Dried Prawn of Sandakan

Edited on the 10thMay, 2008. No more on offer at eBay. Too troublesome for international export.

This dried prawn is from Sandakan, the finest in Malaysia. The prawns

or shrimps in Sandakan is well known for its delicious taste when
still fresh. Because small sized prawns fetch a very low price, they
are usually dried.

The process of drying is primitive. Sandakan, despite its large sea
food produce does not have any freeze drying facility. There is not
enough electricity for Sabah in order to set up any heavy industry. It
does not even have enough electricity for residential uses with the
frequent electric power failures.

The fresh prawn is first boiled, before they are sun-dried. It is only
slightly salty unlike the salted dried fish. The salt is used as a
preservative without destroying its prawny flavour.

You can eat it raw because it is already cooked. It is best added to
normal food as though it is fresh prawn in a grounded form.

It may appear that this prawn is just a normal prawn but Sandakan bay
is unique in the world. It makes the prawns taste differently compared
to other parts of Sabah. Conservation efforts is virtually non-
existent. The amount of prawn is getting less and less every year, in
favour of cultured tiger prawns that are less delicious than these
prawns, that we call paper prawns. For example, in West Malaysia,
there is no more dried prawn of this quality. Even at Kota Kinabalu,
only 350 km away, you cannot find it as fresh as this.

Soto Makasar of Kota Kinabalu

This soto Makasar is based on the soto found in Celebes(Sulawesi) but

my colleague cannot find it at Ujung Pandang, the capital of
Sulawesi,which means that this soto or soup, is unique to Sabah.

You can find it at a chinese coffee shop next to Restaurant Melaka, at
Kampung Air, Kota Kinabalu.

At Kota Kinabalu, they give you the option of beef, chicken and cow's
stomach lining. This soto uses ground nut and rice water,which you can
mix with noodles or compacted rice(nasi impit). This is the daughter's
hawker stall.

The original recipe for this is from Sandakan resident who was
formerly from Java island, not Sulawesi. There, they give you more
options, which include more internal organs. Somehow it tastes better
at Sandakan than at Kota Kinabalu.

There are other places offering soto Makasar at Kota Kinabalu but they
don't taste as close to the original as this particular stall.

Sandakan Siagul

Siagul at the left is the one that our family cooks. It's recipe is different from those described in the google search. It is very different from our Filipino neighbours.

My wife does not wish to reveal its recipe to the whole world. It should remain within our family. Hopefully our children should preserve these delicious recipe.

It is cooked from a special type of ray fish. I find it very delicious but Fried Red Durian(Tempoyak) does not go well with it. It is just too creamy.



http://www.google.com.my/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=siagul+food&btnG=Search&meta=

http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:yhKcaE_YUqYJ:www.aseanfood.info/scripts/count_article.asp%3FArticle_code%3D13004947+siagul+food&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=my

Ambuyat

http://nutriweb.org.my/recipe/vol2/english/sabah_sarawak/recipe_ss1.php

I've never eaten or even seen any ambuyat but it is spoken often by people at the West Coast of Sabah. I am originally from Sandakan, at the East Coast of Sabah, of the Sulu descent.

Based on my interviews with my colleagues at the office, I am told that Ambuyat originates from the Brunei and Kadayan people. Because it requires sago and the Bisaya people live near an area rich in Sago, Ambuyat is more widely consumed by the Bisayas.

There is no need for any picture attachment because the link given above should give a good picture.

However this picture is not demonstrative of the Ambuyat that I was told. It should be very clear because Sago is starchy. Making it is an art. Not easy for anyone to cook just by reading recipes.

It is best eaten with apap i.e. condensed asam-pedas, of fish such as Basung.

Sago is not easy to find anywhere on earth and it is a dying food. It is difficult to cook this kind of food and the younger generation do not appreciate it as much as western fast food.

Kolopis

It is just steamed glutinous rice soaked in coconut milk, while being wrapped with the Nyarik/Telarik leaf. This leaf is not as delicious as another leaf. Unfortunately I lost those rare leaves, and cannot even tell its name. I first tasted these Kolopis wrapped with the rare jungle leaves, during a religious celebration(Bergunting) at my brother's place a few weaks ago, just after Hari Raya.

I tasted it to be slightly less delicious compared to Lemang, but to many, Kolopis is even more delicious. With that rare leaf, it is more aromatic than the normal Kolopis wrapped with Nyarik leaves. Lemang is wrapped with banana leaf, but its aroma rely on the Bambu Temiang where the glutinous rice is kept when it was grilled. Kolopis is just steamed within the Nyarik leaves.

Kolopis is only found at places to the South West of Sabah. Cannot find much at Papar, only from Beaufort to Sipitang. It is a pity because it is more delicious than the Ketupat, and to some, even Lemang. The problem is its reliance on a non-grown exotic leaves that may become extinct soon.

The recipe:

http://resipirasia.blogspot.com/2011/09/kelupis.html?m=1

Penyaram

Penyaram is popular among my children and I can see more and more places in West Malaysia selling this cake. It may not be obsolete but the skills required to make this cake is difficult to maintain. There is no mould used in shaping the edges.

Pumpkin Dudul of Sandakan

This pumpkin dudul is very rare. It cannot be bought from any market. My mother used to cook it every Hari Raya celebration and I do not appreciate it that much, preferring the dudul pulut cooked by my grandmother.

Dudul pulut can be easily bought from markets all over Malaysia but this pumpkin dudul is rarely offered for sale. Over time, I miss the aroma of the pumpkin compared to the bland glutinous rice. By now, I declare that this pumpkin dudul is the best dudul and therefore the king of the native cake in this region.

My children do not appreciate it as much because they prefer chocolates. I fear that this delicious cake will disappear again from our repertoire of food.

Fried Durian of Sandakan(Tempoyak)

The stir fried red durian of Sandakan is a very rare because red durian is very difficult to find. It was mistakenly called Tempoyak by people in Sandakan, i.e. myself and my family until I found out what normal tempoyak really is.

In Sandakan, this durian(called Alau in Kinabatangan) is not planted but found in the forests of the Kinabatangan river basin. It is extremely difficult and tedius to harvest because it does not fall down by itself. It must be collected from the tree. Extracting the flesh from its seeds is also very tedious.

There is no need to ferment it like the normal tempoyak. It is just salted in order to preserve it, and stir fried with onion and chili padi with a little bit of oil.

This wild red durian is not sweet but creamily rich so it is not competitive as a fruit against the yellowish durian, but as a cooked food, it is the best. I have tested the normal tempoyak made from fermented yellowish durian from Malaya but I cannot take them. Even the sweet orangish and reddish durian of the West Coast of Sabah(Durian Dalit ), is unpalatable to me as a main course food, but my sister, as well as many Sabahans, can take it with relish. Some will even eat any durian, raw, with their rice.

Eating this tempoyak of Sabah, is an acquired taste. My children and most of my brothers do not like it. To me, this food is among the most delicious in the whole world because it is aromatically creamy, without the strong smell of normal durian, and without excessive sourness of fermented tempoyak.

Below is the orange Alau which is less delicious to me than the red Alau.

In Keningau, this orangish durian is found in the wild and is called Sukang but they eat it raw just like any fruit. According to the enthusiast, they like eating it because it does not make the eater sick no matter how much he eats it. It therefore never manages to reach the food table as a cooked food.

These types of durian can be found all over Sabah, from Tawau to Kuala Penyu but not many places eat that as cooked food. Probably these durian are eaten cooked only in Kinabatangan and some parts of Sarawak, by year 2007.

Another type, which is even more aromatic, is the dark brown durian.