Category Archives: Manjung

Making Red Rice Wine (Ang Jiu)

6
February


I learned a thing or two from my short trip to Sitiawan. The first is Fuzhou/Foochow people loves to eat and second they can’t live without their beloved red wine, red rice wine or ang jiu to be exact. One of their signature dish is the red wine mee sua which of course contains red rice wine. The more wine the better. The rich and concentrated red rice wine tastes sour but with a little sweetness, a bit too weird for my taste bud but Fuzhou people swears by it. :P

foochow red rice wine
Bottling red rice wine

What is interesting though is it’s backyard industry in the small town. I had the chance to help bottle up the red wine but unfortunately i didn’t get to witness the wine making process unless i spent the whole month lazying around coz it takes a month to be fermented.

I shall not reveal the location though coz i’m not sure it’s legal to be making it at home and selling the wine even though it’s totally harmless with a slight alcoholic content. It’s for cooking purpose alright? Nobody is going to die intoxicated by eating mee sua.


Place into jar to ferment – taken from http://gregwee.blogspot.com/ -

Making the traditional red rice wine isn’t difficult at all. I found a few blog with detailed instruction on the how. However, there are some steps that you have to take note of such as making sure the utensils used are dry so that the moisture does not spoil the blend. To summarize things, there are 4 steps.

1) Cook glutinous rice and let them cool.
2) Mix glutinous rice with blended red rice bran.
3) Add in crushed wine biscuit.
4) Place in urn or jar.
5) Let it ferment for 30 to 45 days.

For full instructions refer to http://gregwee.blogspot.com/ or http://roosterricebowl.blogspot.com/.

Now you’re all ready for some mee sua :P .



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Sitiawan Famous Fuzhou Delicacy

3
February


Continuation from:-
Trip to Sitiawan
Stroll Around Manjung District

Sitiawan, Perak is not much of a tourist attraction (although there are some interesting activities if you are up for it) but more of a Fuzhou food haven. People all the way from city would gladly pack their bags for a road trip to the sleepy town just to have a taste of the authentic Fuzhou culinary.

As Fuzhou/Hock Chiew culture is prominent in Sitiawan, it is only natural that their signature cuisine are sweet and sour cuisines that is simply delightful. Although there are other sweet and sour dishes in different type of Chinese cuisine, Fuzhou food is simply unique to the taste buds. You either love it to pieces or you don’t.

*CLICK HERE* to read more about sitiawan food (fish maw, kompiang, fuzhou fish ball, etc…)

fish maw
Fish Maw Stew

Besides the divine sweet and sour fish or chicken or pork ribs, Sitiawan boast of it’s famous “goroow” (fish maw) stew. The delicious stew has a combination of sweetness, sourness and an itsy-bitsy spiciness to it and the small pieces of fish maw’s smooth and sponge-like texture does a great job soaking in the taste.

making kompiang
Making kompiang

Then there is the popular “kompiang”. What is more fascinating than the tasty and crusty traditional biscuit is it’s traditional process of making the biscuit. Go to any shop selling “kompiang” and you will find it hot and stuffy and full of smoke.

chinese ovensin lay shop
kompiang
Clock wise from left: Traditional oven, Sin Lay kompiang shop, kompiang

To make the biscuit, the dough is kneaded by hand before rolled. Onced it’s flattened, it is stuffed with fillings and rolled again. Then, the dough with fillings are slapped onto the wall of the traditional Chinese oven, much like those they use to make tandoori (tandoor) where it’s baked over hot charcoal fire. The oven is like a deep pit .

kompiang stuffing
Kompiang filling

The hard work put into making the “kompiang” is worth all the effort considering how savory it is.

For those looking for something sweet and refreshing, there is the famous James cendol. Situated right outside the entrance to the Indian temple, many boast that it is one of the most delicious cendol in Peninsular Malaysia and while many others will make comparison against James cendol.

famous sitiawan cendolindian temple
cendol
Clockwise from left: James cendol, Indian temple, Famous Sitiawan cendol

If you’re ever in Sitiawan, get yourself a bowl and have a try. If not for the cendol, then just to catch a glimpse of the owner in his famous chef uniform and a red bow tie. You know, Mr James Muniandy (owner) was summoned by the Sultan Perak to prepare his much loved cendol for 250 guests in the palace.

moumou
Mou mou

Other must-have in Sitiawan is the “Mien Siang” (red wine mee sua) and loh mee which unfortunately i did not get to try. Nevertheless, there are other good snacks or food in Sitiawan such as the “mou mou” (pau with layers of peanut fillings) and the very popular Fuzhou fish ball. It’s certainly something different from the city!


From left: Fuzhou fishball, fishball with filling



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Stroll Around Manjung District

22
January


Continuation from:-
Trip to Sitiawan

If lazying around is not your thing, not to worry. When you put your mind to it, there are many things to do around Sitiawan or the Manjung district.

For example cruising along the Dinding bypass road to get a glimpse of the Sungai Dinding Bridge or also known as the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Bridge. The bridge, the longest river bridge in Malaysia, connects Damar Laut and Sitiawan. Many doesn’t know but the 13 arches of the bridge which symbolize the 13 states of Malaysia.

sitiawan bridge
Sungai Dinding bridge

It’s a pleasant sight, but almost too modern in the rural district.

Under the shade of the bridge, you can see locals sitting waiting for fish to catch. I guess, the big “no fishing” sign is only for decorative reason? LOL.

The next time i’m in town i’ll have to remember to bring along a fishing rod. I never tried fishing before :P

sitiawan bridge 2
The 90m height makes it almost like Manhattan minus the sunset

Another attraction is the Taman Paya Bakau (mangrove swamp) in Lumut. When we got there, it was closed for maintenance. Oh well, i didn’t really mind since I don’t really fancy the smell of the swamp (it smells bad) and the monkey’s aren’t really friendly.

taman paya bakau
Taman Paya Bakau

It’s open to the public and there’s a walkway across the area where you can enjoy the sight. According to the locals you could fish there. There’s a lot of crab in the swamp. Click *HERE*

to the swamp
Long pathway into the swamp

One advice though if you ever go there.

Beware of the hungry monkeys and don’t bring any food in the area! They could get fierce and try to snatch the food from you!

pokok bakau
Mangroves

jetty
Lumut Waterfront

If you have a day or 2 to spare (which unfortunately i don’t), then Pulau Pangkor (Pangkor Island) is just the place to go. Else, the Lumut Waterfront is a nice alternative. Built near the jetty where you could catch a ferry to the Pangkor Island, the waterfront is quite a relaxing place to spent on a hot Sunday afternoon.

There are food stalls set up here, where you could sit down for an hour or so, have a drink while enjoying the nice view of the ocean and ships sailing by.

lumut jetty
Enjoy the view

To end our trip to Sitiawan, we decided to have a short stroll along Teluk Batik. The beach isn’t very big and the water is rather murky but clean. It seems that the place is always busy. When we were there, the beach is quite crowded by mostly locals. I guess it beats sitting at home on weekends :)

pantai batik
Teluk Batik

If you are up for it, there are banana boats for rent too.

sunset
Beautiful sunset

Not a bad place for watching sunset, although i think it’s not worth another visit.

pantai batik sunset
Watch the sun go down

on the beach
Bye bye!

You know, there are quite some fun activities to do in Sitiawan. There are a lot of places to fish. You just have to look. There are even a lala farm where you could catch clams.

Having that said, I think a 2 or 3 day trip to the small town is just enough. Else, if you’re a real city person, the risk of boredom is just enough to get you packing home.

Next up, Sitiawan food. Wait for the next post.

To be continued at:-
Sitiawan Famous Fuzhou Delicacy



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