LOCAL FRUITS

Here're few fruits I would like to introduce to. I took the pictures from other's blog. Hope you will enjoy it even though it isnt much.

This is one of the fruit that can be found in every where in Sarawak. I think it is seasonal fruit as you won't find it through out the year. Forgot what's the name though.

It tastes just nice. The meat is white and has seed. Taste? Depends. Sometimes it might be a little bit soury but most of the time ...it tastes just sweet...yummy!!!..love it.

Not an expensive fruit as most of them get it from the jungle. Might as well try this if you saw them at Tamu (market).

DABAI is the name. Looks like dates but nope..they're not dates. There are few types with different quality. There're white & yellow meat. The prices also depends on their grade and species. No where to be found except in Sarawak. Sabah maybe. Quite an expensive fruit too.





How to eat them? Just pour hot water / boiling water over the fruits and leave it for about 10 -15 mins or let the water cool down. Drain it. Then add some soy sauce and sugar. Then, wallaaa.. you eat it. Or just with some salt or nothing.





The unique thing is, you can smash the seeds and eat the "nut" (if you call that nut) by stir fry it? Or any way you like it.







Here's another fruits / vegetable. It's tomato like. There're lot of seeds in it and that's the cause of the sourness of this fruits. Normally, we don't eat it raw. It needs to be cooked. Soup or with fish (asam fish ).





Oh, it's known as "Terung Asam" or "Terung Iban". It will turn yellowish as seen in the pictures when it's ripe. If I'm not mistaken, now it cost about RM5 per kg. Well, people get better and know how to gain profit through business. Well, I said that because they didn't sell them in kilos few years back. They always sell them in a small basket like the one above, and it is RM2 eat with about 3-4 of the fruits( big size).




Hmm...these are called "buah maram" by the local, but the people in Peninsular call them " asam paya" or "asam kelubi". This fruit is very sour. I can tell you for sure but we the Sarawakian eat them as a "sambal" and we do not pickle them as what the west Malaysian did. There are two types: yellow and red. The Yellow one is more juicy than the red one.

Just mix the fruits with shrimp paste and chilies it fine enough as an appetizer. Maram also has quite a similar function as the tamarind ( you know..as an optional in cooking) This is also a seasonal fruit . Now it's quite expensive in the market compare to 5 years ago. It cost RM4.50 - RM5 per kg now.

Sarawak Delicacies

Local delicacy: Sago worms

TRYING HARD TO MAKE IT INTERESTING

I'm trying my best to create something useful and interesting to all of you who is interested in visiting my homeland, SARAWAK. This will be in a quite slow progress as im still learning how to do this blogging things. Pictures will be included later for you to see. Well, if you guys out there has any idea or suggestion, please write comments.

Sarawak Iban

Iban people

The Ibans are a branch of the Dayak peoples of Borneo. They were formerly known during the colonial period by the British as Sea Dayaks. Ibans were renowned for practising headhunting and tribal/territorial expansion. A long time ago, being a very strong and successful warring tribe, the Ibans were a very feared tribe in Borneo. They speak the Iban language.

Today, the days of headhunting and piracy are long gone and in has come the modern era of globalization and technology for the Ibans. The Iban population is concentrated in Sarawak, Brunei, in the West Kalimantan region of Indonesia. They live in longhouses called rumah panjai or rumah panjang. Most of the Iban longhouses are equipped with modern facilities such as electricity and water supply and other facilities such as (tar sealed) roads, telephone lines and the internet. Younger Ibans are mostly found in urban areas and visit their hometowns during the holidays. The Ibans today are becoming increasingly urbanised while (surprisingly) retaining most of their traditional heritage and culture.


Iban History
The origin of the name Iban is a mystery, although many theories exist. During the British colonial era, the Ibans were called Sea Dayaks. Some believe that the word Iban was an ancient original Iban word for people or man. The modern-day Iban word for people or man is mensia, a slightly modified Malay loan word of the same meaning (manusia).
The Ibans were the original inhabitants of Borneo Island. Like the other Dayak tribes, they were originally farmers, hunters, and gatherers. Not much is known about Iban people before the arrival of the Western expeditions to Asia. Nothing was ever recorded by any voyagers about them.
The Ibans were unfortunately branded for being pioneers of headhunting. Headhunting among the Ibans is believed to have started when the lands occupied by the Ibans became over-populated. In those days, before the arrival of western civilization, intruding on lands belonging to other tribes resulted in death. Confrontation was the only way of survival.
In those days, the way of war was the only way that any Dayak tribe could achieve prosperity and fortune. Dayak warfare was brutal and bloody, to the point of ethnic cleansing. Many extinct tribes, such as the Seru and Bliun, are believed to have been assimilated or wiped out by the Ibans. Tribes like the Bukitan, who were the original inhabitants of Saribas, are believed to have been assimilated or forced northwards as far as Bintulu by the Ibans. The Ukits were also believed to have been nearly wiped out by the Ibans.
The Ibans started moving to areas in what is today's Sarawak around the 15th century. After an initial phase of colonising and settling the river valleys, displacing or absorbing the local tribes, a phase of internecine warfare began. Local leaders were forced to resist the tax collectors of the sultans of Brunei. At the same time, Malay influence was felt, and Iban leaders began to be known by Malay titles such as Datu (Datuk), Nakhoda and Orang Kaya.
In later years, the Iban encountered the Bajau and Illanun, coming in galleys from the Philippines. These were sea-faring tribes who came plundering throughout Borneo. However, the Ibans feared no tribe, and fought the Bajaus and Illanuns. One famous Iban legendary figure known as Lebor Menoa from Entanak, near modern-day Betong, fought and successfully defeated the Bajaus and Illanuns. It is likely that the Ibans learned sea-faring skills from the Bajau and the Illanun, using these skills to plunder other tribes living in coastal areas, such as the Melanaus and the Selakos. This is evident with the existence of the seldom-used Iban boat with sail, called the bandung. This may also be one of the reasons James Brooke, who arrived in Sarawak around 1838, called the Ibans Sea Dayaks. For more than a century, the Ibans were known as Sea Dayaks to Westerners.