What is BUAH DABAI?

Dabai is one of many exotic fruits in Sarawak.

It is commonly known as or-kana - means 'black olive' in Hokkien, but technically it is not an olive.

The dabai tree can grow up to 21 meters high and it's furry leaves are thin and its twigs are covered with golden down. A planting distance of 9 meters is recommended. You need to prune the young trees to produce more bushy growth.

Dabai trees are dioecious (i.e have separate sexes) with male and female trees required for fruiting!  Dabai are white in colour when immature and turn black when ripe. They are oblong in shape like an olive and have thin, edible skin. The yellowish white flesh wraps around a three-angled seed.  Soak the dabai in hot water until they are soft. The yellowish flesh tastes creamy. Eating the skin is a personal preference. For taste, try either soy sauce or salt. You can also preserve it just by soaking them with black soy sauce or with coarse salt (without the seed). Dabai fried rice is a specialty dish in Sarawak. However this is a seasonal fruit.

The second best thing that comes out from a fruit is the nut inside the seed. Crack it open with a mortar and pestle set; the good old-fashion way. Use a toothpick to remove the nut if necessary.

Enjoy...

 

Sarawak, where adventure lives...

Author: Deckson Bundak

Sarawak Top 10 Iconic Food

1. Sarawak Laksa - The Sarawak Laksa is essentially vermicelli rice noodles (bee hoon), cooked in a shrimp-based broth that is made to thicken with coconut milk.  This dish is served with generous amounts of crunchy bean sprouts, a few boiled prawns and garnished with shredded chicken and slivers of egg omelette.  For added spice, there's the thick sambal paste that is usually served on the side.  For some extra pizzazz you can squeeze some lime juice (limau kasturi) into your dish as well.
2. Kolo Mee - A bowl of piping hot Kolo Mee (Kolok Mee) is just the thing to start your day. This  light yellow egg noodle consists of lard, char siew (barbecued pork) sauce and black vinegar.  A common enough dish found in Sarawak, the Kolok Mee is available for breakfast, lunch and even supper!  (Note: Halal version is also available at Malay stall)
3. Ayam Pansuh - The Iban dish of Manok Pansoh (ayam Pansuh) or chicken in bamboo is a must try.  Cut chicken pieces, mushrooms, lemongrass and tapioca leaves are stuffed into bamboos and cooked over an open fire.  This seals in the flavour and the result is succulent and juicy tender chicken, with gravy hinting of lemongrass and bamboo.
4. Midin Belacan - Local vegetables are served widely, particularly the two types of crispy jungle fern, midin and paku.
5. Ikan Terubuk Masin - The numerous waterways provide the people with an abundance of fresh water fish like the Tilapia, which incidentally is the most widely cultivated.  it's no surprise then that some of the popular Sarawakian dishes also include these 'gifts' from the sea.  The salted ikan terubok is sold in markets around Sarawak.
6. Umai - Umai (Umei), This is a dish for the brave. The umai is traditionally a standard lunch meal for the Melanau fisherman.  Thin slivers of raw fresh fish, usually iced but not frozen, combined with thinly scliced onions, chili, salt and juice from sour fruits like lime or assam go into preparing this dish.  The dish is usually accompanied by a bowl of toasted sago pearls and is so simple that fishermen prepare it easily on their boats.
7. Kompia - Guang Bing (Kom Pia) initially served as dry food for Chinese hero Ji Guang's soldiers to carry during the anti-Japanese occupation war in China.  Ji Guang is credited with creating this popular Foochow food.  WHile resembling the French bread in taste, the Guang Bing also has a little extra in the form of sesame seeds sprinkled generously on top of the bread.
8. Terung Dayak Soup - This round yellow color fruit is popular among the locals for cooking sour dishes like assam sour fish and sour soup.
9. Dabai - Dabai is a seasonal fruit.  The skin of the fruit is black while the flesh is yellow in colour.  The seed is also yellow and diamond shaped and is also edible if you can crack it open.  The Dabai is a hard fruit but when you soaked for 10-15 minutes in semi hot water with a bit of salt, it becomes soft and edible and the texture becomes like dates.
10. Foochow Mee - Also known as Kampua Mee is very much similar to Kolok Mee.  This dry noodles is served with several slices of barbequed pork and a bowl of soup.  Kampua  can be prepared according to your preference, either you like to have it plain, with soy suace, with chili sauce or both.  (Note: Halal version is also available at Malay stall)

*The result was based on our facebook SarawakTravel  poll in 2011.

What is...BUAH ENGKALAK??

Buah’ means fruit in Bahasa Malaysia. So buah engkalak simply means ‘engkalak’ fruit. All of our three trees are fruiting again and this week we harvested a big basketful.  Engkalak or Litsea garciae belong to the same family as avocado.

I didn’t like this fruit before; it truly is an acquired taste much like avocado too. But now, I love it! Rich and creamy and especially tasty with a pinch of salt or soya sauce, I think it’s a lot nicer than avocado!

As the fruits mature, they will turn a bright pink. However, they are only ready to be eaten when they turn a deeper red and the flesh has become soft. When consumed either green or pink, the flesh will be tough and tastes bitter-spicy. They are sold from RM2 to RM4 per basket.

When planted from seed, it takes about 4 or 5 years for a tree to reach fruiting size. The tree can attain a large size with large leaves and branches that spread out several meters from the trunk. It grows to about 15-20 or more meters high so this isn’t your normal garden tree as it requires a lot of space. Expect the first successful harvest around the fifth year. Well worth the wait, especially if you love avocado-type fruits. This is a tropical tree so unfortunately, not everyone will be able to plant this and enjoy the fruits!

To prepare the ripe fruits, simply place them in a deep bowl and pour hot water at about 80 degrees Celsius. Leave for about 5 minutes and the fruits would have “fattened” up and the flesh turned soft. Then simply squeeze out the large, round and hard seed inside and eat the soft creamy white flesh (minus the skin of course!). Very tasty with a pinch of salt!! Yummy....Engkalak is also known as butter-fruit locally. 


Sarawak Malaysia Borneo...
Where Adventure Lives..

Author: Deckson Bundak