew Ping came into my mother's life when my mother married into the family in 1948. Yew Ping was placed under my second uncle's name as "daughter" and hence her name even carries our generation name of "Yew". This was because my mother did not want an adopted daughter even before she had her own children, as she told us.

Yew Ping stayed with my mother for a while so that she could be a helper to our elderly great grand mother. My mother also needed someone to help her with the birth of her first child, that was myself.

When I was about 3 years old and Yew Ping was of marraigeable age, my grandfather arranged for her to help my second uncle who was running a rice mill. This was to give her a better outlook in life and perhaps to meet a man of her own choice.

However as she was too shy to acknowledge any one she liked, my grandfather played match maker.

Her marriage was arranged by my Grandfather who found a reasonable man. Grand father actually thought that his parents were really good people. Marrying into a good family was all that mattered. And indeed he was right!!

Her parents in law treated her very well.

Years later, her children, all God fearing also do well. Today they are leaders in their local Methodist Churches and my cousin is as happy as can be.

We are glad that her arranged marriage is not like so many other arranged marriages that we often hear about.


In one case, a relative who was not so pretty was forced to marry an elderly widower. After she suffered from some amount of abuses her husband suddenly died, the young widow was stuck with the old mother in law. She was unable to remarry because her mother in law refused to let go of such a good "slave". The poor lady was only able to enjoy some relief after many decades when her only son was able to earn a decent living and her mother in law passed away. By then my relative was already overworked and exhausted.

I am glad to note that another arranged marriage of an adopted sister of my father's resulted a good and loving marriage. Aunt Hiong and Uncle Kiong were loving and together they built up a good welding business. Today they have a son who is a doctor and a daughter who is a teacher.

Not all arranged marriages in the past were bad.


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!!...