Sibu Tales : Cangkok Manis

When the Foochows first stepped off from their boat in Sg. Merah, they actually had a hard time adjusting to the climate. That was 1901.

The Rajah's government had already built five hostels to accomodate them before they would go to their respective allocated land further down in Ensurai, Engkilo, Sg. Bidut and other parts of Sg. Merah. This was part of the agreement signed between Wong Nai Siong and the then Rajah Charles Brooke who were impressed by Fujian agriculturalists.

The pioneers had to use the red river water to bathe,cook and wash and were very much like the first Pilgrim Fathers who arrived in the USA from Plymouth, UK in 1620. I am sure the American Natives came to watch the Pilgrim fathers and their ways and so did the Ibans who came down from Sg. Seduan or up from Sg. Aup.

One of my grandfather's stories was about the Cangkok Manis or Iban or Dayak Vegetable which the Foochows learned to cultivate. They did not know the name of this vegetable and so they named it after the Dayaks. Hence the politically incorrect name (by today's standard) or Lakian Chai.

At first they grew the very sweet vegetable from the seeds (they failed) and later they realised that it was very easy just to grow from the cuttings. Perhaps this was from their own observation of how the Ibans grew them around their camps.




In fact Cangkok Manis has beautiful flowers and seeds.

My grandfather told us that he carried a lot of seeds in a cotton bag from Minqing. And he also told us that some of the pioneers even brought saplings to grow. Some died during voyage, while some survived like the pomelo and the longan.

But I must say the Foochows actually helped Cangkok Manis to spread every where they set up villages in Sarawak as it is such a hardy vegetable. A Marudi Foochow farmer managed to grow it so well that the plants  became his fencing!! And they have been standing tall around his old wooden house for more than 15 years.

Another Foochow farmer in Engkilili started to grow cangkok manis together with his pepper vines more than 20 years ago and some of the original cangkok manis  have grown taller than the belian poles of his pepper vines.

Today, cangkok manis has become a favourite restaurant dish and a good addition to many newly created dishes.

Rich and poor, young and old, all love the vegetable. Today, to be politically correct, we call this vegetable mani cai. Or just sayur manis.

I still think of all the patches of mani cai my grandfather and mother planted so that we could have good vegetable soups.