When my friend, Jimmy, was in town last month, he received word from someone in Kuching asking him to buy the Sibu “famous groundnuts” and not knowing what the person was talking about, he asked me about it…and on my part, I was just as perplexed.
I just guessed that the groundnuts in question would be these big ones…
…most probably imported in bulk from China and the people here would pack them in nice and presentable packets for sale. However, you can buy them by the kilo too and I hear that if you go and buy it direct from the supplier, you can get it at RM9.00 a kilo whereas they are selling it at RM11.00 a kilo at the shops.
Now just how good are these? To me, they’re just groundnuts and as good as any groundnut can get but what happened was that when Jimmy took what he bought back to Kuching, it never reached the one who had asked for it. His father tried some…
…and shared with his friends…and they all praised it to the skies, saying that they were as good as those Taiwan black peanuts and needless to say, on his subsequent trip here, Jimmy had to go back to the shop and buy a few more kilos home, plus the 1 kilo intended for the friend.
I asked Jimmy to try the kuachee (pumpkin seeds) too – it seems that people coming here would also want to buy the ones from here. They’re not oily on the outside, kind of dry but the taste, they declare, is a head above the rest available elsewhere. At first, Jimmy did not want to buy any but I insisted that he tried one…and in the end, he bought a kilo home. I wonder who got that in the end – his father, perhaps.
Anyway, moving on from that, my missus went to the shop near my house and came home with these…
– the black Taiwan peanuts…
Shudders!!! One look at the price and you would know that I, for one, would never bother to buy any to try, never mind how good they say they are, thank you very much!
Ohhhhh!!!! They’re Japanese bamboo charcoal-grilled like those buns that they use for burgers and they’re individually-packed…
*So they’re bamboo peanuts IN Taiwan – I wonder what kind of peanuts they are IN other countries, like IN Malaysia, for instance*
…with only five in a pack…
All right, I told myself, since my missus had already bought it, I might as well give it a try and see what all the excitement was about. Well, it did not get me going ooooo and ahhhhhh, not at all and at best, I would say that they’re something like the ones in the complimentary plate of peanuts that they give at every table during a Chinese wedding banquet and in fact, I’ve tried those made in Singapore and I thought theirs could be a little bit better.
Ah well!!! It’s a free country…still and I do know of many who would never fail to praise stuff from Taiwan to the skies like their nothing-to-shout-about and very expensive pineapple cakes, for instance, and if they are willing to fork out the money, they are most welcome to do so. Like I always say, to each his own…and it’s their money, not mine.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 