Eating Terubok

 When we were growing up in Sibu, we had lots of fish to eat as my father was a good fisherman and quite a good Chinese expeert on throwing the jala.

He had come from a poor background when he was young and my grandfather had expected him and his brothers to fish in the river (both the Rajang and the Seduan (or Sg Merah).

My father used to tell us how happy the family was to have fish soup on the table.

On days they did not have fish, they would have soy bean soup, which he would abhor later on in life.

Grandma Chong had chickens and ducks in the backyard but they were for festivals and gifts for the older generation when grandpa went to visit them.

We enjoyed eating terubok, boney but sweet.

Father taught us to pick on the flesh. When we were older we learned to separate the flesh from the bones in our mouth and then spit out the bones!! We were really expert fish eaters.

This kind of memory is fading ...as time goes by the eating of terubok is no longer fun when we go into our 70's and 80's.

I still like the taste of grilled terubok.

Tuak : The Iban Rice Wine

Photo by Chang Kai.

Tuak is rice wine made by the Ibans, predominantly, for ceremonial and festive purposes. The miring or offering ritual must have tuak.

The Gawai is celebrated in many different ways, from a simple dinner to a huge gathering of thousands of warriors and very important people in a huge ground.

Rice wine would be made a month or longer before the Gawai on 1st June each year in Sarawak.

The first Gawai was only celebrated in 1962.

Gawai in the Iban language originally referred to as a harvest thanksgiving ritual. It is not for the passing of an old year and welcoming of the new year. Hence the making of rice wine is befitting as part of the harvest festival - what better way than to enjoy a wine made from the freshest of harvested rice?

The Iban wish for Gawai is : Selamat ari Gawai, gayu guru, gerai nyamai.. Happy Festival Day, wishing you bountiful harvest and good health....

Sagu

the Melanaus process sago to make sagu, the pallets made from sago flour, rice bran and husk and grated coconut. It is best eaten with bananas, umai and other side dishes



It is a tough job making the sagu balls or pallets in Dalat (Medong village).

The making of sagu should be considered a heritage industry.

My son's Lei cha

Lei char is a favourite Hakka dish. It is vegetarian to start with and is definitely very healthy food.

Lei cha has a long history in the world of culinary arts, as old as the Hakkas themselves.

"Lei cha (Chinese: 擂茶; pinyin: léi chá; literally: 'Thunder tea'; pronounced [lěi ʈʂʰǎ]) or ground tea is a traditional Southern Chinese tea-based beverage or gruel. The custom of Lei cha began in the Three Kingdoms period or even Han Dynasty. It is very prevalent among Hakka people in Hakka regions of Taiwan."  Wikipedia.

Green tea leaves form the soup base, to which an assortment of blended (ground) peanuts, mint leaves, sesame seeds, basil leaves, perilla leaves and mung beans are added, boiled for quite a while.

Several vegetables are then cut up finely and stir fried individually like changkok manis, curly mustard greens, tofu, pickled radish, long beans, etc. They are then put together over rice, or served separately with a bowl of the lei cha soup.

We used to frequent a Hakka stall in Miri and would have this special dish at least once a week. Now that we are older, we do not "go to town" so often. If you do, we don't hang out for long hours.







However recently my son made his own lei char in Perth with almost all the  proper ingredients. He even had perilla leaves.

Buah Binjai and Linut

Binjai is a fruit of South East Asia.  It is naturally distributed in Sumatra, Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia. It is cultivated in Bali, Peninsular Thailand and, rarely, to western Java.

It is a very unique fruit, with white flesh and is not really tasty. Its sour taste makes it a good condiment for the gluey LINUT, the starchy porridge loved by the Penans and the Kedayans of Brunei.

Many Binjai trees have been felled because it is a tall tree and its wood is good. Due to indicscriminate lumbering, the binjai fruits are not easily available in the market now.

  Binjai is often used to prepare a spice based on chillies (sambal) which is eaten with river fish. In some areas, the flesh of ripe fruit is pickled and preserved with salt in jars.  This is used to make sambal when fresh fruits are not available.     Bijai is a very heavy bearer and a single tree can produce thousands of fruits. The fruit ripens 3 months after anthesis.

Halal Sup Ikan Masak Foochow in Mukah

 
Above photo shows my Halal Sup Ikan Masak Foochow or Foochow Style Sour Fish Soup in Mukah.






The Foochow legend of the origin of Chow Chai: Once the Emperor's army came to Fujian to tax the people and they would take away all the food they found. A farmer was terrified that his store of fresh vegetables would be taken away so he buried them in his backyard with the red wine lees he had and everything else worthy of being taken by the soldiers.

The soldiers did not find his treasures and moved on. A few days later, when the family ran out of food, the farmer went to the back yard to find monkeys feasting on the buried vegetables. He took some home and cooked what he thought was edible.

Lo and behold, chow chai was born.




Today, chow chai is one of the ThREE TREASURES of Minqing, my grandfather's home district in China.

Chow Chai is made from Foochow red wine lees (chow) and mustard green (chai). It is sourish in taste like and preserved vegetable in the world.

Recently I visited Mukah and made a nice and happy discovery.

The Melanaus have also learned to use chow chai when they cook Souptapah or tengirri in their coffee shops in Mukah. They call the fish noodle dish quite aptly, Ikan masak Foochow. Totally Halal.

Peach Gum

In recent years, peach gum or peach resin has become a very popular sweet dessert in restaurants.

It is served together with white fungus, red dates, barley and even sago pearls in cold syrupy soup after a huge banquet.

The amber hued coloured gum is also called "the tears of peach blossom" . People like it a lot because it contains a lot of collagen.



Photo above : This is just a small packet of loose peach gum I bought to make my sweet dessert at home costing about 3.00 ringgit from a supermarket.

Peach gum is the resin from peach and Chinese wild peach trees, already solidified when it is found. As detailed in classical Chinese medical literature, its curative qualities include solving urinal infections, thirst-quenching and relieving stress. 

Ikan Empirang

Fried salted Empirang is a welcome side dish or even a main dish for many Iban farmers in the ulu.  When deep fried, bones and scales are crunchy and can be chewed. Good source of calcium too.


Photos : Above and below -- Fried ikan empirang at home. Great with hot rice and simple jungle vegetables.



Ikan empirang is a very outstanding fish to find in any Sarawak fish market. And it will delight any consumer looking for good fish for the prepapration of umai. It is especially well loved by the Melanaus whose traditional food is umai.

The fish is glistening yellowish orange in colour and is flat, at only about 5 cm. big. It is not an expensive fish as it is bony and thin. But its flesh is sweet and tasty.

When sliced very thinly, the bones would no longer be a problem and would be soft enough not to get stuck in the throat. So one should not be worried about the bones when preparing this local umai in Miri, Sibu or Kuching where empirang is easily found.

Very often it is served as part of an array of dishes for Economy Food, or as part of a platter with nasi lemak.

Ikan empirang is also salted in Miri and taken home to the Ulu where often good protein is no longer easily available. Slowly there is a change in local ulu diet as fresh food, fresh meat, exotic meats are getting rarer.

A meaningful social research should be made to analyse changes in diet, food preferences and causes of the changes.

Ikan Masin Gelama

This is the result of 4 days of salting Sam Gey (Three Teeth), a common sea fish easily available in Miri. Many housewives have learned to buy these very economical fish at less than 10 ringgit per kg and have them cleaned and salted. We actually don't even have to dry them in the sun as we can skip the step.

this quick salting of fish is simpler. Once we have salted the fish we will keep the fish in a glass jar for about 3 days in the fridge. If we like on the 4th day we can dry the fish in the sun to the state we like. Then we will keep the freshly salted fish in  a clean jar and put back in the fridge.

Also, we can start frying the fish for our evening meals, with side dishes of vegetables and some soup.



This is jarang gigi or ikan gelama. They can also be fried, fresh, with some tou cheo sauce. Excellent.

Sarawak : Enoki Mushrooms and Goji Berries

Years ago, in Sibu restaurants, a special delicacy of mushrooms, broccoli and some meat slices would form a welcome banquet dish. Dried mushrooms imported from China and Taiwan would be rehydrated and used in the preparation of this dish. This was a dish we could only  have either at special banquets in restaurants or New Year at home.

Today, enoki mushrooms and even shiitake mushrooms are availalbe in supermarkets. Broccoli too would not be considered a luxury. And Goji berries as garnish are a very welcome sight.

How lucky we are today. We can easily prepare this dish at home now.

kerabu mee hoon recipe

Some guests coming? A very easy dish to prepare when you have help too. A lot of the ingredients are in the back yard and in the fridge. And you don't have to get a big chicken from the wet market.

This is a nyonya recipe, and you can always reduce the amount of chillies. The more limes, the better.

Ingredients:

lime juice
sugar
light soy sauce
fish sauce

lemon grass
torch binger bud
kaffir lime leaves
sweet basil leaves (20)

green chillies

dried shrim paste
red chillies
bean sprouts (tipped and toed)

rice vermicelli. scalded.

blend chillies amnd dried shrimp
Some fresh prawns if you have

This is a cold or salad dish.

(Photos from http://blog.seasonwithspice.com/2012/03/nyonya-kerabu-bee-hoon.html)

White Cubed Sugar

The cube made its British debut in 1875, when Henry Tate, a grocer-turned-sugar magnate (and namesake founder of London’s Tate Gallery), bought the patent for a new cube-making process from a German named Eugen Langen. 


It made its presence felt in Limbang in 1974.


In 1974, the Yang diPertuan Agong and the Permaisuri paid an official visit to Limbang where I was teaching. They actually paid a visit to a longhouse, at that time, the home of Temenggong Ngang. Every one was busy preparing for their arrival.

The Education Department was to take care of the special tea for the King and Queen in the longhouse and the Education officers and teachers were tasked to buy everything that was necessary for the special tea.

One of the most interesting items was the cubed sugar which some of us had to buy from Brunei as it was not available in the small town. The team had to take a speedboat to the Brunei capital when it was found out the discovery was made.

As a result of that special visit, all housewives, from the length of the Limbang River, in the villages were very eager to have cubed sugar with their tea and coffee. Furthermore, they were introduced to the tongs which they would use to pick up the sugar cubes.

I often wonder if the shops supplying cubed sugar in Bandar Begawan ever ran out of cubed sugar from 1974 , for a few years.

The novelty of having cubed sugar was a very pleasant episode in my life.

By the way, I still buy a box of cubed sugar every now and then. Just for style. And I am not at all surprised when I see some cubed sugar in the long houses. It would mean that the hostesses were happy to get some for their guests.

Sarawak Food : Tua Pek Kong Fish

Scomberoides commersonnianus, the Queenfish or Talang, is called Tua Pek Kong hu in Hokkien and is not eaten by the Chinese as they believe that the five spots on its sides are the fingerprints of the deity Tua Pek Kong, the God of Prosperity. 

There is another legend. A ship carrying many Chinese passengers was about to sink. But Tua Pek Kong heard their prayers. so he sent a big fish to stop water from rushing into the ship. The fish stopped the seepage and as a result there are five black spots on his body. Today the five black spots are left on the body of all the descendants of the fish. Therefore to thank Tua Pek Kong and this fish, many Chinese do not eat this fish.

Scientific Name: Scomberoides commersonnianus  Lacepède, 1801
English Name: Talang Queenfish, Leatherskin
Mandarin Name: 舢舨跳 (Shānbǎn tiào), 三保公 (Sānbǎo gōng)
Local Malay Name: Ikan Talang Bongkok, Talang Lima Jari
Local Hokkien: Sam Pan Thiao, Sam Poh Gong, Tua Peh Gong
Main Diagnostic Features: 5 to 8 round blotches on sides and upper jaw reaching well beyond eye.
Size: Maximum total length 120 cm, commonly 75 cm.

West Malaysian Malays, the ARabs and the Indians love this fish. It can be cooked in so many different ways.

Sarawak : Chopsticks?

The binjai is a local Sarawak fruit, sour and its flesh is white. It is a peculiar fruit which might not be liked by a lot of people who are unfamiliar with it.

There is a similar local fruit called belunu!

Both fruits have huge trees which can grow up to more than 200 feet tall.


Ambuyat or linut is a Bruneian dish and it is also favoured by the Penans, Melanaus and Kedayans of Sarawak.

It is called linut in Sarawak and is made from sago flour. It is actually very gluey. You eat it with a special bamboo home made chopsticks. Linut is served with sambal, cucumber and selections of sour fruits.

My former SMK Limbang student, Dayang Lasung who is Lun Bawang married a Melanau. She and her husband, both studied in the Tanjog Lobang College, Miri, One day they prepared a Linut feast ad invited me . It was a sumptuous Melanau lunch with linut and all.

The way to pick up linut is to use a Melanau chopsticks, made from fine bamboo, which look like a pair of Chinese chopsticks. Now I know what the Melanau and Penan tamu vendors sell in the their stalls. They are selling Melanau chopticks and not Chinese chopsticks.

Roadside Stalls

Roadside stalls : In Sarawak they are quite popular. In fact the best ones are those put up by operators right in front of their house. Here one can assess how clean the food is and one can wash hands if needed.

Some roadside stalls are situated at cross roads, like the seasonal fruit stalls along fruit producing areas.

Some famous roadside stalls are set up by squatters who find operating a business at night very lucractive.

Other roadside stalls are set up to sell specific food or products e.g. vegetables where people can pick up vegetables when they go to their office or school.

Roadside stalls are very Malaysian. We get our pisang goreng, sukun goreng, nasi lemak and pulut panggang etc from them. Some roadside stalls are very permanent and famous while others might be fly by night.

Some roadside stalls operate at night and these are the places for many humble people to hang out.

In most towns in Sarawak roadside stalls need a council licence to operate. But they are at least cheap to operate because the owners do not have to pay a hefty rental to a big towkay.

Many innovative business people started off as roadside stall operators.

Baked Bao

When Kuching's baked baos business took off, the people were stunned. Everyone visiting Kuching must bring back a dozen of these buns as gifts to as far as Sandakan.

I found the recipe from Guai Shu Shu, as he was so willing to share. Thank you

Water Skin

• 200 grams of Plain flour 
• 60 grams of vegetable shortening/Lard/cooking oil/butter
• 30 grams of castor sugar
• 1/4 teaspoons of salt
• 100 ml or grams of water

Oil Skin

• 150 grams of plain flour
• 100 grams of vegetable shortening/Lard/cooking oil/butter

Fillings

• 300 grams of diced barbecue pork （叉烧）
• 200 grams of green peas (青豆）
• 1 big onion – diced （大葱）
• 2 tablespoons of sesame oil （麻油）
• 3 tablespoons of castor sugar （细砂糖）
• 3 tablespoons of Chinese cooking wine （烹饪酒）
• 5 tablespoons of oyster sauce （耗油）
• 2 tablespoons of dark soya sauce (not in picture) （酱油）
• About 5 tablespoons of corn starch/potato starch with 5 tablespoons of water （5勺生粉或玉米粉加5勺的水）

And this is his book. Excellent.

COD - Snow Fish

Steamed cod with shitake mushrooms and special thick soy sauce

Cod is a white fleshed mild flavour fish and is popular world wide.

The Foochows are most familiar with cod liver oil (Scott's Emulsion). Cod liver  is full of vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA). Cod is a welcome dish at all times. The Red Wine Steamed Cod is one of the most popular ways of serving cod and is indeed a festive dish.

When adults give a treat to their children and elders, and order a plate of cod, there is so much love in the air!!


Affluence in Sarawak has brought better imports to the state and cod is definitely a food that has started to grace many a banquet.

In fact cod has been an important food item in the international market since the Viking times. Cod continues to be a very significant and successful Norwegian export. Norwegian cod has been exported to China with great success.

Tengayen at Bario Food Festival

Tengayen is a type of wild spinach that grow in shrubs.

It is a much favoured vegetables of the Orang Ulu of SArawak who usually cook it in a soup.

I had my first taste of this vegetable, which some people would also call the Asparagus of the Highlands of Sarawak during the three day Food Festival of Bario.

Many stalls were set up serving different kinds of food. Some stalls offered seats and tables, while others just offer take away. Each Kelabit village was represented by a stall.

A huge range of farmed and wild fruits (jungle products) were on sale and  and some were served as cooked dishes To me every thing was  more like a kind of living exhibition.

This kind of festive atmosphere also helps the younger generations meet many relatives, friends who they have not seen for several years. It is also an eye opener for local and foreign tourists. Homestays provide accomodation as no hotel is available in Bario.

But most importantly the festival provides a platform for visitors and the younger generation "to better understand the “gold mine” inside the forest which must be safeguarded against deforestation and extinction."

Today, Orang Ulu Food stalls can also be found in Miri, and Kuching. You can look for “kikid luang” (fish porridge) and “ kikid labo” (meat porridge), “nuba laya” and “senape” (Bario rice dishes wrapped in palm leaf), “labo senutong” (meat steam cooked in bamboo with tapioca leaf, wild herbs mixed with local spices), “akap” (river snail), “lanau” (wild Kelabit asparagus), “bua kabar” (Kelabit pineapple), “kelatang” (bettle grubs), “uet” (coconut grubs), “tengayen” (wild Kelabit spinach)  and “labo pull” (smoke or grill meat arrange in satay style) and “abang” (Kelabit vegetable)

Vegetable Oil - Canola OIl

Foochows of Sibu came from Fujian in the 1900's and they brought the making of cooking oil culture to Sibu. Although Canola (yiu chai) cannot be grown in huge areas in Sibu, the Foochows have been making cooking oil from lard, sunflower seeds, peanuts and coconut.

Canola oil is produced from the seed of many varieties of the rape plant(Brassica napus L.) or field mustard/turnip rape (Brassica rapa subsp. oleifera, syn. Brassica campestris L.). This is a bottle of canola oil from Wesson Company. 



Malaysia has gone into the production of cooking oil to reduce the importation of many different kinds of oil from other countries.

However the Foochows continue to prefer oil made from canola or sunflower seeds.

Improved technology has also reduced the cost of producing cooking oil, especially oil from oil palm so housewives do not have to make their own cooking oil. It would be cheaper to buy.

Masak Hitam : Famous Sarawak Recipe

masak itam, as it is famously known, is a Sarawakian Malays type of beef rendang that is normally served during special occasions such as weddings and Eid celebration. Sarawakian black beef rendang is very distinct in comparison to its Western Malaysia counterpart because of the use of dark caramel soy sauce, palm sugar and prune, with the absence of coconut milk and kerisik or grated coconut. It is also sweet, with just a little hint of dry spices and spiciness. Although prune may not be compulsory, this is the ingredient that helps in the coloring, texture and special taste to this dish.

Ingredient:
A) Blend altogether
5 cloves of garlic
5 shallots
Half a small onion
2 lemongrass - cut finely
1 cm galangal
1 cm ginger

B)
2-3 tbs pitted prunes - blended into paste
2 tbs palm sugar
1 tbs chilli sauce
1 tbs tomato sauce
1 tbs chili paste
1 tbs kurma powder+1 tbs of curry powder - mix with water to make paste
1/2 cup of tamarind juice
Dark caramel soy sauce - for marinate and for coloring
Salt to taste

Spices : 1 cinnamon stick, 2 star anise, 5 cloves, 3 cardamom pods

300gm lean beef

Optional:
2 tbs dried raisin

Served with Nasi Lemak...Best of both worlds.

Method:
1. Marinate beef with 1 tbs dark caramel soy sauce for about 1 hour.
2. Heat up enough cooking oil and saute the spices.
3. Add and saute the blended item A until fragrant.
4. Add in chili paste, kurma powder, and chili powder, stir and wait until the oil breaks and comes to the surface.
5. Add in the beef and stir until cooked sufficiently.
6. Add palm sugar, chilli sauce, tomato sauce, dark caramel soy sauce, tamarind juice and prune paste.
7. If too dry, add in about 1 cup of water. Cover and heat at low heat.
8. Stir once in a while to avoid burning at the bottom.
9. When almost dry, add salt to taste. Also other sauces and dark soy sauce can be added to adjust.
10. If preferred, can add dried raisin just before turning off the fire.