new parliament building in kuching
at the start of the long weekend, on friday, we took a one-hour-twenty-minute-flight to kuching in sarawak, east malaysia. we returned to singapore on sunday, just when the national day parade was about to begin and definitely in time for the 8.22 pledge.
it was meant to be a social visit but it turned out to be more like a gastronomic adventure even though i am not that adventurous when it comes to eating.
we tried at least four unique and authentic sarawak dishes. first was the wild ferns cooked in garlic and shallots. sometimes, sambal belachan is used to cook the ferns. the ferns are apparently not that wild because, according to one of our hosts, they can be found growing by the road side. we finished the whole plate of crunchy ferns in double quick time. i think the locals call this dish midin.
the second dish was the bamboo chicken (pansoh manuk). chunks of chicken stuffed into a bamboo and cooked with herbs, one variation of which, uses kacang ma. another variation uses tapioca leaves, lemongrass and mushrooms. (kacang ma is a herb promoted by the sarawak state agriculture and food industry. this herb belongs to the mint family. it is believed to have originated in china and brought to sarawak by the hakkas.)
i also tried the sarawak version of laksa. it reminds me of our prawn noodles (hae mee). the authentic sarawak laksa uses fresh rice vermicelli. the soup is rich in 'sanatan' and spices. the toppings include prawns, chicken and thinly-sliced omelette.
of course, you cannot claim to have tried authentic sarawak dishes if you have not eaten the kolok mee - of which there are many imitations in singapore these days. in kuching, you can have kolok mee at any time of the day - for breakfast, lunch or dinner. having not eaten the kolok mee in singapore, i could not make a comparison; i was told that it tasted so much better than those sold in singapore.
