See you in September…

Somebody shared a photograph of something here…

…that I thought was very nice and he told me where he had that. Of course I made up my mind to drop by and check it out one day. It so happened that last Saturday morning, my girl and the mum joined some activity at the church so I dropped them off at the venue and I decided to hang out here and wait till they were through.

Unfortunately, at around 7 in the morning, most of the stalls were not open yet and another problem was that I could not remember what it was that my friend had that looked so very nice. In the end, out of the couple of stalls open, I decided to go for the kampua mee here…

…seeing how most everybody was ordering from there.

I had the kampua mee, white/original (RM3.50)…

…which turned out really good, very authentic, very old school – just like what we grew up eating and loved so well except that they did not dye the meat red which I thought was very good.

I remember they used to do that all throughout my growing up years – the paper-thin slices of boiled meat would be red on the outside. I don’t know if they did that to make it look like char siew (barbecued meat), which it wasn’t! Eventually, there came a ban on the dye used to colour the meat red so the practice stopped altogether all of a sudden. After sometime, some people started colouring the meat red again – I don’t know if they managed to find some dye that would be safe so they just cast caution to the wind and went ahead with it. Others did not bother to do so and were quite happy to serve their meat colourless.

I also asked for a bowl of gu tor (beef tripe) soup (RM6.00)…

…which was so very good! I think out of the many I had all over town, this one was my favourite!

The gu tor was done to perfection, so soft, so very nice, no smell at all…and it went so well with the slightly spicy and sourish chili dip that they gave with it. The soup was simply out of this world – the sprinkling of daun sup (Chinese celery) sure brought the taste to a whole new level. I loved it!!!

I only had to come out with RM9.50 for the very nice breakfast compared to RM12.50 for what I had here and it wasn’t even nice! I guess anybody can guess where I would be heading to everytime I feel like having some gu tor mee again.

SEPTEMBER CAFE (2.303400, 111.849111) is located at No. 65, Lorong Pahlawan 9, a few doors to the left of Secret Recipe, the Sibu Bus Terminal outlet here.

Loyal…

The food stalls here seem to have their loyal followers as they have been around for such a long time and they are still going strong.

The kampua mee stall…

…has been here for as long as I can remember and yes, it is pretty good. It’s RM3.50 a bowl now, much cheaper than that one a few doors away to the right at the end of the block. Theirs has gone up to RM4.00 and I hear that despite having to pay more, you have to go and get your own cutlery, pour your own hot water to sterilise them and everything and honestly, I would say the noodles are good, among the nicer ones in town, but not exceptionally so. I, for one, would much sooner go some place else…cheaper.

The kway chap…

…stall is still around too. I’ve had it a number of times and though I would not say it is the best, I would say it would rank among the nicer ones in town. Rumour had it when they first opened here that it was the popular stall here before – somebody else has taken their place there and is doing very well. too.

Well, I have not been here for a long time and last Friday, I took my car to the car wash after which, I stopped by the bank to settle some matters and when all was done, I decided to go some place for a bite to eat.

It is quite a problem to go some place to eat on Fridays as we usually abstain from meat on this day every week. That was why I decided to go for the Sarawak laksa (RM7.00)…

…here, with specific instructions not to add any of the shredded chicken. This stall too was rumoured to be the one here a long long time ago and after they moved here, somebody else took their place there and is doing just as well, if not better.

I was a bit disappointed when I saw what was served that morning because it was so pale, so colourless – it did not look like it was going to be good at all. Probably a sprinkling of chopped spring onion or daun sup (Chinese celery) would add a bit of green and will make it appear a whole lot nicer. Thankfully, it tasted all right and after I had added ALL the sambal belacan and squeezed the calamansi lime juice into it…

I would say I was quite happy with how it tasted in the end.

I sure wouldn’t mind some more sambal to enjoy everything with but I was too lazy to get up and go and ask so I decided to do without some more. At the end of the day, I personally feel that the one here at the coffee shop round the corner wins hands down! Besides, their regular, the one without all those giant prawns and what not, is just RM6.00 a bowl, a ringgit cheaper than the one here.

The roti canai stall…

…has been around like forever too! I did mention in some of my posts that one would find it hard to find halal food/food suitable for Muslims around this part of town and this roti canai stall is one of them.

I ordered the kosong (plain) but I was told that it was not available so I asked for the roti telur (RM3.00)…

I almost had a heart attack when told the price and I thought the one here, RM2.70, was a rip-off, so very expensive.

However, I was somewhat consoled when I started eating…

…it as it was so very nice, different from all the roti telur I had had elsewhere.

It was kind of fluffy and nice, very fragrant with the egg and everything in it and I really enjoyed it with the very nice dhal curry dip…

…that came with it.

I certainly would think twice about ordering that again though. At RM3.00 for just one piece of that, I can’t say I did not feel the pinch.

There are a few other stalls, two, at least and the chu char (cook & fry) at the back, the dim sum stall and also the very famous/popular chicken rice place here as well but they do not have anything that I can eat on a Friday.

CHOPSTICKS CHICKEN & RICE (2.312434, 111.845917) is located in the Delta Mall, Jalan Pedada area of shops, facing the church along Lorong Taman Seduan 8, off Jalan Gambir

A whole lot better…

I was looking for a nice brand of instant noodles, the curry flavour, once and in the end, I settled for this made-in-Sibu brand. It used to be cheaper, only RM3.20 for a pack of 5 – the chicken flavour is a lot more expensive all this while. In the process, I tried a lot of brands and some were really awful, to say the least, but there were some really special ones, usually a lot more expensive, that were nice too.

I never bothered about the one from Maggi (left)…

…though. This was the first ever instant noodles in the country – everyone was head over heels in love with the noodles. I bet we all remember their caption/tagline “Fast to cook, good to eat!” (Cepat dimasak, sedap dimakan!)…

Eventually, other brands started to appear on the shelves and it was overshadowed. Not only did we feel that it did not taste as nice but we also felt dissatisfied with the texture (and the price) of the noodles. That was why I stopped buying for a long long time.

It was not until I started watching the Kumaar Family Youtube videos featuring these instant noodles that I decided to give them a second chance. That was when I went out and bought a pack (RM4.80 for a pack of 5 now) to try and yes, it…

…was very nice! I cooked a bowl the other day and as you can see, I did not add a lot of ingredients other than the few cherry tomatoes from my garden (and two eggs) so as to retain its original flavour.

To compare between the two brands, I also bought a pack of our made-in-Sibu, Mee Daddy, curry flavour. Sometimes we cannot tell the difference because of the time lapse when we eat the two separately. Gosh!!! It has gone up in price – a pack is now selling for RM4.50, a little cheaper than Maggi and more expensive than many of the rest.

I cooked a packet, also with a few cherry tomatoes and two eggs…

…and yes, I would declare, without a doubt, that I prefer the one from Maggi – I do think it is a whole lot better.

The taste is a bit stronger…and nicer but spicier (and this is not the pedas giler version) so if you are not into anything even a little bit spicy, then you’d be better off giving it a skip. I also prefer the taste and texture of the noodles – I think I did mention in an early blogpost that they have improved on it since that time long ago.

I have mentioned it again and again that I simply cannot understand why, even though it is made in Sibu, its chicken flavour is so expensive, a lot more so than many of the other brands and now, even the curry flavour costs more. Yes, I went and checked and indeed, they have increased the price of the chicken ones as well to a whooping RM5 something for a pack of 5!!!

Anyway, considering how the prices for both Maggi and Mee Daddy, curry flavour, are more or less the same and one is a lot nicer than the other, there’s no question as to which brand I will buy once both these packs run out.

Wait for a while…

Time really seems to fly these days! I just went to see my doctor a month ago and it was time to go again for a follow-up and to replenish my prescriptions.

That previous time, I went at around 9.00 a.m. and I had to wait for so long and it was way over 11, almost noon when I was through. This time around, I thought I would go a bit early, at 8.00 a.m. but by the time I managed to find a parking space and walked all the way to the clinic, it was already 8.30 and goodness gracious me! The clinic was packed – no seat available in the waiting room! It was so nice going to see the doctor during the pandemic – not a single living soul around. I guess at the time, everyone was scared of catching the virus so it was better to just #staysafe and #stayhome.

The receptionist told me that I could go some place else and come back in an hour’s time at 9.30 and that was exactly what I did. I went to the coffee shop…

…the first one in the block of shops to the left.

I shall not attempt to interpret the meaning of its name…

…with my half-past-six command of Mandarin but I used to drop by here everytime my late mum was admitted into the medical centre next door and I would just order something from the noodles stall in front except for one occasion when I had the chap fan (mixed rice).

This time around, I thought I would order something from the chu char (cook and fry) section at the back and I ordered the Foochow fried noodles, wet (with sauce/gravy). However, as I was sitting there waiting, I had a change of heart and I asked the Indonesian helper if they had the special and she said yes. I told her I would have that instead. I was expecting to get something with a whole lot of extra ingredients such as liver and what not but this (RM16.00)…

…was what I was served in the end.

Yes, it did feel kind of expensive but there were two of these huge prawns…

A friend once told me that the estimated cost price of these prawns was RM3.00 each so deduct RM6.00 from the total, that would leave a balance of RM10.00.

Besides the crustaceans, there were so many slices of this lovely fish…

…that I enjoyed so much! I did not know what fish that was so I asked the boss and he said it was a labang – that sure did not help much as I never heard of the fish before. I googled to see what I could find and it turned out that it is a freshwater river fish, not one of those super-expensive ones but no, it is not cheap either, something alongside the lajong that we really like a lot!

Deduct RM4.00, the price for a regular plate of fried noodles here and that would leave RM6.00 for all that fish! Cheap! I also loved the fact that they were so generous with the green vegetables and yes, the mee (noodles)…

…had that much coveted wok hei fragrance. I would probably order the “moon” (braised) version the next time I drop by here for this though as the noodles were more on the firm side – I would like them a little bit softer (but not too soft and soggy).

While I was sitting there, enjoying my noodles, I caught the whiff of that lovely pulut panggang fragrance – some people at the next table were eating those. I did catch sight of them earlier but I did not bat an eyelid and simply ignored them as I would not settle for anything less than the very nice Hj. Luguk ones, just that I have not been to the kampung for a very long time so I do not know if those are still available or not.

In the end, I bought a few (RM1.20 each)…

…home to try and yes, much to my delight, they…

…were very nice! They were perfectly done, well-panggang-ed enough to give them that very nice smoked fragrance and yes, it was quite lemak (rich with santan/coconut milk) too though I felt it could do with a little bit more santan, just a little bit so it would be more lemak.

I heard people singing praises of the ones here but no, I do think these were a whole lot nicer. I would much sooner drop by here to buy anytime I feel like having some pulut panggang.

It was around 9.30 a.m. when I got back to the clinic – obviously, some had left and I was able to grab a seat. Thankfully, I did not have to wait too long this time around and I was out of there by 10 something!

HAO KE LAI CAFE & REST (2.292095, 111.836698) is located along Lorong Mahsuri 1B, off Jalan Pedada, in the block of shops to the left of the Rejang Medical Centre, main building.

So much more…

I was in the vicinity of this coffee shop…

…opposite the massive Everwin Supermarket at the Sibu Bus Terminal here and it crossed my mind there and then that at one time, way back in 2008, I used to go there for the beef noodles. It turned out that the lady running the stall was the mum of an ex-student of mine but I had not stopped by since and I really had no idea whether she would still be there or not.

Of course, the only way to find out was to park my car and go and see for myself. Unfortunately, most/many of the stalls were not open (probably they take the day off on Tuesdays) and no, I could not see any sign of a stall selling beef noodles. The guy at the kampua mee stall looked familiar but no, I was not in the mood for that.

When I got to the other section of this coffee shop, I saw this tall, dark and handsome Bangladeshi guy…

…at one of the stalls over at the other side and I decided to give his roti canai a try.

I had the kosong (empty/plain), RM1.70 a piece…

…which turned out to be pretty good – nice, fragrant and crispy. The dip was not one of those thick, rich dhal dips that I love a lot nor was it curry gravy. I would say it was quite nice though, a whole lot better than some rather diluted, quite tasteless ones at some places here.

I also ordered a piece of the roti telur (RM2.70)…

…which was quite ordinary, nothing to shout about. I am never all that crazy about roti telur anyway – I just ordered it to give it a try.

While I was sitting there, I saw that he also had mee goreng (fried noodles) on his menu so I asked for a plate (RM5.00)…

…It turned out nice, something that I wouldn’t mind eating again but not anything I would go out of my way for. Just like his roti canai dip, the mee was nicer than some other places but there are others that are much nicer. He did say that normally, he would just concentrate on his roti canai and leave the noodles to the Malay stall there (which was closed the whole time I was there and the guy only showed up at around 10.00 a.m. when I was about to leave).

I was thinking that that the prices were a bit on the high side. The mee, not the special with all the add-ons, would be RM4.00 elsewhere but yes, there are places charging the same as well, RM5.00 a plate.

According to somebody on Facebook, roti telur is RM2.50 a piece elsewhere so it is 20 sen more here – I guess that is acceptable. Come to think of it, with all that talk in the news about the shortage of flour, perhaps they have jacked up the prices elsewhere too, I wouldn’t know but an additional 50 sen for the kosong is so much more. I must say that’s a bit too much. Elsewhere, they say, it is only RM1.20 a piece.

I suppose I would not be coming back for these – as they say, once bitten, twice shy. Should I happen to go back, I’d much sooner give the other stalls a try and give this one a miss.

(NEW) YUM YUM CAFE (2.305760, 111.849170) is located along Lorong Pahlawan 7, opposite Everwin Supermarket in the vicinity of the Sibu Bus Terminal.

Not like this…

I was at the shops in the vicinity of the Dewan Suarah (Civic Centre) here that morning so I decided to stop by this coffee shop…

I don’t know why it is Dian Dian (every day) only at this sign but Dian Dian Lai (come every day) at the sign in front…

…and also at the one at the back entrance.

I did say in my earlier blogposts that I would like to go back and try something from the very nice lady at the stall furthest inside. When I got there, I noticed there was a new stall, the second one after the Malay stall in front (which is closed on Sundays) and I did see some people talking to the guy and placing their orders.

I am not sure but this is probably the menu…

I saw it by the side of the entrance but unfortunately, I did not see anything that got me all excited. I may or may not go back there to try but first things first – I was there that morning to sample something from the aforementioned lady.

I ordered this plate of fried noodles, the moon version (RM4.00)…

…and I sure did not get my hopes up too high the moment I set eyes upon it when it was served.

What was with all that egg? I have never seen egg being added to the sauce like that – if she had wanted it to be something like the egg sauce in wat tan hor, she should blend it well into the sauce and not have it in bits and pieces all over like that. If she wanted to add an egg, I would very much prefer it deep fried (traditionally in a wok) and served, placed on top of the noodles.

Well, despite the egg, the noodles tasted all right. I thought it was quite nice but I would not say it was really so very good nor would I say it was not good. She should just do away with the egg, add a few more bits of meat and green vegetables – I probably would have liked it more this way.

DIANDIANLAI CAFE (2.310079, 111.831103) is located in the block of shops facing the Sibu Civic Centre (car park) along Jalan Dewan Suarah that links Jalan Melur and Jalan Suarah.

He is here…

Yes, he is here! The authentic North Indian chef has come back from his month-long break. I did mention in my blogpost the other day when we dropped by the café last month that he had gone back to India and would resume his duties here in Sibu by the middle of May.

We actually thought of going some place else last Sunday but there were massive jams all over town, probably because the Gawai Dayak Festival was around a week or so away so I used an alternative route (without passing through the main roads and going through the town centre) to get here. Well, my girl sure was delighted that the chef has come back and it was business as usual that day.

Not too long ago, I was watching this show on TV where they were talking about those banana leaf meals at the Indian restaurants. We do not have that here but yes, we did go for it in KL and also in Kuching. Well, at one of those places featured, they were singing praises for their chicken vindaloo and I could remember they have that on their menu here so of course, I wanted to give it a try (RM24.00)…

I had the kambing (lamb/mutton) vindaloo…

…with the biryani rice…

…and yes, it was VERY nice! It was a bit sourish, not like the mutton masala (which is simply Indian curry, more or less), a welcome change from the usual. I let my girl try a bit and yes, she too liked it a lot. She probably will want to order this the next time we drop by here.

This time around, she stuck faithfully to her butter tandoori chicken biryani (RM20.00)…

…which did not look as red as before…

…from what was used to marinate the chicken before cooking it in the traditional tandoori oven and using it to cook this curry. As a matter of fact, I thought the taste of the tandoori chicken was not as strong but my girl said it was all right and yes, she did enjoy it very much.

For one thing, we were seated inside the dim and dark and gloomy restaurant – they removed all the tables and chairs on the very much brighter pavement outside during the pandemic as they did not want to block up the whole place to ensure physical distancing and what not. Hopefully, they will put them back again soon so I will be able to take more flattering photographs of the very nice food here.

Another thing that I’ve noticed is how the Indonesian chef would serve what she dishes out – in a bowl, with the rice by the side. My missus had the seafood curry rice (RM19.00)…

…and yes, it was, as always, very very nice and they were very generous with the serving too. I guess it is neater this way and some people are not that fond of their rice being drowned by the gravy but I actually like the way they used to serve their dishes, everything by the side of the rice in the plate…

The total for everything we had, inclusive of drinks, came up to RM78.00 but the nice boss collected RM75.00 only from me – not only was this cheaper than what we had at the Japanese franchise the other day but it was more filling and we sure enjoyed it a whole lot more too!

The CAFE IND (2.290813, 111.829294) is located along Laichee Lane, right behind one block of shops facing the main road (Jalan Kampung Nyabor) where the Bank Simpanan Nasional, Sibu branch (2.290561, 111.829071), is.

Music for a sushi restaurant…

No, there wasn’t any music, not that I noticed, at that place and one thing I did like about it was how even though it was so crowded, it was not noisy. Perhaps it was the acoustics there – I don’t think the customers here are “more cultured and better-behaved“. LOL!!!

I must say that I was amazed by the crowd that day when we dropped by there after a very very long time. My girl said she wanted Japanese for lunch so of course, I was only too delighted to oblige since we had not had that for ages now. The last time we were there was probably in August, 2020! Gosh!!!

It was as packed as ever, just that nobody had to queue to wait for a place to sit and eat like when it first opened its doors on Christmas Eve, 2018 and I thought that it was kind of amazing, considering that the menu had more or less stayed the same. Imagine going there and eating the same things over and over again…not that there are so many things to choose from and no, things do not come cheap at these franchise places.

I felt they used to have a lot more choices on their sushi carousel. Maybe we were early and they had just opened, not going full swing yet so the choices were kind of limited that day.

The ladies loved this (RM2.80 per plate)…

…a lot so they had two or three plates of those instead of picking those other options that did not really tickle their fancy. I did try one but I did not like the wasabi in it. Period.

I picked these, wrapped in cheddar cheese (RM1.80)…

…and they were all right, plain and simple, nothing to get excited about.

My missus loves those inari sushi, the ones in the deep fried bean curd pockets so she picked one (RM3.70)…

…and had it all by herself. I do enjoy those too but I had my own à la carte order so I did not want to stuff my face with all that sushi while I waited.

I ordered their tori katsu curry rice only to be told that the chicken was not available so I had to settle for their ebi katsu curry rice (RM14.80)…

The curry was all right – what can one expect from Japanese curry, right?

Having said that, I genuinely thought the breaded prawn fritters were quite awful, to put it a little nicely, nothing like those very fresh seawater prawns that I buy regularly from my favourite fish & seafood stall in my neighbourhood. These were hard, not succulent and not sweet at all, so very bland, so very tasteless – I don’t think I would want to order their prawns ever again.

My girl had her favourite, their unagi don (RM20.40)…

…so of course, she did not have any complaint other than the fact that they were over generous with the rice so she could not finish all of it. Well, I did not finish my rice either and that spoke volumes as to how much I enjoyed my main order that day, if you get what I mean. Both our orders came with a complimentary bowl of miso soup.

I also ordered their spider chicken floss maki (RM14.80)…

…which I thought was very nice but the ladies did not really like the chicken floss in it.

Other than that, we also had another favourite of ours, their kabocha karokke or pumpkin croquette (RM6.80)…

All in all, the bill came up to RM70.90 but with the 6% SST and 10% service charge, the total came up to a whooping RM82.24.

SUSHI MENTAI, Sibu (2.303279, 111.843161) is located at Wisma Sri Minyak, Lot 3065, S/L4, No. 23&25, Ground Floor, Pedada Lane 7 (Now Jalan Dr. Wong Soon Kai).

Best so far…

I would say this is the best bak pao (steamed meat bun) so far…

…or to me, at least unless there are other nicer ones around here that I have not got to try yet.

I dropped by the the Chinese pancake or ban chang kuih (慢煎糕)/apam balik stall…

…in the next lane from my house the other day and I noticed that the guy was selling these steamed paos. He said that they were from the people at the coffee shop at the end/corner a few doors from where he would be in the morning…

…so of course, I did not hesitate to buy some to try.

I bought two of the meat ones, the bak pao (RM2.50 each)…

…the ones with the red dot and two of the char siew ones (also RM2.50 each)…

…the ones with the two orange dots. According to the guy, there is no egg in the latter (the char siew), just the former (the bak pao).

I loved how the buns would rise to the occasion when I heated them up and took them out piping hot from the steamer. The skin became very soft and very fluffy, so very nice. I tried the bak pao and was delighted to see how generous they were with the egg inside, a quarter wedge (see above photograph), don’t play-play! LOL!!! Of course I was disappointed that they had used minced meat for the filling but that was short-lived as it tasted really very nice.

Should I feel like eating steamed paos again, you can jolly well guess which one I would go and buy, no second thoughts! Not only are they nicer than all the rest that I have tried, or to me, at least, they are cheaper than many of them too!!!

My missus tried the char siew…

…and she loved it! She sang praises of the skin and she liked the filling inside as well. Of course I had to try it myself but I would not say it tasted like the usual char siew pao (the ones at all those dim sum places) filling – it had a taste of its own but there can be no denying that it was nice. Too bad there wasn’t any egg inside!

Actually, I went to the stall that afternoon to buy the chai peah…

…our favourite in town but I was a tad disappointed. They were still selling at 5 for RM2.00, thank God for small mercies, but I had this feeling that they had scrimped on the ingredients so I did not feel they were as yummy as they used to be.

I also bought the ban chiang kuih even though I am not really crazy about those – my missus enjoys eating them! They were 70 sen each a long time ago, 80 sen the last time I bought any and that day, I was shocked when the guy said they were RM1.00 each!!! What was worse was there seemed to be so little crushed peanut and margarine (not butter, don’t dream!) inside. Honestly, I don’t mind people jacking up the prices of anything and everything but I cannot tolerate how some will shortchange their customers like this – I sure will not bother to go over and buy any ever again!

Incidentally, I think I’ve seen some bottles of homemade soya bean milk for sale at the stall. My doctor said that I need to increase my protein intake so drinking this would be one way I can do that. I used to make my own too but now that I am on a low sugar diet, I will stick faithfully to this brand…

This multi-grain one tastes like green bean (let tao) soup. I like their regular soya bean too and will buy any of the two, whichever is available. They seem to sell really very well – sold out as soon as there is stock on the shelves and I would have to wait for a long long time before they are replenished with new arrivals.

The Chinese pancake or ban chang kuih (慢煎糕)/apam balik stall is located on the five-foot way in front of the TCM clinic between Kim Won Chinese Medical Store and Mini-supermarket and Swee Hung (2.316161, 111.840441) along Jalan Ruby, in the block of shops on the right – next to a hair salon at the extreme end.

We’re different…

I was looking for a suitable title for my blogpost today and I came across this not-very-new Chinese song, 我們不一樣 (woe mern pu yi yang) or in English, we are not the same or we’re different.

I suppose that is exactly we can say about what we called tapioca a.k.a. cassava, the more common white variety and the coveted yellow ones. In Malay, it is called ubi kayu, kayu meaning wood, probably because of its appearance – it does look like wood when you dig the tuber out from under the ground…

I stumbled upon some that day and I asked the old man selling it whether that was the white or the yellow variety. He said it was yellow so of course, upon hearing that, I wanted to buy some right away.

It did look as if there were two types but the old man said that he washed and dried some of the roots so they looked nice and clean…

…but those would not last as long as the ones left unwashed. I did not know when my missus would want to cook it so I picked all the not-so-nice-looking earth-covered ones.

He was selling it at only RM3.50 a kilo and when I shared that bit of information on Facebook, an ex-student of mine, now a fruit vendor in Kuching, said that it is tagged at RM5.00 a kilo there, so much more expensive.

As soon as I got home, my missus washed and peeled it right away…

…and boiled it in water, adding a bit of salt to it.

At this stage, it was still not so obvious that it was going to be yellow, not until it was cooked…

Then only would one be able to see very clearly its difference from the white ones…

…and one bite into it would tell you how much richer and creamier and nicer these yellow ones are!

Of course, there was a lot of excitement when I shared the photograph on Facebook – all kinds of suggestions started pouring in. Somebody said that we could make a cake with it with santan (coconut milk), what we call chiew chu koi in Hokkien – the Malays call that bingka ubi…

My late mum used to make this a lot during my growing up years but personally, I prefer eating it just like that, dipped in gula apong (Sarawak’s nipah palm sugar)…

We would dilute the sugar with a bit of lard so it would be easier to dip the tapioca in it…

…and eat and of course, it would also bring the taste up to a whole new level.

If I may digress a bit here, we also eat durian flesh , seeds removed, mixed with lard and sago pellets or saguk. They call it samui, probably the name of that concoction in Melanau and it is the favourite of many, not necessarily mine though.

Going back to the tapioca, a friend said that it would be nice eaten with desiccated coconut and sugar. I’ve never eaten it like that but when there was no gula apong in the house, I would just dip it in sugar and eat. Of course, that is out of the question now that I am on a low sugar diet!

We certainly enjoyed eating what I bought that day so needless to say, I shall not hesitate to buy some more should I happen to see any for sale anywhere again. The old man also had a whole lot of unripe papayas for sale that day (probably some strong wind blew his tree down) – it did not cross my mind at the time but when I got home, it dawned upon me that I could have bought one or two to make some som tam, the very nice Thai papaya salad. Ah well! Another time perhaps!