A couple of weeks ago, I went to Equine Park, Seri Kembangan in search for durian stall. My mission was to make tempoyak or fermented durian. I bought around 50 pieces durian for RM30. To save me some effort from massive cleaning job at home, I brought along a huge container and asked the durian seller to remove the flesh from the shell. Let him worry about disposing the thorny shells later on.

Squirrel is a cute animal. Squirrels are not protected animals. In fact they are considered pests, infesting cocoa farms, fruit orchards and vegetable farms, leaving poor farmers crying over their destroyed crops. A cheap method to control their menace is actually to eat them. It’s actually a delicious exotic dish that you can savour in variety of styles. Squirrel herbal soup, squirrel stew, squirrel porridge, roasted squirrel, BBQ squirrel or stir-fried squirrel. I’m already salivating by just imagining these extra-ordinary Bidayuh delicacies.

Have you ever tried eating tortoise? Yes, tortoise aka kura-kura. Not to be mistaken with water terrapin or labi-labi. Tortoise meat tastes quite different. It’s meat is a bit tougher than water terrapin and less tastier than it’s bigger cousin but for a change of taste, Tortoise Stew was the menu for the day in headsteadi’s Exotic KitchenTM.

Durian sprout (bunga durian) is a common Bidayuh dish that comes seasonal. Durian in Sarawak normally bear fruit in October & November.

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.