By Pamela Phang Kooi Yoong
DID you know there are “Viagra” prawns in Sarawak? No, they are not highly sexed crustaceans, nor are they prawns that have a Viagra effect. Instead, these are dried prawns – or heh-bee, as the Hokkiens call them – that are stiff and straight rather than curled, hence the cheeky moniker.
Heh-Bee, Dried prawn or Udang kering
At between RM70 and RM80 a kilogram, the shrimps don’t come cheap, but locals say they are extra tasty.
Along the Kuching riverfront we also came across several vendors offering Gambir Sarawak. This bark of the gambir tree, a vendor told us, is not an aphrodisiac but used for its anaesthetic properties to relieve toothaches, insect bites and small cuts.
We were not convinced, for his tiny vials of powdered Gambir Sarawak were sold along with other sexual aids like goat’s eyelashes and creams for increasing bust size.
Our host Annie Tan asked whether we’d like to try a fruit that could only be eaten after it has been soaked in hot water for five minutes.
“You mean a dried fruit?” we asked.
“No, no, it’s a proper fruit,” replied Tan. “You cannot eat it just like that, you’ve got to soak it in hot water to soften it. But if you keep the fruit in hot water longer than five minutes, it will have the opposite effect and make the fruit even harder than it was to begin with!”
Dabai or Sibu Black Olive
We were intrigued, to say the least, and nodded eagerly. Although it was the end of the season, we managed to get some at the Jalan Sartok Sunday Market.
The fruit is about the size of a date and has a shiny black skin with a bright yellow “head”.
Called oh-kanna (Hokkien for “black olive”) by the local Chinese and Dabai Sibu by the Malays, the fruit is said to be like an avocado – rather tasteless on its own, but excellent with condiments.
Back at the Holiday Inn Kuching Hotel, the hotel staff were excited that we wanted to eat their Dabai Sibu. They got the Coffee House to give us some black soya sauce, salt and sugar. Armed with these, we went up to our room, boiled some hot water, and soaked the hard fruits for exactly five minutes.
Pouring kicap sauce over it, then sprinkling some sugar, we popped the fruit into our mouths.
It has a slight tangy fruit-skin taste, but the fruit itself is dry-ish and a bit creamy, like a date. The kicap and sugar gave it a sweetish-salty taste. Following Tan’s instructions, we chilled some overnight and ate them cold. They tasted better this way.
But the real fruit to have here is the pineapple. Sarawak pineapples are famously sweet. But don’t just buy any old pineapple in the market. It MUST be the Sarikei pineapple, not the local ones, advised Tan.
At the fruit stall I chose a ripe yellow fruit, but Tan and the vendor quickly tossed it back into the pile and picked out some pineapples with green skins and a slight tinge of yellow.
”Aren’t they too green? Sour or not?” I fretted, but they explained that the Sarikei pineapple usually looks deceptively green on the outside.
Gambir Sarawak is another famous product of the state. — Pictures by PAMELA PHANG KOOI YOONG
Later, driving around town, we noticed that the street names were written in both Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese. Sarawak’s roundabouts also tend to have impressively long names. We had to go twice around a roundabout near the Dewan Negri Undangan called Bulatan Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Abdullah. Phew! What a mouthful!
A walk down the famous pedestrian walkway, India Street, revealed that most of the shops sold Chinese, not Indian, goods. Our other friend Butcher Wong told us that in the one year he had been posted here, he had discovered that Sarawakians had a very simple philosophy: if there is a way, there is a will.
So, if they see a road, and it makes a neat shortcut to their intended destination, they just drive in – against oncoming traffic, if need be. And people will make U-turns at just about any junction, and even run a red light!
Packed well, the famous Sarawak salted terubok can escape detection on the plane.
This Sarawak Boleh! attitude can sometimes be a blessing. Along the riverfront, we discovered that one of the best gifts to bring home is ikan terubok masin.
We were apprehensive about taking the fish onto the plane, even though it had already been gutted and salted.
But the vendor, unperturbed, packed, sealed and double-sealed the fish in a cardboard box and fashioned the whole thing into a hand-carry bag.
Boarding the plane later with our salted fish, we thought: if there is a way, there is certainly a will!
[Source: The Star]
DID you know there are “Viagra” prawns in Sarawak? No, they are not highly sexed crustaceans, nor are they prawns that have a Viagra effect. Instead, these are dried prawns – or heh-bee, as the Hokkiens call them – that are stiff and straight rather than curled, hence the cheeky moniker.
Heh-Bee, Dried prawn or Udang kering
At between RM70 and RM80 a kilogram, the shrimps don’t come cheap, but locals say they are extra tasty.
Along the Kuching riverfront we also came across several vendors offering Gambir Sarawak. This bark of the gambir tree, a vendor told us, is not an aphrodisiac but used for its anaesthetic properties to relieve toothaches, insect bites and small cuts.
We were not convinced, for his tiny vials of powdered Gambir Sarawak were sold along with other sexual aids like goat’s eyelashes and creams for increasing bust size.
Our host Annie Tan asked whether we’d like to try a fruit that could only be eaten after it has been soaked in hot water for five minutes.
“You mean a dried fruit?” we asked.
“No, no, it’s a proper fruit,” replied Tan. “You cannot eat it just like that, you’ve got to soak it in hot water to soften it. But if you keep the fruit in hot water longer than five minutes, it will have the opposite effect and make the fruit even harder than it was to begin with!”
We were intrigued, to say the least, and nodded eagerly. Although it was the end of the season, we managed to get some at the Jalan Sartok Sunday Market.
The fruit is about the size of a date and has a shiny black skin with a bright yellow “head”.
Called oh-kanna (Hokkien for “black olive”) by the local Chinese and Dabai Sibu by the Malays, the fruit is said to be like an avocado – rather tasteless on its own, but excellent with condiments.
Back at the Holiday Inn Kuching Hotel, the hotel staff were excited that we wanted to eat their Dabai Sibu. They got the Coffee House to give us some black soya sauce, salt and sugar. Armed with these, we went up to our room, boiled some hot water, and soaked the hard fruits for exactly five minutes.
Pouring kicap sauce over it, then sprinkling some sugar, we popped the fruit into our mouths.
It has a slight tangy fruit-skin taste, but the fruit itself is dry-ish and a bit creamy, like a date. The kicap and sugar gave it a sweetish-salty taste. Following Tan’s instructions, we chilled some overnight and ate them cold. They tasted better this way.
But the real fruit to have here is the pineapple. Sarawak pineapples are famously sweet. But don’t just buy any old pineapple in the market. It MUST be the Sarikei pineapple, not the local ones, advised Tan.
At the fruit stall I chose a ripe yellow fruit, but Tan and the vendor quickly tossed it back into the pile and picked out some pineapples with green skins and a slight tinge of yellow.
”Aren’t they too green? Sour or not?” I fretted, but they explained that the Sarikei pineapple usually looks deceptively green on the outside.
Gambir Sarawak is another famous product of the state. — Pictures by PAMELA PHANG KOOI YOONG
Later, driving around town, we noticed that the street names were written in both Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese. Sarawak’s roundabouts also tend to have impressively long names. We had to go twice around a roundabout near the Dewan Negri Undangan called Bulatan Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Abdullah. Phew! What a mouthful!
A walk down the famous pedestrian walkway, India Street, revealed that most of the shops sold Chinese, not Indian, goods. Our other friend Butcher Wong told us that in the one year he had been posted here, he had discovered that Sarawakians had a very simple philosophy: if there is a way, there is a will.
So, if they see a road, and it makes a neat shortcut to their intended destination, they just drive in – against oncoming traffic, if need be. And people will make U-turns at just about any junction, and even run a red light!
Packed well, the famous Sarawak salted terubok can escape detection on the plane.
This Sarawak Boleh! attitude can sometimes be a blessing. Along the riverfront, we discovered that one of the best gifts to bring home is ikan terubok masin.
We were apprehensive about taking the fish onto the plane, even though it had already been gutted and salted.
But the vendor, unperturbed, packed, sealed and double-sealed the fish in a cardboard box and fashioned the whole thing into a hand-carry bag.
Boarding the plane later with our salted fish, we thought: if there is a way, there is certainly a will!
[Source: The Star]
1 comments:
bila ada dabai di kuching? boleh jual dekat pasar kubah ria sana kah?
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