In the previous article, RAKAN Sarawak focused on some of the well-known rice-based dishes among the Bidayuh, Iban, Chinese, Malay and Melanau community.
For the third and final part of the rice-based dishes in Sarawak, Rakan Sarawak will be focusing on the rice-based dishes in the Orang Ulu community.
How many of these rice dishes have you tried before?
Dadi
Dadi is a traditional Bisaya glutinous rice dish cooked with coconut milk and salt. To prepare dadi, first, the rice is cooked in coconut milk and then wrapped in ‘kukup’ leaves.
It is usually served during gatherings such as weddings and is usually prepared in large group of family or relatives.
Apart from that, there is another version of dadi called lelamu which has banana added to it.
Kelupis
Kelupis is a traditional glutinous rice dessert of both the Bisaya and Bruneian people. To prepare kelupis, the glutinous rice is first cooked in coconut milk then wrapped in ‘nyirik’ leaves and shaped into long individual roll. The rolls are then tied with nylon strand and cooked by steaming.
Kelupis is often said to be compared to pulut panggang as there are some versions of it where it is prepared with dried prawn.
Kelupis is also prepared by the Lun Bawang community typically for guests during wedding ceremonies. As kelupis is a snack served during celebration, preparing kelupis is a communal activity by families and close friends as it needs to be prepared in mass amount to guests.
Kelupis is also a popular rice snack among other ethnic communities in Sarawak and often served during important celebration such as weddings.
Wajik
Wajik is a Bisaya traditional dessert or snack made with glutinous rice mixed with palm sugar, coconut and pandan leaves.
After cooked, the rice mixture is transferred into a flat surface such as a baking tray and flattened.
Once wajik is cool, it is cut into small diamond shape. As the majority of the Bisaya community lives in Limbang, Sarawak, wajik can also be found in Sabah and also Brunei.
Selukung (pounded glutinous rice wrapped in sip leaves)
Selukung is a traditional Orang Ulu rice dish and its appearance shares the similar triangular shape of a ketupat (a traditional Malay rice dish).
It is prepared by inserting the rice into the sip leaf before steamed over heat. Before this, the leaves are prepared by folding them into a triangular shape.
Nubak layak
Nubak layak means mashed rice cooked ‘isip’ leaf and it is a Kelabit and Lun Bawang rice dish. It is prepared by wrapping the rice in isip leaves and steaming it. Much like typical rice, it is eaten with other dishes such as meat and vegetables.
Dinu
Dinu is Kayan’s rice fritter. Generally, the ingredients used to make dinu is rice flour, glutinous rice flour and palm sugar. To prepare dinu, the ratio of the rice flour is more than the glutinous rice flour. The latter is added so that dinu will still retain its soft texture even after some time. Palm sugar is also added for sweetening. The ingredients are mix and form into small circular shape.
Like most delicacy in Sarawak, the preparation for making dinu requires group work and communal effort. It is typically prepared in by family members for a gathering or celebration. And in typical Sarawak style celebration which usually has huge number of guests, dinu needs to be prepared ahead of time by a large group of people.
While the preparation steps in making dinu may requires time and effort, it is still a viewed as joyful activity for family members and friends to reconnect and spend time together.
Parei ubek
Parei ubek is Kayan’s glutinous rice. To prepare this dish, put glutinous rice add some water into bamboo.
The bamboo is then roasted until well-cooked.
Pitoh
Pitoh is glutinous rice wrapped in ‘sang’ leaves made by the Kayan community.
Pitoh is made by folding the sang leave into rectangle shape and boiled wrapped rice until well-cooked
Keltep
Keltep is glutinous rice ball and is a well-known rice snack in the Kayan community. It is made by pounding the glutinous rice and fry the pounded glutinous rice without cooking oil.
