Kek Lapis Sarawak

     

Kek Lapis Sarawak is a layered cake, traditionally served in Sarawak, Malaysia on special occasions. In the Malay language, they are known as Kek Lapis Sarawak, Kek Lapis Moden Sarawak, Kek Sarawak or Kek Lapis. They are often baked for religious or cultural celebrations such as Eid ul-Fitr, Christmas, Deepavali, birthdays and weddings. People in Malaysia practice an open house on festival day. A unique feature of Sarawak's open houses is the modern layered cakes.

Otak-otak

 

 

 

Otak-otak (Chinese: 鲤鱼包) is a cake made of fish meat and spices. It is widely known across Southeast Asia, where it is traditionally served fresh, wrapped inside a banana leaf, as well as in many Asian stores internationally - being sold as frozen food and even canned food.

Otak-otak is found in certain parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The southern Malaysian town of Muar in Johor is a popular destination for it — people from surrounding states and even Singaporeans often visit to buy the famous otak-otak in bulk. It is commonly known in Singapore as otah. Otak means brains in Indonesian and Malay, and the name of the dish is derived from the idea that the dish somewhat resembles brains, being grey, soft and almost squishy. It can be eaten as a snack or with bread or rice as part of a meal.
Otak-otak is made by mixing fish paste (usually mackerel) with a mixture of spices. In Indonesia, the mixture typically contains fish paste, shallots, garlic, scallions, egg, coconut milk, and sago flour or can be substituted for cassava starch. While in Malaysia, it is usually a mixture between fish paste, chili peppers, garlic, shallots, turmeric, lemon grass and coconut milk. The mixture is then wrapped in a banana leaf that has been softened by steaming, then grilled or steamed.
While fish otak-otak is most common, otak-otak is also made with prawns, often resulting in a more textured variety. In Muar, you can also find otak-otak made from cuttlefish, fish head and even chicken.
In Jakarta, Indonesia, one finds otak-otak being sold in small stalls near bus stops, especially during afternoon rush hour. Some of the best otak-otak can be found in another Indonesian city, Makassar. The main ingredient is fresh King Mackerel Fish or known as King Fish.

Ayam Pansuh (Manok Pansoh)

 

The Iban tribe are from Sarawak, Borneo. Their traditional foods are called Pansuh food, which simply means the cooking of food or dish in a bamboo stem. It's naturally clean, easy and simple. The food (meat, chicken, fish, vegetables and even rice together with the spices) will all be put together into the bamboo stem, then directly placed over an open fire to be cooked. The uniqueness of using the bamboo stem to cook is that the bamboo will give a special aroma and texture to the food where it's impossible to have using other methods such as using woks. Since they settled in the Malaysian state of Sarawak over 400 years ago, the Iban have made the surrounding rainforest their supermarket and hardware store, tapping the tremendous variety of plants, animals and raw materials for their food, medicines, dwellings and rituals. Forest ferns have a special place in the diet of the people, with the two most popular ferns used as vegetables being midin and the fiddlehead fern (pucuk paku). Midin grows wild in the secondary forests and is peculiar to the state. It has curly fronds and is very crunchy even after it has been cooked. Rural dwellers have always considered the fern a tasty, nutritious vegetable and the jungle fern's rise from rural staple to urban gourmet green occurred in the 1980s with the increased urban migration of the Iban. Aromatic leaves from trees, such as the Bungkang, are also used in cooking to flavour food. One of the best known Iban dishes is pansoh manok (ayam pansuh), which features chicken and lemongrass cooked in a bamboo log over an open fire. This natural way of cooking seals in the flavours and produces astonishingly tender chicken with a gravy perfumed with lemongrass and bamboo. A visit to the longhouse will usually see guests welcomed with a glass of tuak, a home-brewed rice wine. The brew has a sweet fragrance and is highly alcoholic - a small glass is enough to send the unaccustomed to euphoric heights. The numerous riverine areas of Sarawak provide the state's inhabitants with abundant fresh water fish, with the Tilapia being the most widely cultivated. There are sago grubs, bamboo clams and temilok (marine worms) to try. The bright yellow, round eggplants and turmeric flowers are also found in Iban foods.