Ngabang 2016

J, A and I went visiting this Gawai to a few of our colleagues' houses at their respective villages. These villages are just outside Kuching, not to say really far away. E lives in Kampung Sibuluh, C at Kampung Batu Spit, JJ at Kampung Podam, and S at Kampung Simboh.

My friends, who are Bidayuhs, live in individual houses in the villages, and not longhouses. Their houses are modern, comfortable and large enough for them and some of their extended family members to live in. Of course, food and drinks were in abundant at every house ... we ate our fill and drank till we were bloated. But it's good that we did not get drunk. :P

Nowadays, living in the vicinity of Kuching, the Bidayuhs were large influenced by the Chinese and Malay, serving up very familiar food like meat rolls, chicken curries, store-brought roasted meats, mixed vegetables and so on.

The yummy fare at E's house 

At E's house, there was plenty to eat! Mixed vegetables, homemade meat rolls, chicken curry and braised pork belly with preserved vegetables (梅菜). I was very impressed with the pork belly - tender meat, well-balanced flavour, and very yum - and was even more surprise to find out that the pork belly was cooked by E's dad! It was his signature dish! No wonder it was yum! It braised for about 3 hours, for the meat to soften and fully absorb the flavour of the 梅菜. According to E, his dad once cooked over 100 kg of pork belly for a special function! 

Next was C's house; we spent the longest time here! C's house was up on a  slope, very airy. Such was the perk of living in a village - there's still fresh air! At C's house, we were happy to enjoy ...

BBQ Pork

I love how the Dayaks barbecue their meats! The meat's well-marinated, smoky in flavour, and yet sweet and juicy. Yummy. 

BBQ Catfish

The fish was fresh, the meat came off the bones rather easily. Very good as well. 

Pork leg, salted vegetables and peanut soup

Drinks overflowed here .....
What's Gawai without beer? Our hosts were very generous with the beer, and we were encouraged to drink as much as we liked .... lol. Of course, we exercised control lest we got drunk.

At JJ's house, there was kasam ikan .... a fermented freshwater fish. The fish is cleaned, salted and fermented with rice .... 

Kasam Ikan

The fish has a very strong flavour - absolutely potent! It was a flavour I was new too - strong and pungent, tangy too ... I can't say that I like it yet. :P 

What I liked was this .... 

Sambal terung asam

According to JJ, the terung asam was first grilled or charred to give it a smoky flavour, then it's cut and mixed with anchovies and belacan and chillies. I loved this with just plain rice. Very appetising.

We drove to the other direction to Padawan to S' village. Here, I enjoyed the bamboo shoots homecooked by her family .... 

All cut by hand 

The shoots were so tender, and lightly flavoured. They were sweet and tender and crunchy. Very enjoyable indeed! After eating, we took a walk up the slope at the back of S' house to enjoy the view ..... 

Next year when we come back here, these hills may no longer be here; the hills have been slated for development ..... :((

We said our goodbyes and then headed back to town ....

Lemang is glutinuous rice in a bamboo casing; this one was given by JJ when we visited her house. It was made by her mother. 

Compact, soft rice, flavoured with peanuts and dried shrimps 

The Dayaks are really hospitable and generous. We had a great time this Gawai. Till next year, Ooo-Haa!