Sibu- cheapest food in town
Sibu is the main tourist gateway to the Upper Rajang River, with its small riverine towns and its many Iban and Orang Ulu longhouses. Among the notable landmarks in Sibu are Wisma Sanyan, the tallest building in Sarawak, Lanang Bridge (one of the longest river bridge in Sarawak)and the biggest town square in Malaysia near the Wisma Sanyan.Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum is the first and the only medical museum in Malaysia. Sibu Central Market is the biggest indoor market in Sarawak. Among the tourists attractions in Sibu are Sibu Heritage Centre, Tua Pek Kong Temple, Bawang Assan longhouses, Sibu Old Mosque, Jade Dragon Temple, Bukit Aup Jubilee Park, Bukit Lima Forest Park, Sibu Night Market, Borneo Cultural Festival(BCF), and Sibu International Dance Festival (SIDF). Timber and shipbuilding industries are the two major economic activities in Sibu.
Sibu is a city that located just near the Rajang river, the longest river in Malaysia. Its name Sibu comes from the story about the goose came with seedlings to safe the villagers after drought for a period of time. So the Sibu symbolize with goose.
1. Laksa Sarawak
Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup food in the peranakan cuisine which is a combination of chinese and malay cuisine. It can be widely found in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The main ingredients of laksa are laksa noodles or rice vermicelli, coconut milk, curry soup base and prawn.
Sarawak laksa comes from the Malaysian state Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. It is almost the same in Sarawak with different level of spicy base. It has a base of
Sambal belacan, sour tamarind, garlic, galangal, lemon grass and coconut milk, topped with omelette strips, chicken strips, prawns, fresh coriander and optionally lime. Ingredients such as bean sprouts, (sliced) fried tofu or other seafood are not traditional but are sometimes added. It is the good breakfast for Sibu people.
2. Siew Mai (shao mai in chinese)
Siew mai is a steamed or fried dumpling that originated in China. It has been known in different dialect of Chinese with a little bit different.
Siew mai is the popular food in Sibu. In every year when the Chinese New Year and Winter Solstice is coming, every Chinese family will went to the market to buy or order some siew mai. Some of the family will decided to make siew mai by themselves. The ingredients is
dumplings skin, pork, corn, carrot, onions, light soy sauce and chicken powder or pepper.
Besides we also have crab meat dumplings and shrimp dumplings. So it is the best try famous food in Sibu. You may also get it in Night Market.
3. Kompia (guang bing in chinese)
A local delicacy that one must try while in Sibu is
Kompia. “Kompia” also known as Chinese bagel, is from the Foo Chow community, early Chinese immigrants in these two towns.
In fact, the biscuit, pronounced locally as kompia, which is a Hokkien word, was created in the 16th century in Fujian Province, Southern China when it was common for the local men to go into a two to three-day ‘war’. The bagels, about ten to twenty pieces of them, were strung together into a necklace, for convenience in settling the hunger pangs of the warriors, while they were away doing their duty in protecting their village.
The first process of making kompia is flattening the dough with a rolling pin. Then, spray the “kompia” with water. Sprinkling “kompia” with sesame seeds. After that, stick them onto the wall of the stove. Dry them with a blower to quicken the process.
It had different fillings like
pork with soy sauce, pandan kaya or eat it plain.
Kompia also the memory for the oldest as they had it when they are in poor. So, you will find out lots of people go and buy it although it is just a simple cookies.
4. Ding Bian Hu
Ding Bian Hu is Foochow delicacy. Mix the rice flour with water, cook it around the rim of wok with the broth boiling in the wok. When the rice flour is cooked, scrap it into the broth.
Garnished with fish balls, cuttlefish, black fungus, deep fried shallots and pepper. It should be served with ceramic bowl and spoon (it does make the taste different).
It becomes a type of mee to eat as breakfast for local people.
It is fresh and handmade too.
5. Kampua
Kampua Mee is the most famous food in Sibu. It is a type of mee been cooked in boiling water and then take it out to mixed it with ingredients like
salt, pork oil, monosodium glutamate and some onions. This process called kampua. (干拌
gan ban in Chinese)
It may serve in soup, soy sauce or chili or soy sauce and chili.
It smells good and it is a type of local food for dialect Foochow in Chinese.
6. Fried Bak Gui Gan
This is another food you can found in Sibu, a town that majority are dialect Foochow.
It called as bah kui gan because the name "bah gui" actually is come from the white colour and it had been made by blended rice.
It cooks with
onion, eggs, soy sauce and claws in tin.
We can buy it in supermarket with the package like this.