Food

Bubur Ruya
 

A very simple dessert best taken during a rainy day for tea time. Used to have this often when I was much younger, and finally had the chance to have this again recently when my mother brought back some tapioca root from the farm. The recipe calls for the least of ingredients 

Black Peper Beef Ala Sarawak

  

Daging masak itam, as it is famously known, is a Sarawakian Malays type of beef rendang that is normally being served during special occasion 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 sweeter in nature, 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.

Midin Masak Belacan

  

Midin (Stenochlaena palustris-source here ) is one type of jungle ferns that can be found in a tropical South East Asia countries. In  Sarawak, these can be found in abundance, and it has become a very familiar vegetable dish especially in restaurants. Locally it is also being called milin or bilin.Before the commercialization of midin, the Dayak has been consuming midin for a very long time. However, they normally consumed the more leafy portion of midin which is also known as Paku Merah. It is identified by its red color, and it'll turn to green when it is fully mature and become inedible. Since only the leaves are used and it produced less bulk when it wilted, they normally will add-in a bit more water to this stir-fried dish, or added into simple 'one-dish' soup which consist of few types of protein and vegetables.

 Grilled Eggplant & Dayak Style Sambal Belacan

  

Back in those days, as most of the Dayaks are farmers and most farms are on the hilly parts or at the foot of the mountain, they normally will start their day as early as 6am to start their journey from home. This is so that they can start tending on their farm and utilized the cool temperature in the morning to do as much as they can. Because of that, they normally will have only a very light breakfast which consists of a grounded coffee and accompanied with cream crackers or quick fritters either at home or at the farm.

 Sarawak Fried Rice

 This shall be the first Malay cooking that will be included in Sarawak Ethnic Food. Nasik Aruk or simply nasi goreng (fried rice) of Sarawak version is very basic and simple. However, as it is the version of fried rice that we have known since we were very young, we are very fond of this fried rice as it always reminds us of moms who prepared it for us to bring to school. This fried rice is also can be commonly found at Malay coffee shop and food stalls.

 Sarawak Laksa

 

 Sarawak laksa (Malay: Laksa Sarawak) comes from the Malaysian state Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. It is actually very different from the curry laksa as the soup contains no curry at all. It has a base of sambal belacan, sour tamarind, garlic, galangal, lemon grass and coconut milk, topped with omellete strips, chicken strips, prawns, fresh coriander and optionally lime. Ingredients such as bean sprouts, (sliced) fried tofu or other seafood are not traditional but are sometimes added.