Went durian hunting yesterday in search of wholesale kampung durian. Drove around Puchong, Seri Kembangan/Equine Park, Puncak Jalil and Kinrara. Finally found one durian seller just setting up his stall for the day’s business at BK5. It was 12.30 noon and the first day of Ramadhan. That could be the reason why the other stalls were closed.

It’s this time of the year when I replenish the stock of tempoyaks (fermented durians).

And naughty Asher broke a bottle today!

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.

How to make tempoyak?

1. Remove the seeds from the flesh.
2. Mix the durian well with coarse salt. The amount of salt determines the sourish-vs-saltiness level and how long you want it stocked. Light salt would make it sourish and ideal for short term storage. Slightly salty is ideal for 3-6 months supply. That was how our forefathers used to make tempoyak.
3. However, with modern life where every households own at least a unit of refrigerator, it’s sufficient to make it lightly salted. Let it ferment at room temperature for a couple of weeks or up to a month, and then transfer it into the refrigerator to maintain freshness and lifespan. It could last up to a year!
4. There you go. It’s very simple actually to make tempoyak. The secret lies with the amount of salt and how you store it later to keep it fresh.

Perhaps additional steps from my own preference:

• I don’t make direct skin contact when removing the seeds from the flesh. I wear a polyethylene disposable glove (plastic glove) or a fork and knife. Reason: hygiene; sweaty palms would spoil the taste of the tempoyak.
• Store it in a glass or earth jar. For this reason, I purposely bought 2pcs x 1.8l Forvar jar from Ikea at RM7.90 per piece. If necessary, dry it under the sun to make sure it is perfectly dry before you store the tempoyak.

Two weeks later my tempoyak is ready for consumption. My first recipe to go with the tempoyak tonight was siok gule mpuyak campur sabi (chicken cooked with tempoyak and cili api). Sidi boh (simply delicious) …

Bon appetit

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.

headsteadi’s Exotic Kitchen ^TM this time around would like to spill out to you the secret recipe of a stir-fried squirrel^TM dish . Again, as I’ve mentioned probably over a hundred times, Bidayuh cooking style is simple and quite straight forward. There are no fancy herbs or spices added. We Bidayuhs like to savour the authentic taste of every wild animals that we savaged hence the minimal ingredients.

Ingredient:

1. Squirrel, 2-3 adults
2. Ginger, thumbsize – sliced thinly
3. Red onion, sliced 2-3 cloves
4. Garlic, sliced 2-3 cloves
5. Lemongrass, smashed 3 stalks
6. Chinese cooking wine, 2 tablespoon … ooops … this is not of Bidayuh origin. Tuak or langkau are preferred, but since I already have Chinese wine in the kitchen, gua belasah ajer beb (oh well, what the heck)!
   

Firstly, clean the squirrel. Wait a minute, that’s a catfish. Wrong script! mistakenly uploaded with rest of piccies Next piccie please …

The squirrel’s fur is flamed till burnt and scrapped. That’s the difference between a Dayak style vs Chinese style of cleaning furry meat. In a Chinese kitchen, they would normally skin the beast, leaving only the meat to savour. The skin, still intact with fur is normally wasted. In a Dayak kitchen (both Bidayuh and Iban natives), we flamed the fur because the skin is actually the one that keeps the original taste and aroma of a particular beast.

Chop the the meat into bite size pieces.

Pre-marinate it with salt for about 30 minutes prior to stir frying.

Meanwhile, pan-fry ginger, lemongrass, onion and garlic until they turn golden brown. Leave it aside.

Heat a quarter cup of cooking oil. Stir fry the meat for about 15 minutes. Dash 2 tablespoon of chinese cooking wine. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix it well and let it cook for another 10 minutes or until tender.

The stir-fried squirrel^TM is now ready to be served. You can enjoy it with rice or snack over a pint of Tsingtao beer. Sidi bohhhhh …. (It’s finger lickin’ good!)

As the Malay proverb says, “Sepandai-pandai tupai melompat, akhirnya nya jatuh ke tanah jua” (Read: As wittily a squirrel jumps, eventually it will fall down to the ground).

Now, the Bidayuh people wouldn’t agree at all with this proverb because we know, “Sepandai-pandai tupai melompat, akhirnya ke kuali jua” (Read: As wittily a squirrel jumps, eventually it will end up in the wok)

Bon appetit!

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 Kitchen^TM.

Ingredient:

1. 1 medium sized tortoise, unshelled and chopped into chewable pieces
2. 1/2 clove fresh garlic, unpeeled
3. 2-3 thumbsize of ginger, thinly sliced
4. 3-4 stalks of lemon grass, smashed
5. salt to taste
6. 2 tablespoon soy sauce

Put items 1-4 into a pot. Fill with water until everything is nicely covered. Bring it to simmer. Add in soy sauce. Add salt to taste. The garlic will help the soup to thicken. Let it boil under slow fire until the meat is tender and it’s ready to be served.

p/s: Had spider monkey with ginseng soup the other day but totally forgotten to take picture.

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

However, Singhai area last couple of weeks experienced off-season flowering which normally wouldn’t last to bear fruit.  The sprouts would fall off the durian branches in early morning.  It is then collected, washed and cooked in variety of styles. My late grandma taught us a technique on how to easily collect these sprouts. The night before, canvas the surrounding area and under the durian tree with a sheet large enough to collect the falling sprouts. In the morning, you’ll find it easy to gather them instead of bending down collecting the sprouts from the ground.

Prior to cooking, remove the stigma from the filamen. Wash thoroughly to remove foreign particles and dead leaves.

One method to enjoy durian sprout dish is to stir fry with chillies and shrimp paste.

Ingredients:

• durian sprouts
• anchovies
• chillies
• shrimp paste
• salt to taste
• red onion and garlic

Fry red onion, garlic, chillies, anchovies and shrimp paste in a bit of oil until they turn brownish. Add durian sprout, about half cup of water and stir fry for 5 minutes and it is ready to be served.