She’s my friend on Facebook and she married an ex-student of mine and I saw some posts of hers about a family venture selling ethnic delights…
…here at this coffee shop (2.293072, 111.836789) right behind the Rejang Medical Centre…
…starting at around 5.30 p.m. every day. I did go one Sunday evening to check it out but the shop was closed and likewise, the stall and I never went back since until the other evening.
For the uninitiated, Anak means child and Borneo is the island where Sarawak, Malaysia is located so Anak Borneo means child of the island of Borneo. You can’t possibly miss their stall by the side of the coffee shop as they are all dressed in black, wearing black aprons with the name stitched on it.
Of course, if it is our local Sarawak ethnic cuisine, there has to be pansoh ayam or babi (RM15.00 each)…
…chicken or pork cooked in bamboo over hot burning charcoal. I did not feel like having chicken that day so I opted for the pork…
…and boy, it was so very very nice!!! For want of some vegetables to go with our orders, after we were through, I spotted my friend and the hubby at the stall and I asked why they did not serve the daun Bandong/ daun ubi (tapioca leaves) with the meat. After all, they would have lots of those since they use them to stuff the bamboo. According to the latter, they would serve the leaves should any customer request for it, otherwise, they would not. I certainly would do that the next time I drop by here as I do enjoy eating them.
Among the things that they sell at the stall are these babi panggang (barbecued pork) slices…
…and this plateful is only RM10.00…
…for so much meat. Try buying RM10.00 worth at the char siew/siew yoke stall and see how much you will get…and yes, that was really very nice too!
There are also these clams, lokan we call them…
…also cooked over hot burning charcoal and then one of the guys will open them up and garnish with spring onions and chili…
…and serve (RM10.00)…
Yes, they were very fresh, so sweet and juicy and succulent…
…and we sure did enjoy them very much.
I saw some chicken wings as well but no, I would not be into those and just as we were leaving, I saw this…
…slab of barbecued pork ribs! No prize for guessing what I would be ordering the next time we drop by here. Slurpssss!!!!
From what I heard, they are going to start a fast food nasi campur/chap fan (mixed rice stall) serving all the lovely ethnic dishes for lunch as well as dinner. All this while, I have been grumbling that despite the Rejang River basin being the central Iban frontier in Sarawak, we do not have any stall selling their traditional delights. They have more than one in Kuching and I certainly enjoyed what I had here…and also in Bintulu. You can bet your bottom dollar that I would make my way there once they have started the stall. Care to join me there, anybody? Come! Come!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I would love to join you for the feast but I am thousand miles away. Perhaps one day. I can eat but perhaps it’s a case of a bit of every thing.
I am not familiar with the respective ethnic dishes. They all have my seal of approval, quality, presentation and price. What a treat!
As for the chicken or pork cooked in bamboo, are the bamboos lined with banana leaves?
Those clams go down a treat if they are served raw but it must be fresh.
Oh? You seem familiar with pansuh cooking? Yes, they do line the inside of those bamboo with banana leaves. Sure adds to the flavours, that’s for sure.
No, the clams were cooked – I would not eat anything raw anymore these days…all the horror stories people share online, salmon included….and we get our salmon from so so so far away so I am really wary about it even though they claim it is so very fresh, air flown and what not. I used to love cockles lightly cooked, still red with all the blood or whatever…until people start talking about hepatitis or whatever so I do not eat them anymore…or once in a very very long while and I would insist on them being very well-cooked. I know people love cockles in the char kway teow. I don’t mind going without.
Are the clams wild or cultivated?
>As far as I know, there is only one stall selling these clams raw in Borough Market, London. They sell raw oysters , too. They sold out when I last went there. They told me Americans eat oysters with ketchur, hence the bottle of Heinz ketchur.
Ketchup, you mean? I see people squeeze lime juice and eat them raw. Tried once at a classy hotel buffet dinner in KL, and quietly put all of them back. Not for me, thank you. I love oysters in those oyster omelette though, love if they are huge fat ones.
No idea if the clams are farmed or collected from their natural sources. We get them very easily at the wet market, lots of them but they are very tedious to clean, lots and lots of sand.
I so enjoy your posts, dear friend, and I think it is fantastic that you have made so many friends and that you keep in touch with them! The food looks very good in your photos! Perhaps you already know this but we are 12 hours apart, so it is 2 p.m. here in Montreal and I think it is 2 a.m. where you are. My new posts appear at 12 p.m. your time Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Sometimes I forget the time difference, especially since there are so many different times in various parts of the world.
The barbecued pork ribs look absolutely scrumptious! And I love them, too! This is something that I love to order when I am able to go out for a meal (depending on funds). So glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Yes, I am well acquainted with your blogging habits already and anyway, you always provide the link so I can just click and hop over to comment. Very nice, unlike some where I have to go through somebody else’s blog or go onto my own blog page, click on my link by the side…just to go and comment in their blogs and there is that helluva nuisance of the captcha. Now they have started one – click till all the pictures are gone, such a waste of my time.
I did wonder how they were selling those ribs but I did not ask, probably they will slice it up and sell piece by piece according to the weight.
I love the barbecued pork, very lean & ribs too. Best if got cincaluk dippings to go with. I prefer chicken pansoh to pork as in this case the pork looks a bit too fatty for me.
Only a few pieces – we just peeled off the fat and ate the lean, quite a lot of that. Missus would insist that this type of meat is the best, not siap siap as in other parts…and she would painstakingly peel off all the fat when eating. Me? I would usually just eat everything up but that day, I was very kwai, lest she will nag nag nag… 😀 😀 😀
The babi panggang was mostly lean – next time I go, I will bring my own cincaluk dip. The places here that give that – they use the Malacca ones, not nice and mostly lime juice and sugar, not much cincaluk taste.
I would have ordered fish pansoh since I was ordering the babi panggang but they did not have it. I dunno what chicken they use here but I bought once in Selangau and they used the old mother hen – not nice, so tough and it gave me an uncomfortable feeling eating that.
This is so good. I love the look of the food. So ethnic.
My hubby would be eyeing the lokan and pansuh.
Remember this place…for the next time you all stop by Sibu! Yum yummmm!!!!
Seeing the man barbecuing the pork, I could almost smell it!! The ribs look so good.
The local ethnic guys would sit in the coffee shops all night, chatting and enjoy themselves drinking beer and eating the barbecued pork – a favourite pastime. 😉
Yes, yes, yes! I want the BBQ pork ribs hee..hee… Those lokan with the condiments look great. And oh, the babi panggang! You must go back there again for more 🙂
Of course I would. Can’t wait! 😀
Ooo … This looks so so good! I want everything – double portions of everything! All the best to Anak Borneo! And kudos to them on an excellent beginning 😉
I am certainly hoping that they will do well so I can keep going back for more. Very nice!
I would love to join you if i am in Sibu, hehe…
No plans to come over. You will not regret it, I assure you!
I love ethnic dishes, barbecued pork, babi pansoh, and …..kasam babi, anything babi. Ensabi is also my favourite.
I know one place in Miri with the highland ethnic cuisine, a coffee shop at some place they call Centrepoint – did not get the chance to try that. I would want so much to. Loved the one I had in Bintulu, so so very nice. Looking forward to when they will have those ethnic delights here.
Arthur, the coffee shop is the Summit Cafe.
Thanks. That shouldn’t be too difficult to remember.
You have some beautiful photos today. I didn’t realise there was actually meat inside those bamboo sticks. I always thought it was just rice. It all looks delicious. I wouldn’t know where to begin.
Oh? That would be lemang – a Malay delight. They cook glutinous rice in those and the bamboo would give it a special fragrance. It’s the same with these but they cook meat or seafood in those bamboo tubes instead. Yes, a lot to choose from – I would have to drop by again one of these days.