Dummy's Guide to Penan Food

As Malaysians, there is one thing that joins and unites us: food. We seem to have made a reputation of loving food and having a vast variety of cuisine here. Today, I’m going to introduce you to a magic substance-- tapioca flour. Also known as apo ubei in the Penan language, it is their staple food and they use it to make many dishes. In my short sixteen days there, the lady that I was teaching, Aunty Catherine, let me try many different types of food and most of it was made from tapioca flour.

Tapioca flour is one of the most versatile cooking ingredients I have ever come across. And for a hopeless cook like me, it is one of the easiest ingredients to use as well! Tapioca plants are seen almost everywhere in Bario, and some even grow them in farms. I also had the experience of planting tapioca with my lady, which I am very grateful for.

If you want to know more about the tapioca plant and its uses, I will be uploading a post soon.

On its own, tapioca flour has a neutral taste. This is one of the reasons why it can be used to make so many different types of food. I won’t be showing all of it to you in this post, but I’ll be just explaining three types of food made from apo ubei. The two basic ingredients you will need are tapioca flour (duh) and water.

Note: when the people there cook, they don’t exactly use measurements for the ingredients. A lot of their cooking is based on their experience and (according to some of them) what they feel. Some of the measurements that I give are based on what I saw and may not be accurate. Follow your heart!

Click on the links below to navigate to each part!
1. Nao
2. Tebih
3. Sigo

Nao 

/na:ɒ/

This is easily the simplest dish ever. It is sticky and has the grey, translucent look of glue. It can be eaten as rice and with other dishes!

Note: Use a hawker stall panmee sized bowl for this dish!

Step One: Mix one heaping tablespoon of tapioca flour with some room-temperature water. The water should come up to at least three inches up the side of the bowl. Stir till the tapioca flour is completely dissolved in the water, resulting in a milky white liquid.

Step Two: Pour hot water into the tapioca solution and stir at the same time. It is very important that you stir it continuously while filling up the bowl.

Step Three: Continue stirring and watch the magic happen! It should rise into a translucent, sticky mass. Keep on stirring until it becomes a little bit more solid and has gained a consistent texture.

Step Four: Serve with other side dishes!

To learn how to eat it properly (there is a technique to eating Nao), click here.

Eating nao using an atip, a Penan cutlery that functions both as a fork and a spoon.
Photo credits to Jeremy Chin

back to top

Tebih 

Wok-shaped tebih

Chewy and sweet, tebih was a favourite amongst some of us. This dessert-like dish takes on the shape of the utensil used to cook it, giving it a unique look.

Note: Literal hands-on cooking involved!

Step One: Mix some tapioca flour with very little water. It should not become a liquid, but become a mixture that is sort of grainy but can stick together. Add sugar as you deem suitable.

Step Two: Choose your pot/ pan/ wok. Anything works fine! Take the mixture and press it onto the pot/ pan/ wok until it is covered. The thickness of the mixture should be less than 0.5 cm for best eating experience.

Step Three: Cover the pot/ pan/ wok and cook it on low fire. Check on it constantly to avoid burning it. When it is cooked, it should turn slightly translucent and be hard enough to be lifted off the cooking utensil in one piece.

Pot-shaped tebih.
Photo credits to Jeremy Chin

Step Four: Serve hot.

The fun thing about this dish is that it can take on any shape, as was mentioned earlier. Imagine making tebih using a small pot, and using the tebih as a bowl (well, not for wet foods). You could put biscuits and kuih and cereal in it and eat up the bowl after the food is finished! Kids would absolutely love this, and I think it’s a great way to get them to finish their food, well, that is, if they like tebih. Add your own twist to it, maybe put in some coloring to make it attractive, or add other flavors to it! When you do, don't forget to take a photo of it and put the link in the comments below.

back to top

Sigo 

This is one of the tougher dishes to make as the instructions given to me were very, very vague. I will probably try to make it (when I am free) and see if it works.

Step One: Mix some tapioca flour with very, very little water. It should turn into a grainy sort-of mixture that resembles rice.

Step Two: Put enough oil in a heated pan to cover the bottom of the pan. Caution: Do not use too much oil! And keep the fire low.

Sigo that I brought home from Bario.
A gift full of love from my lady.

Step Three: Dump the tapioca flour into the pan, cover the pan and wait for it to turn translucent.

Step Four: Serve hot.

Simple, isn't it? It tastes AMAZING.

As the other two dishes before, the recipe and methods can be tweaked to suit your taste! If you've got a sweet tooth, add sugar! If you prefer savoury foods, add salt (Bario salt!) or any other seasoning. You can even add minced meat to it if you want to! Our host, Tepu' Sinah Rang also made this for us on our last day there. Hers was done with Planta and sugar--> another option for those who love sweet foods!

One of the (many) upsides to this dish is that it can be kept in the fridge and heated up later on. Aunty Catherine made a huge bag of sigo for me before I left and I haven't finished eating it yet! It is a healthy snack that is easy to prepare. Normally, I microwave it with some butter, but you can also heat it up on a stove with some oil.



back to top

Even if you have zero experience in cooking (or a thousand bad experiences, like me), this is something that you definitely can do. And I’m going to end this post with one quote: With tapioca, there are endless possibilities. Be creative!

Written by
Gloria Dayang Ngu