We've been having a little celebration of Sarawak specialities over the last few days.

This was on offer at my favourite little Padungan veggie shop this week:



It's terong asam, which literally means sour eggplant/aubergine. (Some people seem to call it terong Dayak, or Dayak eggplant.) We've had it once or twice at restaurants, but I hadn't realized that it's a very specifically Bornean vegetable.

Most people say it goes well with fish, but there are various ways to prepare it. Most people also say to remove the seeds, although I might try not doing that next time (the seeds apparently increase the sourness).

Inspired by the various suggestions online, I made a soup, which -- even without any fish -- tasted pretty good.

To replicate: Fry half a red onion in 1 tbsp of peanut oil. Add a tsp of belacan, and continue frying briefly. Add the terong asam (cut into eighths, seeds removed), and 1 cup of water. Cook gently for about 20 minutes.

It was pleasantly tangy, and just a tiny bit fishy/spicy, thanks to the belacan. I thought it went really well as a side-soup to accompany bitter gourd with egg and baked okra. A nice flavour combo.

We also treated ourselves to some traditional Sarawakian food, delivered from Dayak & Orang Ulu Homecook (aka Katu Cafe).

Four yummy dishes, none of which I would/could have cooked:


The fermented pork probably deserves a bit of explanation. As far as I can determine, to make this "kasam", which can be kept for months if prepared correctly, the cleaned meat is mixed with salt and cooked rice (presumably this is what sets off the fermentation) and left to brew in an urn for a while. The result is a robust flavour (you wouldn't want a huge portion), but it's very tangy and tasty. Definitely one to have again.

I love fermented food. (We both have wonderful memories of a stall near our home in Yogya that sold es tape, a refreshing drink made with fermented cassava. Then there's the delectable tapai pulut, which is fermented glutinous rice...)

And finally, dabai... I've mentioned these "Sibu olives" once or twice before, but they're in season at the moment, and so back in my mind.

Apparently they're not abundant this year, and are quite expensive.

Nevertheless, the dabai fried rice we had delivered from Uncle Bennie's today (not without incident, as the courier's bike broke down on his way to collect it) was generously studded with these tasty little things (see the picture at the top).

They do definitely have an olive-reminiscent quality about them, over and above their saltiness. Paired with salted terubok (a Southeast Asian fish) and a fragrant soup, it was a very satisfying lunch.