Party drink "Aramai Iti"

 "The making of Lihing"

Just as any Asian country, the Sabahan has their own special drink. It's called lihing. Yes i do agree that like any part of the world, it's for getting drunk but in my culture  it's also a tradition especially for our Harvest Festival called "Kaamatan". Lihing made from a very simple ingredient but the process of making it, let's just say "complicated". It has a strong taste and for the first sip you will feel like a burning sensation in your chest. Lihing is actually a finish product, before that, it begins with "Tapai" which can be consume as it is by itself.

Tapai is naturally made from glutinous rice or first harvest hill rice and 'sasad', a type of yeast that are sell everywhere at the Sabah local market. The rice are boiled to perfection and leave to cool to a suitable temperature before mixing it together with the 'sasad' and spread on the mat. After a while, the mix will be place in the clay jar for fermentation process. Fermentation period are depended on the quality of rice, yeast determines how good the lihing would be. Usually Tapai is ready within three to four weeks. Furthermore, we believe that the Tapai should be make with love and the person who do will not say a word during the process to avoid "mishaps".  A very experience maker will make the best Tapai taste sweet and a bit bitter in the same time that resulting the best lihing.

 

Now this next process its not for the faint heart as it needs long hour of waiting. The mix now need to be cook in a special pot. To short cut the explaining, think about whiskey distillation. Then you will get the clear looking water spirits, except it burns you tongue and make your head spin for a couple of days.


Lihing is not just treated as a beverage to us, it's also add on to our food. And we called it "Manuk Lihing" which stands for Chichen drunken soup.

My Inheritance

For my family, food is not just a meal. Its also an excuse for us to gather. Been in the religion mix family is a bless, there are always occasion to celebrate, when so,  everyone is busy with cooking tools. No matter its Hari Raya, Christmas or Chinese New Year, you can bet that the whole family will be mostly in the kitchen preparing a feast. Even the youngster are involved, its definitely a family affair.

But most of the all, we cherish our traditional food. All of the dish in my family are prepared with respect and care. Here we goes, now we are getting to the serious part whereby i am revealing the family secret. This recipes or all the dishes are simple but it has been in my family for hundreds years and they are methods of preparation, curing, steaming, all sort. The ingredients are mostly unique and may not be found in your supermarket. But don't worry, you can improvise it with other stuff as it will be a long flight to the jungle of Borneo. Some the famous traditional food among the Kadazan is Hinava, Noonsom, Pinaasakan, and manuk Lihing soup. A mouth of new words, we'll get to it soon.




For more, i will share some of my family daily dish that you can enjoy all year around. I would say i am not that traditional person as i like to experiment and mix match ingredient.Don't tell my mum. And of course i am learning some of the Burmese delight in the meantime as well.

Me

Hello:)My name is Caroline and i am originally from Sabah land below the wind, or as the world know it Borneo.I am born as mix of Kadazan (Sabah majority ethnic) and Brunei. Of course with a hint of Chinese too. I am currently calling Seri Kembangan, Selangor as my home. Find my self a job at the concrete industry had never been easy for a start,its a man world we call it.But gratefully i am all set up for the future now, and finally had find the tune.

Been living some part of the world before residing where i am now, had leave some mixes of fond memories. And most of it believe or not i had learn a lot about the people i met mostly on the dining table. I got to admit that i enjoy and found comfort with food. So my blog would be mostly about food and a little bit of history with it. By the way i am engage to Burmese gentlemen so there will be some influence. Here goes the feast:)