We went to the Sunday Market (Kuching) weeks ago to search for this fruit - roselle.  We walked for a big round and finally found it at one of the corners.  There were only 3 small baskets left, RM 1 for each basket, and the seller said that we could take 3 baskets for RM 2.50.  :D  So we bought them all.

This is roselle.  In Chinese we called it Luo Shen.  In Malay, it is called Asam Susur.  Locally it is also known as Rozel or Rojel.  Its scientific name is called Hibiscus sabdariffa.

It is in dark red colour and I like its shape.  It is actually the flower of its plant.  There are seeds inside this fruit.

It is soft, and you can squeeze it in your hand.

We seldom see this fruit and it is not sell in big scale.  It is only sold by villagers, sometimes we can only find 1 or 2 basket in the entire market.

The taste of this fruit is very sour.  It can be boiled into juice with sugar.  (This is what we usually do.)

Years ago I saw it for the first time in a factory.  It is a long story, I visited the factory during class hour in school.  My classmates and I were playing chess after the exam (we still need to attend class, and the teacher were busy marking papers, so we could do anything in class).  On that day, someone suddenly came to our class and asked if anybody want to visit a factory…  the bus were waiting at the school entrance.

The factory was not far away, we departed at about 9am and return to school at about 11:30am.  I wondered if all the teachers and classes know about it, many people might have missed this educational trip because there were only limited seats.

At the factory, we were told how this fruit was used in different ways:-

1.  It can be made into concentrated juice.

2.  It can be bottled into juice that can drink instantly.  We took back a bottle each, and later I found it in some supermarket, but years later, I can’t find it anymore.

3.  It can be made into jam.

4.  It can be added with sugar and dried with heat, then it turn into dried fruit.  When we ate it in mouth, we could feel that it is as soft as raisin, but bigger and a bit sour.

We were given a plastic bag each to pick up the dried roselle.  One of my classmates took a lot, and he started to have stomach ache on the bus returning to school.  I wanted to continue playing chess before the class dismissed but I did not see him until the next day.  I guess he was in the toilet.

5.  If I am not mistaken, the tree of this fruit can be used to make string.

This fruit is rich in Vitamin C, but cannot be overeaten.

This is really a good educational trip although it was a sudden unplanned call.

I have forgotten where this factory is.  I hope I can see more product from this roselle fruit.

1.  Teochew Peach Kueh with Peanut Filling.

This is a type of Chinese (Teochew) delicacy which shapes like a peach.  In Teochew (a dialect of Chinese), it is called “Tol” which means peach.  In Chinese communities, there is a type of peach called “ShouTao” which usually represents longevity or long life.

In Kuching, we can find 2 common types of Teochew Peach Kueh.  The pink coloured skin usually has peanuts plus sugar filling, whereas the white one has Glutinous rice inside.  I think the local bakers and buyers have made this a colour code to easily know what the filling is.

However, from the Internet, I found another colour, such as grey.  Different places also called it differently, such as Peng Kueh or P’ng Kueh which means Rice Kueh.  (In Chinese or Malay, Kueh means snack or dessert foods.)

2.  Teochew Peach Kueh with Glutinous Rice Filling.

Recently, SiewPeng and I are quite busy, we always go to a vegetarian shop to pack our lunch, this is our favorite delicacy in addition to our lunch.  Sometimes we finish it right after lunch, sometimes we have it hours later during afternoon tea time.

Let me cut them into half and show you what is inside.

Standard Local Colour Code:-

Pink- peanuts + sugar.
White - glutinous rice.

I have asked around and searched it on the Internet, the above is the information I have got.  If you know more about it, please tell me about this Teochew Peach Kueh.

Have you tried this Chinese delicacy?

This is our evening tea which we always drink when we have our dinner.  It is a Chinese herbal tea actually.  In Chinese, we call it “LiangCha“.

I like the bubbles, so I took their photo.  The bubbles have the colors of the rainbow, like the morning dew.

Hmm…  It has been a long time since I last saw the beautiful morning dew on the green grass shone by the warm morning sun, since the piece of empty land in front of my house has been turned into a porch to park our cars.  I miss the morning dew.

Days ago, I saw my nephew ate a piece of raisin bread.  I witnessed it from the moment he started eating until he finished the whole piece of raisin bread.

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Can you guess what happened?

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He bit off the raisin one by one until there were no more raisins on the bread !!!  I thought he was going to throw away the rest of the bread, luckily he continued eating the plain bread without raisin.

Is this a human nature?  I don’t think anybody has taught him to eat this way.  It is proven that kids like sweet things though.

In real life of adults world, it happens too in other cases such as :-

1.  Many people enjoy their life first by spending money uncontrollably, but later they found that they have no more money to spend.

2.  Many students play computer games first before start doing / touching their assignments, and later they have to burn the midnight oil before the assignments due.

In Chinese, there are 2 phrases:-
1.  XianTianHouKu (means sweet first and bitter comes later.)
2.  XianKuHouTian (means bitter first and sweet comes later.)

Which one do you prefer?

We were attracted by the Malt Sugar Art in one of the stalls in the Kuching Festival this year.  It is an art from China which is categorized as “non-material inheritance“.

There were some samples being displayed at the stall, but their prices were very costly, from RM 4 to RM 20 or more, depending on the design.

We chose to turn the wheel with RM 4, and the artist would make the design where the pointer has pointed to.  Luckily, we have got a dragon.  He said that it cost RM 10 if we did not take the wheel.

This is what we have got.

I thought it might take 5 to 10 minutes, but the entire process took less than 3 minutes.  I have taken a video clip as well, but since it was so fast, the video clip is very short.

He first melt the malt sugar.

Then he used a tool which is similar to the one used for storing wax for batik.

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The Food Fair and Fun Fair
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It is the main attraction here and we can’t skip introducing to those who have not been here.

But since SiewPeng and I are vegeterian, we do not have much choices.

Come and try hundreds of types of food next year.

Besides, there were also some games to play to win a prize or two.

This part of the festival was the area for a mini fun fair.  At the entrance, we were welcomed by a few dinosaur statues.  Don’t be threatened by them though.  They are friendly! Haha… If you take a good look, you can see a merry go round at the far end.

Every year, there will be a massive jam outside the venue of the Kuching Festival and it is often difficult to find a parking space.  The jam usually starts around 5:30 p.m. and you can see people walking in and out of the festival with all kinds of food which they have bought.  There is also a big crowd within the festival and it’s hard to move around.  But that is okay if you like to be in the crowd.  So, if you have missed it this year, don’t be disappointed.  It will be on again next year with more exciting ‘tummy adventures’!