It was Tuesday night and my slowboat to China was already setting sail out to sea…when my telephone rang! Tsk! Tsk! It was my friend/ex-classmate, Robert, calling to invite me out to dinner here the following evening. Ahhhh!!! Now that kind of call, I sure would not mind receiving any time of day. Hehehehehe!!!
He had seen my posts on Facebook and here in my blog but he had not gone to try yet so he said he wanted to go there…
…I told him that I would make the reservation and promptly contacted Mika’il, my ex-student, and requested for some of my favourite dishes from their lunchtime selections to be reserved for us and we would order the rest when we got there. He said it would be fine but the next day, he texted me again to tell me that they had different dishes that day on their menu but his mother-in-law, Patricia’s mum, would cook those dishes specially for us. I told him that would be nice but if it would be too much trouble, we could just order what they would usually have in the evenings, all the barbecued stuff and the rest…
Mary and her two Thai chefs were there as well – it was their off night, every Wednesday and Das, Robert’s friend, too…and yes, we had the barbecued pork belly (two plates)…
…and the ribs (one plate)…
…and also the pansoh babi, pork cooked in bamboo (two plates)…
The mother-in-law cooked the kacang ma chicken with tuak (ethnic rice wine), two plates…
…for us and also the tapioca leaves (two plates)…
…that Mary loved to bits and ate most of what was there in the two dishes/servings. LOL!!! The kacang ma dish was nicest the first time we had it, too dry for our liking the second time and this time around, we thought it was a little too watery but still, it was nice and I, for one, enjoyed it. We can’t get it easily here unless we cook it ourselves.
Everyone sang praises of the buah keluak and rubber seeds with cincaluk (fermented shrimps), two plates…
– something they had never had ever before and the lokan (two trays)..
…took their breath away – it was love at first…gulp! LOL!!!
We all had the dabai (our local black olives) fried rice ( I think we had 6 or 7 plates, some of us did not want so much and shared)…
…which I thought was very nice. It had the fragrances of the bunga kantan (torch ginger flower) and everything else used in the cooking but either there wasn’t much dabai in it or the taste was drowned out by all those very strong ingredients added.
That certainly was a lot for the eight of us but yes, we managed to finish everything and licked the plates clean…and enjoyed it all to the max. So how much do you think all that cost – 13 altogether, plus 6 or 7 plates of fried rice? Care to make a guess?
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Wow that grilled pork belly! one of my favoruites specially dipped in spicy vinegar with icy cold beer.
That’s how they love it here, barbecued pork belly and beer. Not for me though, I’ve stopped drinking for a long time now.
What a beautiful looking meal. There’s something about barbecue that has a feeling of fun – it reminds me of weekends in Australia.
I love barbecues abroad, such lovely weather, absolutely perfect…but here, I wouldn’t mind if there is somebody doing it for me, so hot. 😀
Rubber seeds ????? Edible ?!
Same here, never knew they could be eaten. Very nice, like some kind of nut or those cempedak seeds kind of thing. We all loved it!
I wouldnt usually picking up phone late at night. Either I put on silent mode or off my phone when I gone to bed.
That bbq pork was so much. More than enough for everyone to enjoy. That lokan. Love at first sight for me too.
Aiyor!!! I wouldn’t do that. Who knows there may be an emergency. It wasn’t that late actually, before 10…but I go to sleep at around 9. Hehehehehe!!!!
The lokan, if me, i will also love at first… gulp, hehe…
You should see the expression on their faces when they gulped the first one down – it was that good!!!
Lovely feast! Love the pork belly barbeque.
Yes. They all enjoyed everything. All first-timers, bet they would be going back for more.
I have nt heard of any of these dishes. Are they ethnic food?
Yes, local Sarawak Dayak delights. So far, one can get to eat stuff like this in Kuching, Bintulu, Miri…first time in Sibu despite it being the main/major Dayak/Iban hinterland. I am glad, about time!
Wow, a lot of meat dishes for that night. All looks amazingly delicious. I have heard of rubber seeds but never knew they can be eaten. Learn something new again. Lokan looks so juicy, I would gulp them down too. Wild guess for all is RM 180.
Nope, just RM138.00. I thought that was all right, for 8 people and all that meat and most importantly, everybody enjoyed everything, a delightful meal indeed. I did not know about those rubber seeds either.
I really love ribs and haven’t had any in so long.
Very good, what we had that night. Previous visits, a little tough – this one was fine.
Oooh!! Look at those slabs of pork belly! 😀 What a feast. I wish I could try kacang ma chicken. I have been curious about it since reading about it in your blog.
You can try Auntie Christina’s at Lucky Garden, Bangsar:
http://www.malaysianflavours.com/2013/05/aunt-christinas-sarawak-laksa-kedai-makanan-nam-chun-bangsar.html
though looking at the photos, hers looks rather diluted, not enough of the kacang ma leaves, dunno about the white wine.
They seem to have it at 7th Mile Kitchen, Kelana Jaya too…but no photos:
https://www.facebook.com/7thMileKitchenQiLiXiang/photos/a.282990971790622.63650.274020899354296/285207071569012/?type=3&theater
You gotta check this place out…and they serve kacang ma chicken too!
http://borneodihati.com/kategori/lebih-17-jenis-hidangan-tradisional-sarawak-di-merarau-buffet-di-seri-kembangan-selangor
…and midin…and dabai fried rice…and pansoh chicken…and…all the rest!
That’s a very unique feast, with the kind of dishes and recipes you can’t get anywhere else, not in peninsular Malaysia too. I’ve had ayam pansuh before and enjoyed it but have not had babi pansoh! 😉
Definitely something not to be missed by visitors to Sibu. I guess over there, they have to cater to the majority. Here, they are the minority.