What can an aunt prepare? She would cook as she normally does..may be with minimal fuss as well. Hubby can bring back a roasted duck from the kedai for the children in case they are too fond of KL food.
So here goes the food freshly prepared...it is like what Chef Wan would say...from the Garden to the Table...
And the menu is not one you can find in any good restaurant in town...but to those coming home after a long long time and from far away....this menu is just right...Just like old times!!
| Iban Cucumber which grows easily in her garden plot. Boiled with some ikan bilis . |
Kuchai is easily grown in any loamy soil around the house in Sarawak.
This is salted bamboo shoot from the jungle. And this is a dish which people long for when they are far away from home as the pickling cannot be done in a place where this kind of bamboo is not available......
Fresh corn from the garden. Just steamed and so lovely and sweet. Diabetics have to be careful because you can be so tempted. to eat more than two!! Freshly plucked from the plants....No fertilizers.
Pumpkin from the garden...A hardworking woman like my sister in law can make plants grow from every inch of soil she has around her house. She makes me think of Jamie Oliver who sits in his garden and plucks tomotoes right next to him!! Each time I visit her I enjoy helping her pluck some limes or belimbing...It is good to continue the Iban tradition of growing your own vegetables in the backyard even when you are living in the best of the residential areas...A bountiful harvest every day is a real comfort in life...and will definitely give you a good night's sleep.....
.No worries about what food will be on the table next day..God is provident..
19 comments:
Hello,
You spoke my heart ... each time I am home from abroad, I always tell my school friends and family ... don't take me to any restaurant, but just simple hawker or BETTER still home-cooked food. And no big fuss home-cooked meals either. Just whatever the cook fancy. Often time I would chip-in and buy ready cooked food from the hawkers, or just eat out to avoid slaving the cooks.
Not only these kind of dishes are hard to find, away from home, but is the simplicity that I enjoyed the most. It is also the thoughts that count most. And the time and opportunities to chit-chat and reconnect. NO amount of the most expensive dishes in the world can beat all these 'home coming warmness'.
We can buy ikan billies in Europe, or bimbling or sweetcorn .. but nothing can beat when they are cooked with 'so much love'.
Cindy
I will SABU the midin and the bamboo. I picked the sour bilimbling from the father of the son in law of the GIM KWANG CHEONG. The house in the Malay kanpong. The daughter Hasnah was my classmate. Ate them off the tree, even now, my salivia is drooling. Hasnah dodn't say has to cook.
Great reunion party.
I love all of them.
My goodness... all so nice. Reminded me of the good old days.
wow..all so nutritious..
everything looks yummy!
Oliver is from Sibu.
Cindy
I am so touched by your response!! It is good to eat fresh food with minimal fuss. And I really wish that we can all have a family garden so that we can plant our own food as much as possible. In this way the world would also be a greener place. And there would not be all those huge giants bearing down upon us dictating the prices they want!! The world must learn that figures on paper at the end of the day are not as important as feelings and blood sweat and tears. Keep in touch!!
Ah ha Ann...so you know Zainuddin's family...and Hasnah too...nice you could get belimbing from their kampong garden.. My old wooden house was just diagonally across the Kim Guan Siang's family home in Brooke Drive...
Charles...these dishes are popular amongst the Brunei Dusuns and all the local Sarawakians. Thanks. the Babas and Nyonyas would share the same taste.
William..did you learn how to cook some of these dishes in Limbang? or had some share of them with friends?
Wenn
These are quite popular dishes in Sarawakian homes and when many of us take to the tamu (market) during the weekends we look for ingredients for these dishes. Of course some families would attempt some fusion cooking!! You will like these definitely when you come to visit your friends in Sarawak
Sarawaklens...
Yes..when we go to the jungle..even with one small pot we can cook up a storm with all these ingredients next to our camp...if we bother to look for them..Hope Sarawak will continue to give these blessings to us.
Ann...I wonder Oliver belongs to which family...of the Wongs.
CY: No problem cooking many of these except ensabi and the last one. Of course I can't roast duck like the above as it demands different oven.
William...Yes..roasting the ducks in a special oven is commonly seen in Miri...it is the temperature which gives the duck the shiny and thin crispy skin..and how long the ducks are hung outside for "wind drying". You can have a similar fire by burning wood in a half or full oil drum..I have seen this in Cantonese villages in Sarawak before Chinese New Year...the original duck and chicken "roasting ovens"
I think you may know his older bro Andrew. I think he studied engineering in MU. senior than me, but junior to you. I think they used to live the road near Hing Yu park. Now he lives in Kajang. he is involved in this number psychology. check his FB. Sacred heart boys
Dear Ann
If he is from Sacred Heart I don't think I know...I only know a few families from Hin Yu Park..the Lings - the Wong Hua Ping family (the basket ball players) my grand aunt (Tiong Yuk Ging) and Mr. Wong Hee Way..and of course my Third Aunt...Helen U is also from Hin Yu Park!! I will check his facebook. thanks.
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