I wanna have…

That day, I wanted to have our local Dayak/Iban cuisine so I stopped by here and yes, the lady was there…

…enjoying quite a lot of business, I’m happy to say and like what I had mentioned in an earlier post sometime ago, obviously she is trying to kill two birds with one stone. Other than the ethnic delights, she had quite a lot of selections for those not thus inclined like her chicken fried with soy sauce and ginger, fried chicken wings, luncheon meat fried with egg and cangkuk manis fried with egg as well because I do believe that some of the local Chinese population are not quite accustomed to their kind of food and cooking.

I felt like having the kasam ensabi but she did not have it that day. Ensabi is a very bitter vegetable, very popular among these people but I particularly love the kasam (preserved) ones which taste something like our local salted vegetables and they usually cook it with a bit of babi hutan (wild boar).

In the end, I picked the daun ubi (tapioca leaves)…

…and I liked how she had cut or pounded the leaves just right. When we cook it at home, my missus would just put them in the blender so what we will get is a whole lot of mush…and on the other hand, some Malay stalls do have these leaves too but they just rub them (as what some people would say, like washing clothes) and I am not too fond of them done this way as they may be quite difficult to chew especially when they are not all that young.

I decided not to go for the pansoh babi hutan (wild boar cooked in bamboo) that day and went for the kasam babi hutan (preserved wild boar)…

…instead. It was very nice, slightly salty/sourish and not so strong on the wild boar fragrance and taste. I mixed it with the daun ubi and ate the two together and that sure brought the taste to a whole new level.

I also had their curry brinjal and fried four-angle beans with sambal but at best, they were all right – I wouldn’t say they got me all excited and you will see me rushing back for more. Together with the very nice complimentary clear soup, the total came up to RM6.00. I would not say that was cheap for one meat and three vegetables nor would I say it was overly expensive but I sure did enjoy my lunch that day and that would be what that matters most. I most certainly will drop for more as and when the craving for our local ethnic cuisine sets in.

RUAI AKU CAFE is located below Eden Inn (2.285223, 111.831256) along Jalan Maju to the right of Hai Bing Coffee Shop/Seafood Restaurant, right across the road from the Rejang Esplanade.