October 31, 2017

Sarawakian Local Delights :Serai


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Serai or lemon grass is used by the Ibans of Sarawak in their cooking. It goes well with meats, and fish.
It has a very subtle citrus flavour and can easily expel any gamey smell. Most indigenous people grow their own lemon grass in their backyard.

It goes exceptionally well with seafood like squids.

Lemon grass can be easily obtained in the wet markets and supermarkets.

It can also be used in teas, soups and curries. Today many households would serve natural drinks flavoured by homegrown lemon grass. It is really healthy and refreshing. Lemon grass can expel flu and cough when taken as a hot tea. 

Nowadays a good lemon grass oil can be extracted for aromatherapy purposes. It is scientifically proven that lemongrass oil can attract a swarm of bees into traps.


October 30, 2017

Sibu Tales : Smelly Root Soup




My maternal grandmother, or ngie mah, was very fond of brewing chow yi dar, or smelly root soup.
The pioneering Foochows of Sibu considered the smelly root as poor man's ginseng. A whole bundle would cost only one dollar in the 1950's.

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As children growing up in the village we did not quite like the smell or even appreciate the benefits of having the soup.

The smelly root soup would be plain, without any meat or bones in it. And Grandma would always make some once a week.Image may contain: plant and nature

However on days after selling of rubber sheets, she would buy a pork leg and some dried squids to cook the smelly root with. That would be the time when our older cousins would love the aromatic smells in the kitchen. I did not acquire the taste of the smelly root soup until I was in secondary school.

My grandmother would in later years remind my mother to get pork leg for brewing smelly roots for Third Uncle and herself and she would enjoy drinking the soup in Sibu.

Smelly root is is litsea cubeba or aromatic litsea. It is also known as May Chang in Taiwan. It is an ever green tree found in China, Indonesia, Taiwan and South East Asia. It is called mountain pepper 山胡椒 in Mandarin. Its fruit is lemony in fragrance from which an essential oil can be derived.
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It usually takes quite a long time to boil the smelly root and pork leg. So today many coffee shops offer this dish. Usually it is RM6.00 per bowl, with either Foochow mee sua or just plain white rice. Since dried squid is quite expensive nowadays, the soup nowadays does not have a lot of squid.





October 29, 2017

Sibu Tales : Burdock (tea)

Dried and roasted burdock root tea helps people to look and feel younger. It is anti cancer, and helps in improving Qi or life force energy. It heals liver and purifies blood and helps to lower blood sugar.

It is a popular food for Chinese New Year . Many housewives enjoy making burdock chips which will be very welcome by the men of the family when they gather together to drink.
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It is quite convenient to buy a box of the tea which helps us  to detox. Hence it is useful as we lead a very hectic life. In our polluted environment, burdock is a miracle herb. Children who suffer from skin problems need to be careful.

Burdock root has been used by the Chinese for a long time to treat skin conditions like acnepsoriasis, and eczema. The anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties of the root can help resolve skin issues when it’s applied topically to the skin.

October 27, 2017

Sibu Tales : Burdock (2)

Dried burdock is sold by the Chinese Sin Seh in Sibu.
It is one of the most important herbs for treating chronic skin problems such as acne, psoriasis, eczema, and shingles. It can also help to stimulate metabolism, re-grow hair, strengthen nails, and aid in edema and weight loss. 
Burdock root is an effective painkiller that can help alleviate symptoms of inflammation that affect auto-immune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, bursitis, lupus, and diabetes. 
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Fresh burdock can be juiced with celery, kale, and apple or used in recipes similarly to carrots. It is often steamed or added to soups and stews. It has a subtly sweet and earthy flavor that works well with potatoes, mushrooms, and onions. 

Sliced thinly, it can also be made into very delicious chips for Chinese New Year.

Dried burdock root is often used as a medicinal tea. 
Pour 1 cup of boiling water over 1-2 teaspoons of dried burdock root and let steep for at least 10 minutes or more, sweeten with honey if desired. Burdock root can be readily found in a cream, salve, tincture, extract, and capsule form. It’s potent healing abilities has made it a vital herb for your natural medicine cabinet.





Sibu Tales : Burdock (1)




Burdock Root (牛蒡)

Some Pre Chinese New Year Memories.

When the supermarkets first arrived in Sarawak, people went crazy about burdock roots.
A friend started buying the pricey burdock especially to make burdock chips.

Like all kiasu women, many women went to buy up all the fresh burdock in the supermarkets and indeed these burdock sold like hot cakes. A few disappointed housewives were in tears because they could not get any for the Chinese New Year. We heard a lot of gossip about women wanting to show off their cooking skills.

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Photo of fresh burdock roots from Google.

As for me, I am not a very kiasu kind of person. Even if I don't serve burdock chips I can still hold my head high. Also I was not that very informed about burdock any way then.

I comforted myself that probably a few million other mothers in this world also did not serve burdock chips for Chinese New Year.

And my skeptical uncle Hii had once said, " You won't die if you don't have...." That's a wise man.

October 26, 2017

Disappearing Sibu : The Corner Shop



At the cross roads in a town, there would be four corner shops. On a row of shops, there would be two corner shops.

Corner shops are strategically placed and are often popular sites for the best shops in town. Sometimes they are owned by the developers or land owners of the shopping area.

But corner shops have a special meaning in my life.

The Nang Kwong corner shop was a popular place for many down river Foochows to meet. Corner chop is Gerk Tow gien in Foochow. If relatives stood at the corner shop, people could catch sight of them easily. Many people from the villages used Nang Kwong for their mailing address. My late father would wait at Nang Kwong to pick up my Ngie mah or maternal grandmother. While waiting, my grandmother would chat with people she knew and she would not feel at a loss especially when she had to wait a little bit longer because the boat came in earlier or my father was a bit late. Waiting in those days was not an issue.

I often smiled when I thought of the love letters which were left in the mail box of Nang Kwong.

Did you send any love letter addressed to a special person who used a corner shop as her /his mailing address?

An old fried, now in his 70's told me that he probably wrote a few letters to the girl he liked very much. "He who had nothing" wooed her and was "seperated" from her for four years because he went off to study. But now after more than 50 years, they are still married to each other. He can't remember if he first saw her at a corner shop or not, both of them being from down river.

The friendly corner shop is probably a thing of the past now.

October 25, 2017

Sarawakian Local Delights : Empit

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The empit is a Sarawak jungle nut which is very tasty.

Buah empit are also known as buah pelajau, praju, peladjau or emplelanjau.

The tree is of medium size and grows along many river banks e.g. Sg. Limbang, Sg Sibuki, Sg. Lubai, Sg. Panduruan, Sg. Berawan,Sg Tubai,Sg. Mendalam, Sg. Medamit, Sg Semena, Sg. Bawang, Sg. Paloi, Sg. Merit, Sg. Mendalam, Sg. Selidong, Sg. Adang, Sg. Kanowit, and Sg, Bakong. The floating nuts are collected from the smaller upper stream areas. Over logging in the past 30 years might have reduced the harvest of this very edible seeds.

The "furry" or protective fur of the fruits are separated from the edible kernels (cotyledons) after being soaked for a while.

Empit is sold in wet markets in Miri and Kuching. It can be stir fried on its own with garlic, chillies and ikan bilis. Or it can be added to other vegetables like pumpkin leaves,daun rambing, daun sabong and cangkok manis.

It makes a good soup too with prawns. Deep fried, it can be finger food for beer drinkers.

Its ID is Pentaspadon motleyi Hook.f. (Xiao Feng Huang)

October 23, 2017

Sarawakian Local Delights : Pork Liver in Iban Rice Wine (Tuak)

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Fresh liver is highly prized by the Foochows and the Ibans too.

It is very easily prepared. slice the liver thinly and season with salt, pepper and sesame oil. Pound some ginger for the aromatics. Once the kuali is heated up, stir fry the ginger with sesame oil. Once fragrant, add the liver. In a few minutes add some tuak , cook through with just a bit of blood still showing. This dish is good for those who are anemic.

This dish would always remind me of my adventures with pig slaughtering in the longhouse. Here is one anecdote.

The Iban family had just slaughtered a family raised pig and the meat was to be shared by 4 other families for the Gawai.

As an in law it was not the "to do thing" for her to ask just for the liver even though she had the good intentions of cooking the liver for her ailing father in law.

The normal procedure of dividing of a slaughtered pig  in that longhouse would be as follows:
1. The head of the pig would be shared among those who did the slaughtering, which was usually by the pebble beach, along the river near the longhouse. While the pig was being prepared, the head would be cooking over a fire.
2. The body of the pig would be equally divided and portioned out part by part, and they would be chopped up and placed on the buckets or leaves prepared. How big the pieces would be depended on the size of the pig might be be 30 kg to 40 kg. The normal price of pork would be 12 ringgit a kg. no part being more expensive than the other. The total weight per portion would be charged at the end of the por
3. For example, the hind legs would be chopped into 5 portions and equally placed in the different buckets.
4. The belly pork would also be chopped and divided into 5.

This would go on and on for all the different parts of the pig.

This is the practice of this particular longhouses so I am not sure if it is the same with other longhouses.

I once asked about the tail...OK, the tail would be chopped into 5 also, to be fair.And NO I could not just buy the tail.

Well you see. I love to eat the tail as much as I like the liver.


October 22, 2017

Sarawakian Local Delights : Salted Wild Boar Lemon Grass and Ginger

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Once wild boar is taken back to the longhouse by the hunter, the meat will be distributed or sold to friends and relatives. If there is more than enough meat for the family, the excess meat can be salted and be used later.

Salted wild boar meat is very valued and can even be sold at double the price of fresh meat.

The best way to cook salted wildboar meat or kasam babi hutan, is to cook the meat with lemon grass and wild torch ginger stems in bamboo. This is a traditional method of cooking for the Ibans in Sarawak.

The salted meat will be very tender and easily digested. The aroma of the meat and the soup is awesome.

Today it is not that easy to get saslted wild boar meat cooked in bamboo.

October 21, 2017

Sarawakian Local Delights : Kuchai




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Kuchai or native chives are rather special vegetables in Sarawak. They are actually quite easily grown in the loamy soils near padi fields around the longhouses. It is a vegetable readily available and loved by young and old in the rural areas.

It is a vegetable that can be prepared as a salad with dressings simply made from lime juice and some salt and sugar.

It can be stir fried with wild torch ginger flowers and shoots. It can also be cooked as a soup with just some ginger and fresh eggs.

Some women have learned how to make pickled kuchai bulbs and that would really be lovely to eat with rice or whenever the family has no time to cook any other dishes.

Today, in most tamu in Miri, the vendors would prepare the kuchai like in the photo above. It is so convenient to buy just a plate of the kuchai, already cleaned and cut for the pot. It is a very tedious job to clean every stem of the kuchai. So much water is needed to wash away the sand!!

How thoughtful of the vendors to clean up the kuchai for the busy housewives.

Sibu Tales: 10 days' Remand by Japanese

The Japanese arrested and imprisoned my father for 10 days during the beginning of their Occupation.

1940's Record Player

My father loved music and he particularly loved his radio and the special record he bought from Singapore before the war. He did not know that his possession would cause him and his father great distress in a few years' time.

He also owned lots of vinyl records> He would play Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin in the evenings. He had taken violin lessons in his younger days and he admired classical musicians he had known during his student days. He had a photo album which showed the collection of cuttings of well known composers. He later told us that because of  the records and the special cuttings kept in a photo album, he was a suspect in the eyes of the Japanese Commandant. The Punjabi guard employed by the Hua Hong Ice Factory  reported him, saying that at night he listened to the radio in a foreign language  and that he listened to Western Music!! This jaga had expected to be given a big reward by the Japanese.

One morning, the Japanese soldiers came to the Hua Hong Ice Factory and arrested him.

My father was in the Commandment's  compound for 10 days. In the meantime my grandfather went around looking for people to prove my father's innocence. Finally he was able to obtain the help of Mr. Lu, a man conversant in Japanese to write a letter in Japanese to state that my father was totally innocent.

At the first attempt to get my father to be released, my grandfather's head also suffered from a bad cut, as the Commandant was very angry with him. He had to kneel in front of the soldiers when he pleaded for my father's released. At his second attempt, my grandfather was able to get the help of Mr. Lu to interpret. The church people, including Rev Ling Kai Cheng, also came to help my grandfather and perhaps because of that, the Japanese commandant relented a bit.

During his 10 day remand in the Japanese camp, my father was badly beaten and he was given very little food. When my grandfather saw him upon his release my grandfather was crying out loud and knelt in front of the Japanese Commandant to thank him (as he was instructed to do so).

A few relatives later even said that they were worried that they could not carry both suffering men away from the camp because they were both heavy set men. But luckily my father was able to slowly walk away. He said later that it was such a big relief for him to see his father alive. 

He was happier to see his father alive than to feel the freedom that he had gained.


Miri Tales : Mee Sua with cangkok manis

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One local delight in Miri and Kuching is the use of cangkok manis in the frying of mee hoon or mee sua. 

According to a Bidayuh friend, this dish was "invented" by a resourceful cook who was interested in making his mee hoon "green". He first tried to use cangkok manis but the noodles did not turn green. He then blended some cangkok manis and took the green liquid to turn his mee hoon green. However today, after so many people have tried frying mee hoon or mee sua with cangkok manis, they take out the step of turning the noodles green. The taste is fantastic. The other ingredient is deep fried ikan bilis. the more the better.

However there is another story regarding the invention of mi hoon cangkok manis. Once there was a Colonial Officer who acquired the services of a very good cook. She was trained to cook many western dishes while at the same time she was able to please her boss with many of her own local dishes.

After the Colonial officer left Sarawak, she was enterprising enough to start her own stall. That was where probably the first mi hoon cangkok manis was sold.

October 20, 2017

Sarawakian Local Delights : Deep Fried River Fish with Sauce

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River fish is bony and not many people like bony fish.

However to get around the bones of the fish one has to deep fry the whole fish until very crispy,or until "the bones can be crushed by the teeth and eaten as well"!!

This is the way to do the bony river fish, which can be a mengalan, a tengadak or a tilang. A nice sauce made from soy sauce, Al Sauce, tomato sauce with onions and garlic would be nice. Otherwise if served plain, a dipping sauce is good enough.

Enjoy!!

October 19, 2017

Cannons of Sarawak, a legacy of a past kingdom


Canons have been the symbols of authority during the time of the Brooke Rule.

They usually were placed at the forts , as if to guard the official seat of authority.

the canons of Fort Alice in Sri Aman, are still there, as if they continue to guard and help provide "security" for the administrators,

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For Alice, Sri Aman.


Canon in Kuching.

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Canon of Fort Hose, Marudi

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Canons of Fort Sylvia, Kapit

















October 18, 2017

Sarawakian Local Delights : Ikan Bakar

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Fish that is slowly barbequed over a charcoal fire is a common way of cooking a fish in Sarawak. But having one cooked on a hot plate on top of a banana leaf is quite an innovative method.

It is simply called Ikan Bakar with chilli and sambal sauce.

A good sambal is made from pounding a lot of small onions, garlic,lemon grass and ginger with chillies,belacan and dried prawns. Fry this tumis and keep in a bottle. Once you need to cook a fish lover a charcoal fire, you need to spread the sambal over and under the marinated fish. Then you roast the fish on a steel plate, or over a charcoal fire.

Squeeze limes over the fish before serving.


October 15, 2017

Sarawakian Local Delights : Smoked Leaf Wrapped Rice


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For an event, newly harvested and milled rice is half cooked and then wrapped up in daun long in this manner. To keep cooking the rice, a slow fire is made in a diesel drum. Thus throughout the day, people can help themselves to this simple way of serving cooked rice whenever they are hungry.

The daun long gives the rice a special fragrance. The rice can be prepared with or without coconut milk.

Smoking the kelupis or leaf wrapped rice in this way keeps the rice fresh and good for even up to four days!!

October 14, 2017

Sarawakian Local Delights : Labu Putih

The Labu Putih is a good vegetable to eat, simply boiled with some pounded anchovies, it is a delightful and refreshing dish for the whole family.

The vegetable is easy to grow in the rural areas of Sarawak. A single vine or two can bring forth more than 30 or more fruits for the family and friends to share.

The gourd is white and easy to cut or even shred. It does not have much taste by itself so flavours would come from dried prawns or anchovies. It is seldom cooked with meat.

Many people have experienced that their indigestion and constipation could be relieved by consuming a lot of the gourd.


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It is one of the most common vegetables known in human history actually.

When buying a gourd, look for its tip which should be fresh, with a bit of sap even. Its skin should be shiny and pale green in colour without any spots. This gourd comes in several shapes -round, pear, or even elongated.

Labu putih is also found in AFrica, India, Paskistan and China. In fact many people believe that this gourd must have migrated to Borneo Island via China. It can be prepared as a soup in China or as part of a curry in India and Pakistan.

In recent years its leaves and tendrils which are edible have been sold in tamus. They also contain lots of vitamins and minerals.

October 10, 2017

Security Guard : Lau Kah Tii Mansion

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(A rifle in Lau Mansion 1930's. Sweet Memories. Photo from Google.)

This is Oral History from my mother Lau Hung Chuo (Age 94) and can be verified by her first cousin, Lau Pang Hung (Age 92), a son of Foochow Pioneer Lau Kah Tii.

My mother's uncle Lau Heng Chiew, brother to Lau Kah Tii and Lau Kah Jui (my maternal grandfather) came to Sarawak when he was already married with 8 children, to be the "security chief" of my grand uncle Lau Kah Tii, then already a Foochow Headman of Sibu.

As a chief guard, he carried a rifle and looked after the peace and security for the headman for many years.

Children like my mother, her siblings and cousins were terrified of him as he was a strict man. "No running on the plank walks, no runing upstairs when the BOSS was having his nap..."

A Foochow man with a gun looking after the big mansion and probably the whole village of the Headman was also a deterrent to many robbers who might want to do mischief.

Grand Uncle Lau Heng Chiew went back to Fujian, to retire happily in his old age. It also showed that Grand Uncle Lau Kah Tii was magnanimous and was very provident towards his extended family. He provided enough for Grand Uncle to retire in China.

Four Heavenly Kings - a Popular Vegetable Dish

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The Four Heavenly Kings is actually a popular vegetable dish in Miri. But behind the scene in Miri, the four heavenly kings also refer to the best four chefs of Miri. The list is always changing. One of them, a friend, is now retired. So new name list will be announced every now and then.

In Malaysia, the Four Heavenly Kings are usually brinjal, ladies' fingers, long beans and petai.

You can change any of the vegetables but brinjals to me is a must because they get sticky and form a remarkable jelly for the dish. No corn starch is necessary.

Ladies' fingers also add some stickiness.

I like mine with sweet young corn though if I have a choice of 4.

You can also have a choice, spicy (with lots of dried prawns and chillies), oyster, or garlic.

The secret of the dish - you have to slightly fry each of the four vegetables in hot oil to keep their crunchiness. And then use the aromatics to combine the four together.

I was told the dish is named after the four famous singers of Hong Kong. Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai . 

My mother, in her Foochow humour, said, "The dish must have been invented when a chef had only small bits of 4 vegetables left...just stir fry them together and give it a good name...and you have a new dish fit for a king...."

Mum is a sassy grandma.


October 6, 2017

Sarawakian Local Delights : Ikan Kembong



The weak ringgit and the fluctuating price of petrol have sent the price of ikan kembong sky high. The bigger ones are sold at 18 ringgit and the smaller ones at 16 ringgit. This fish was once considered "poor man's food". Nowadays instead of buying l kilo of fish many housewives buy half a kilo.

Ikan kembong or Indian mackerel is a tasty fish. It is very flavourful and tasty especially when cooked as a soup called Ikan Kembong Asam Pedas.

Fried ikan kemong is a staple food in Malaysia. Salted ikan kembong is always available in a Sarawak household. During rainy seasons when food is scarce, the salted ikan kembong is taken out, fried and eaten with a plate of hot rice.

Fried, salted ikan kembong are sliced in small pieces and served as part of garnish for nasi lemak, a popular breakfast dish.

Wrapped in banana leaves and steamed or baked, ikan kembong is very tasty and welcome by all, both young and old.

The South China Sea continues to yield big harvests of ikan kembong at the present moment.

Growing up in Sibu - Multi lingual

I grew up with Oxford English series from "A Pen and a Man...", Peter and Jane series, Enid Blyton was a known name, Aesop's Fables taught me morals not the 44 values of Pendidekan Moral,besides Greek Mythology, I had King Arthur and His Knights as warrior educators,great names of missionaries, adventurers etc.

I was born three months before the Hoover Memorail building (my primary school) was officially opened.

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I did not attend double session in thoses days ie. English education in the morning and Chinese education in the afternoon. My 7th aunt told me that before the war only the very bright ones could do both, or the wealthier ones. Those who attended only the Chinese had to work extra to help their families earn extra. some did not go to school until they were 10 years old due to financial difficulties. And with only a few years of basic education, they would leave school by the time they were 16 . In a year or two they became parents. the Methodist Church encouraged both boys and girls to go to school. Those without parents or had only one parent, were put in the boarding school and were called MISSION children, not orphans.

In Form One I studied BM, and at age 40 I started learning Chinese. In the first year of university I took Jawi as part of my Malay subject and Sanskrit as my second language. This was part of the regulation of those days. Others took Japanese, Chinese, Tamil, German and French.

Today I speak 4 languages,and 3 Chinese dialects and can understand some secret messages between Hakka and Cantonese...

Sibu was originally a Hokkien/Minnang speaking town where shopkeepers were descended from the earliest Minnang migrants to Borneo. It was only later in 1901 that the Foochows arrived. Even the Hakkas, Teochiews and Cantonese were earlier settlers.

There were schools before I was born, using Foochow as medium of instruction!

Basic education continues today in the rural and urban areas and remains compulsory but a lot of politicians have derailed the main principles of education.


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!!...