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.