"DAPUR Melanau". The dancing font of the restaurant's signage mirrors precisely the excitement that's welling up inside me. The word Melanau whips me back in time, many, many moons ago when I spent months in the interior of Sarawak shooting a documentary, with a mission to capture, in glorious colours, the traditional wedding customs of the many tribes in the Land of the Hornbills.
I remember the Melanau people, or A-Likou, as they were originally called, being riverine dwellers. They could be found scattered along the main tributaries of Sungai Rajang in Central Sarawak. Legend has it that the name Melanau was given by the Malays of Brunei to the inhabitants of the coastal swamp flats and riverbanks, which might signify "coast-dweller".
But this deluge of recollected information isn't what's causing the internal "happy skipping"; it's the recollection of the amazing food that my team and I had the opportunity to sample during our time in Mukah, a small town located in Sarawak's central region.
The Melanau people, who are traditionally fishermen and farmers, have a rich food heritage that features unique ingredients such as jungle ferns, umai, fresh fish products and siet, chopped sago worms or ulat mulong, a traditional dish famous in the past but rarely found today.
LEAP OF FAITH
Relieved to leave the sweltering heat of the midday sun behind me, I gingerly push open the door into the pleasantly air-conditioned sanctuary that is Dapur Melanau. A quick glance reveals an unassuming space furnished with simple wooden chairs and tables, and walls lined with striking pictures of various Melanau dishes.
In one corner, the gleam of silver catches my eye; reflections emanating from the rows of shiny chaffing dishes filled temptingly with a wide selection of mouth-watering local offerings.
"Masuklah," a friendly voice with that distinctive Sarawakian accent jolts me from my rapt scrutiny, and I find myself returning the beaming smile of a tudung-clad lady, who'd hitherto been standing at the end of the buffet counter.
Making her way towards me, her hand extended in a warm welcome, she introduces herself as the proprietor here, before ushering my little group to a table at the back of the restaurant.
Embarrassingly, a small rumble escapes my stomach as I gaze at all the food lined to my right. Norhayati Taib Sanyut grins, her eyes dancing with pride. "Would you mind just ordering for us?" I say to her, bewildered at the selection. She nods happily, before disappearing momentarily into the kitchen to talk to her wait-staff.
"I'm Melanau, from Rajang," begins Norhayati, taking a seat next to me as we wait for the food to arrive. "I own this restaurant with my husband, who's from Kuching. We've been in business for more than two years."
I duly learn that the couple opened the shop just after the Movement Control Order (MCO). Prior to dipping their toes into F&B, Norhayati was running a fashion boutique, located just above this restaurant.
"The boutique wasn't really doing well during the MCO; no one was shopping for clothes and we really struggled," shares the soft-spoken mother-of-four, adding: "We'd invested so much into the boutique, but we weren't making much. And that's when we decided to open a restaurant instead so we could get an alternative source of income."
Cooking wasn't something alien to Norhayati. "I've been cooking since young," she confides, before beaming broadly at the sight of dishes after dishes arriving on our table. My eyes widen in pleasure as recognition dawns on some of the items that are in front of me.
"Umai. Ayam pansuh (or manuk pansuh). Linut. Ikan masin terubuk…" I reel off proudly to the smiling lady seated next to me. She nods, but not without an expression of bewilderment etched on her face — presumably at my knowledge. Grinning, I proceed to tell her my story of my stint in Sarawak.
"You know, all these dishes originated from my home," shares Norhayati, before elaborating: "I had an online food business before this, selling pulut kuning, rendang ayam, rendang daging, nasi lemak. The business was good and so many people encouraged us to open a restaurant. I guess that's what triggered the idea to go beyond the fashion boutique."
In fact, even before she had the online (food) business, Norhayati would upload onto social media whatever she cooked at home for the day.
Chuckling, she recalls: "I'd tell my friends that everything they saw in my posts was from 'Dapur Melanau'. And that's where the name of this restaurant originated from. Also, I was passionate about introducing Melanau cuisine to Kuching."
The attractive 50-year-old admits that she'd always been quite enterprising. From a young age, she'd already learnt how to sew and embroider. Her interest to open a clothing boutique seemed like an obvious next step.
Says Norhayati: "I've had the boutique for five years. It so happened that we discovered the floor above this restaurant was vacant, so we decided to move the boutique there. This way, we can monitor both the businesses."
Asked what the concept for Dapur Melanau is, Norhayati steers my attention to the line of what appears to be woven lampshades above the chaffing dishes. "See those things," she says, finger pointing towards them.
I nod, and she continues: "Those aren't just any lampshades; they're actually terendak, a traditional headgear made from pal leaves, which are dyed and woven into a hat. Our menfolk would wear these hats whenever they go out to the farm." The concept here, adds Norhayati, is inspired by elements of the Melanau culture.
DISCOVERING MELANAU CUISINE
Being a coastal community, the cuisine of the Melanau people is largely based on bounties from the sea and rivers. Incidentally, Mukah is famous for its seafood. One of the most famous dishes is umai, raw fish prepared with ginger, chilli and lime juice. It truly is simplicity at its best — just the freshest ingredients seasoned very sparingly to preserve the natural flavours.
"Here's umai," Norhayati's gentle voice draws me back to the generous spread on the already-heaving table. "Umai Ikan, a traditional delicacy made from raw fish, is one of our signatures," she shares.
Continuing, the affable proprietor explains: "The flesh of the fish, in this case we're using ikan merah (red snapper), is cooked with lime juice, and then we add onions, carrots, and squeeze more lime. The most important thing is the sambal, which is made from chillies, fish sauce, oyster sauce and onions."
And what can you say about the gooey-looking linut, also known as ambuyat in Sabah and Brunei? Norhayati tells me that linut, made by mixing sago flour and hot water — and a LOT of patience — is another signature here.
Best eaten hot with sambal belacan, it's a wonderful replacement for rice. At least, I think so as I happily spoon the sticky "concoction" into my bowl for the umpteenth time, and savouring it with all the other dishes on the table. Oh, and here's an interesting taboo that comes with eating linut: you can't laugh or speak loosely or carelessly while eating it. Now you know!
"Linut can be eaten at any time of the day," shares Norhayati, observing with mirth my enjoyment of this ethnic Melanau delicacy. "We normally eat it with the kerabu manga (mango salad), which is mixed with anchovies and belacan, and sayur keladi (root vegetable). Some people like to have it with the assam pedas."
Pointing to the dish, she enthusiastically elaborates: "We've using the silver pomfret (fish) in our assam pedas, which incidentally doesn't quite taste like the version in Peninsular Malaysia. It's nearer to the taste of your masak singgang (like a soup with a sour and savoury taste). What makes our version of the singgang special is the use of terung asam (hairy-fruited eggplant), or better known here as terung Dayak, which you can only find in Sarawak."
MUCH TO SAVOUR
Sampling the spread is akin to a walk through the Melanau culinary-scape. I duly learn that the Melanau prefer to boil or steam their food, rather than fry. In terms of ingredients, a lot of jungle produce are used, for example, all kinds of ferns, bamboo shoots, root vegetables, ginger, and more.
One of the dishes that I remember well from my time here in Sarawak shooting my documentary is ayam pansuh, or manuk pansuh as it's known by the Iban community. It's a dish prepared by cooking chicken meat in a bamboo stalk that's filled with water, seasonings, and covered with tapioca leaves from the cassava plant.
"This one we cook together with onions and garlic, lemongrass, galangal, ginger, tapioca shoots and various types of jungle ferns," shares Norhayati, before encouraging me to spoon some onto my plate.
Before I've even finished, she excitedly draws my attention to another item. "Try the pais telur ikan and pais udang," she coaxes, placing onto my side plate what looks like Peninsular Malaysia's otak otak. Wrapped in banana leaf, the mix of fish roe, grated coconut, turmeric leaves, daun mengkudu (leaves of the Morinda citrifolia) and lime juice, is grilled.
"Do you have tumpik?" I blurt out, the image of lempeng (Malaysian pancake) suddenly swimming into my vision. To my delight, Norhayati's head bobs enthusiastically. Tumpik, another Melanau dish, is a pancake made from sago, dried coconut and salt. Sometimes called Sarawak pizza and considered a dessert, it can either be eaten with bubuk (shrimp) or sirap gula apong.
"In Peninsular Malaysia, the nearest equivalent to this gula apong (sweet substance produced from the sap of nipa palm tree) is gula melaka (palm sugar)," shares Norhayati, continuing: "But, gula melaka is hard, while gula apong is more chewy."
A sudden bustle by the doorway causes the friendly proprietor to look up. The time on my watch reads 1pm. Ahh, the lunchtime crowd's starting to descend. "Lunchtime, after the children come back from school, is generally our peak time," confides Norhayati as she rises to attend to the incoming group.
But before leaving us to continue with the feasting, she says with a proud smile: "We're the first Melanau kitchen here in Kuching. I'm so happy to be able to bring the food of my community and introduce it to others who may not be familiar with the richness of our culinary heritage. Please… tambah ye (eat more)!"
DAPUR MELANAU
WHERE Lot 14171, Section 65,
Ground Floor, 93050 Kuching, Sarawak.
Go to their FB page Dapur Melanau or Instagram @dapurmelanau for more info.