In the Bukar-Sadong Bidayuh dialect, this plant is called tipú. In Iban language, I think it’s called tepus. I’m not sure what it’s called in Malay or English but when I googled the net and Sarawak forestry department, the closest it might belong to is the Costus speciosus family. Tipú have large dark green leaves with stalks that’s about 6 to 8 feet tall.
The stalks produce edible soft shoots that the Bidayuh normally cooked with meat as soup.
To get the soft stems, you need to peel off the hard outer layer.
The recipe is very simple. Bring tipú, meat and garlic to boil. Salt it to taste. A little bit of white pepper as preferred.
It is ready to be served when the shoots are tender.
Tipu / Tepus (Achasma Megalocheilos) is used as flavour in Bidayuh cooking. It goes flavoursome with all kinds of meat, fish or prawn and is irresistibly appetizing.
It is a favourite ‘ulam’ for those who like the natural aromatic herbal taste which is eaten raw with anchovy sauce (sambal belacan). I prefer it be cooked or fried (i) with any meat, fish or prawn or (ii) by itself with garlic or (iii) together with other vegetables or (iv) with anchovy or dried prawn or (iv) anchovy and belacan.
In Bidayuh literature, ’tipu’ in the following Bidayuh ‘saduh’ or lullaby (cradle song) is usually sung by mothers or grandma when putting baby to sleep.
‘Mboi mboi dewu tipu,
Ngancak adik ku bitibu’.
The ‘saduh’ is likened to the Malay ‘Pantun 2 kerat’ or ‘2 line pantoum’ in Western Literature or the Japanese ‘HAIKU’.
Literally it means,
‘Fan it with tipu leaves,
A baby boy will be born
tonok tipu duwoh siok nyomba (oyok atau dot lagi best) dang buluk – sidik geng
and Pops/Moms say, “sikeh pengu”
deejay # is it called tepus in iban?
Wah….. will ask my aunty at Singai to prepare the dish! ‘Kasi tipu banyak sikit’… Saya mau sup tipu…
At first i did not know that this stuff was edible as it looks like some cigarette butts.
sumuk#would taste great if cooked in bamboo
rumet#cooking is my part time hobby
jangan heran one day aku jadik mcm jamie oliver weiii
since when you blog about cooking ni oi?
Yum yum!! My mom cooked it the best!