Ring cookies or Kuih Cincin

Kuih Cincin.

Kuih Cincin or “ring cookies“ in English, is a popular snack found in Sabah. It is easily bought in many sundry shops, stalls at the Gaya street market and also the Handicraft market in Kota Kinabalu. It is a delicacy of Bruneian Origin and usually made by the descendants of Bruneian Malay people in Sabah.

Sabah was at one time part of the Sultanate of Brunei (from at least the 15th century till the 18 hundreds). During that time many people from Brunei migrated to areas in Sabah and have lived here ever since then.

Today the majority of these people live in the areas around the Brunei Bay areas, like in the towns of Sipitang and Weston. However they are also many of them in the town of Papar.

The cookie cutters.

It is at one such village in Papar called Kg. Melugus that they are very active in making these cookies. The owner of a small processing factory is Hajjah Aini. Currently she has the only factory that makes these “kuih Cincin“ in Sabah.

Surprisingly Hajjah Aini is not of Bruneian descent but she is a Bajau from the district of Semporna in Sabah but is married to a retired officer of the Education department of Sabah, who is of Bruneian descent from Kg. Melugus in Papar.

She met her husband when he was a teacher posted to a school in Semporna. Eventually the family moved back to his ancestral home in papar, and here she learnt the art of making “kuih cincin” from her mother in-law.

She started selling these cookies at the local “tamu” or market in Papar. Hajjah Aini joined various Government and marketing agencies to promote her cookies and they are now sold in places like Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and even Brunei.

In her early days everything had to be done traditionally by hand and it was her husband, who being an ex-vocational teacher, decided to convert an old rubber sheet roller into a machine which could roll out the dough for her. From this early start and with help from her 4 daughters and other relative’s in-law, she decided to go into the business of manufacturing “kuih cincin” on a full time basis.

Starting with her own capital of Rm2000.00 in 1999 she has now built up her home based factory which currently employs between ten to thirteen workers depending on the season.

Kuih cincin is made out of a base of wheat flour, cane sugar, brown sugar vegetable oil and Nipah palm sugar. It is from this Nipah palm sugar syrup that the cookies get its chewy texture and characteristic flavor.

Once the dough is rolled and the shape cut out, it is fried before being dipped into a paste of rice flour and water and fried again to give it its crispy texture. A visit to the home based factory at kampong Melugus in Papar is warmly welcomed. These “kuih cincin” or Ring cookies can be purchased in pretty packaging and are great gifts to be brought home by visiting tourists to Sabah.

Photos and text by DAVID DE LA HARPE

Sabahan cooking class

Enjoying the lunch that the guest cooked.

In various destinations around South East Asia especially in Thailand where attending a cooking class during your holiday to the country has become a norm. In Malaysia, there are some such cooking tours in Kuala Lumpur and the most popular one is in Langkawi. With the growing number of tourists visiting Sabah, there have been numerous requests for such cooking classes. Hajah Halimah, who owns a travel agency, has decided to pass on her culinary skills to visitors to Sabah.

Learning about the various food by Hajah.

Hajah Halimah is a mother of three children and lives in the coastal town of Kinarut. The inhabitants here are predominantly of Bajau and Brunei Malay descent and their cuisine features a lot of seafood and poultry that is cooked with a wide selection of locally grown herbs and spices. Like many of the people in Sabah, Hajah herself is a mixture of Bajau, Dusun and Brunei Malay. Having a passion for cooking, she learned about the traditional recipes from her mother and other family relatives during her early childhood. She has also added many recipes from various ethnic groups found in Sabah.

Some od the dishes cooked by the  guest.

In the old days, the chopping and pounding of the fresh herbs and spices were all done by hand in a stone mortar and was a skill that one usually learned when young, from your elders. There is an order as to which spices go into the stone mortar first. It is usually the soaked dry chillies or fresh chillies. When this has been ground to a fine paste, the harder herbs like ginger and turmeric root are added, followed by garlic and onions. Many a young cook has been brought to tears by the spicy juice from chillies while learning the technique of grinding wet spices. Dry spice on the other hand are first gently heated in a dry pan to bring out the aromatic flavour before being ground and added to the dish.

Learning about the various erbs and spices.

In this particular tour that Hajah conducts, her clients are picked up from their respective hotels in the city and taken to the Kota Kinabalu central market. As part of the interactive tour, they are given a list of ingredients to purchase together with the assistance of their tour guide.

At the market, they are introduced to the various fresh herbs such as lemon grass, gingers like turmeric, galangal and torch ginger flowers, Thai basil, petai beans, belacan (Fermented shrimp paste) and the various local fruits and vegetables. They also learn about the various dry spices on sale in the Spice section of the market and the use of coconut. At the local cake section, guest get to sample the many varieties of colourful local cakes sold here and if the guests are interested, a walk around the fish market is also included. Having finished their purchases, the guests are driven to Hajah Halima’s house in Kinarut, which is about 30 minutes away from the city. The house has a lovely garden full of tropical flowers, fruits and a number of local herbs, which are used in our local cuisine.

Guest at the market.

Upon arrival at the home of Hajah Halima, guests are greeted by Hajah, who hands out copies of the recipes to be cooked that day. She then runs through the ingredients and procedures required. As this is a hands on workshop, guest are provided with aprons and then given little task to do from grinding the wet herbs and spices in a mortar to cleaning and cutting up vegetables.

Today’s dishes will be “ayam likku” or chicken in fresh herbs & spices which is typical chicken dish of the Bugis people and “kerabu pakis” a vegetable dish of Jungle ferns cooked with dried shrimp , chillies and roasted coconut. The guests then get busy preparing, cutting and grinding the various ingredients under the watchful eyes of Hajah, followed by cooking the dishes themselves. When everything is done, everybody sits down to have a sumptuous meal of local food, which they have helped, prepared and cooked. Local cakes are served with choices of Tenom coffee or Sabah tea to polish off the meal.

The guest have learned some new recipes, had an opportunity to meet local people and learn about the culture, while making some new friends. It is an experience that will be remembered for many years to come.

Hajah Halima can be contacted at:
Equator Adventure Tours Sdn. Bhd
Tel: (+6) 088 766 351 desserts
Email :info@equator-adventure.com

Text and Photos by DAVID DE LA HARPE

Local delicacies (Malaysia, Sabah)

Some examples of local dishes that can be introduced to tourist/visitors to Sabah in order for them to have a taste of the local food that is commonly available in Food courts or local restaurants.

Sabah has around 32 ethnic groups living together with other migrant races that arrived on Sabah shores a hundred years or more ago . For the purpose of this paper , we will group them into 4 main groups .

1. The Dusun/Kadazan/Murut,
2. Malay/Bajau/Iranun/Brunei Malay.
3. Chinese.
4. Indian.

Malaysia /Sabah is blessed with an abundance of seafood, deer, wild boar and other game plus various edible plants and fruits found in the forest .The various methods of cooking these items has led to the creation of our Local cuisine .

The Dusun/Kadazan & Murut people used to hunt , fish and gather fruits and herbs from the forest.

• Their method of cooking was very simple . Bar-b- Que, ,steaming, boiling , pickling or by preserving .
• Preserving was done by smoking the extra meat or by mixing raw meat/fish with cooked rice and salt . This was then sealed in a bamboo and buried in the ground till the mixture was fermented .
• The taste was usually sour due to the various sour/acidic fruits that they used, like Bambagan . Lime juice and Tamarind ( Assam Java)
• 2 most common delicacies are Jeruk Bambangan or pickled wild Mango and Hinava – Raw fish Salad.

Malay,Bajau /Iranun/Brunei Malay community were traditional Fisher men and lived next to the sea . Their diet consisted mainly of seafood and some vegetables that they grew in their backyards.

• Method of cooking was Bar-b-que , steaming , boiling and frying .
• They used many fresh herbs and dry spices
• The taste is usually spicy( from chillies and spices ) and sweet from the use of Santan ( Coconut milk ) in their cooking .
• Many of the dishes are influenced by Indian and Indonesian cuisine.
• Ikan Pangang and other seafood was often marinated with fresh herbs , chillies, ginger, turmeric and coconut milk. The food was then wrapped in banana leaves and grilled over a charcoal fire.
• They are also well know for their cakes ( kuih Mui) which is made from rice flour , tapioca and sago . These cakes are often very brightly coloured and flavoured with Coconut milk, Pandan( Screw pine ) and Gula Melaka.(Palm Sugar )
• Rendang, Laksa lemak, Nasi Lemak & Satay , are some delicacies that the Malay community is famous for .

The Chinese community is made up of various groups, the Hakka, Cantonese, Teo Chiew , Hokkian and Shantung to name a few. Coming from various regions of China, they each have their own unique cuisine and signature dishes.

• Method of cooking is by frying, steaming & boiling.
• Only the freshest of vegetables and meat is preferred. Chinese cooking is generally very lightly flavoured and places emphasis on the clever combination of textures to provide the contrast, such as tender prawns and crisp cashew nuts, dried mushrooms and herbs with fresh meat or chicken .
• To the Chinese , a typical mean should be a balance between “ Yin & Yang “ Food is classified as” heaty “ or “cooling “
• Examples of Heaty food : Durain ,meat, chocolate, stout .
• Examples of cooling food: Tomatoes, cucumber, lotus root , barley and herbal soups.
• Common seasonings used in Chinese cooking are , Soya sauce, sesame oil , oyster sauce, rice wine, Salted Beans ( Tau cheo),Salted black beans ( Tau See),White pepper, Star anise & Five spice powder.
• Five spice powder is a seasoning of ground Star anise, fennel, cloves, cinnamon & Szechwan pepper.
• Some local delicacies: Meat ball soup , Ko-chung ,Bak Kut Teh, Wo- the, siew kau ( Fried and steamed dumplings) Popiah

The Indian community that is represented in Sabah are mainly from the Indian Muslim community and some Hindus. They originated from Central & Southern India and their cuisine consist mainly of spicy meat or vegetable curries . Many of the Hindus from southern India are Vegetarians and use lots of lentils, dried beans or peas . The Indian Muslims eat more mutton, seafood , chicken , but not pork.

• Method of cooking is by Frying , simmering and baking in a “Tandoor” or clay oven .
• Lots of dried spices and chillies are used to flavour Indian food.
• Coconut milk is commonly used in Southern India while Yoghurt is used in the North.
• Curries made from Meat or vegetables is usually eaten with rice accompanied with Dahl and Chutneys (Mango chutney , fresh mint chutney , coconut chutney )
• Rotis, Chapattis, Puri ( Bread ) made from whole grain or white flour are eaten all day and provide a cheap and light snack.
• Tosai made from A black dhal is usually eaten for breakfast . Along with idili and Vaday.
• Banana Leaf curry/Fish head curry is another local favourite.

Fresh herbs used in Malaysian cooking.

• Lengkuas,
• Tumeric ( Kuyit )
• Ginger
• Coriander leaves,
• Curry leaves
• Pink Ginger bud
• Lime leaves( limau Perut )
• Shallots
• Garlic
• Kesom leaves
• Chives,
• Chillies,
• Turmeric leaves
• Mint
• Holy Basil
• Lemon grass (Serai )
• Screw pine ( Pandan )

Dried spices used in Malaysian Cooking.

• Cloves ( Bunga Cingkeh)
• Nutmeg ( Buah Pala)
• Cinnamon ( Kayu Manis )
• Cardamom ( Buah Pelaga )
• Chilli powder
• Turmeric powder ( Kunyit )
• Coriander ( Ketumbar )
• Cummin ( Jintan Puteh )
• Fennel ( Jintan Manis )
• Star Anise ( Bunga Lawang )

Text by David de la Harpe

Enjoy Local Delights In Labuan

Labuan is hailed as a food paradise for its mouth watering variety of delicious delights. Major hotels are adorned with gourmet restaurants.

As a financial island, Labuan offers a number of restaurants that serve International foods, Continental food, Fusion food, as well as Japanese Cuisine can be relished during a visit here.

Pulut Panggang

Authentic Malaysian fare which consists of Malay, Chinese and Indian food is also well worth trying. For a new experience, try the local hawker-style fare at open food courts where dishes are freshly prepared upon order.

Punjung

Local Delights

The most Renowned local dessert is "Coconut Pudding", which is unique to Labuan. Good coconut puddings can be found in most of the restaurant in Labuan.

Coconut Pudding

You may also want to try various local kuih - pastries or cakes - in the weekend market known locally as Pasar Tani (Saturday and Sunday) from morning till afternoon.

• Kelupis and Lamban (a food made from pulut rice and coconut milk that been wrapped by either coconut leaves for Lamban or Nyirik leaf for Kelupis).
• Jelurut (a sweet and creamy colored local kuih wrapped with nipah or coconut leaf).
• Batik cake.

Ambuyat

Another common local food in Labuan is:

• Punjung, made from rice flour, that are little cone-sized desserts with green jelly-like fillings wrapped in banana leaves.
• Pulut Panggang, made from dried shrimp and glutinous rice that wrapped by banana leaves and grilled.
• Ambuyat is also known as Linut where a local delicacy in Brunei that derived from the interior trunk of the sago palm. It is starchy bland substance, similiar to tapioca starch. 

Jelurut