Day 2 - Sibu Food Trail to Mukah

Day 2 : Sibu-Mukah-Sibu

Our first stop early in the morning was to visit the making of longevity noodles. The longevity noodles usually served during Chinese New Year and birthday is a favourite among the Chinese, Foo Chow descent. Did you know a tremendous of hard work involves in making these delicious noodles? Not to mention, the weather plays a crucial role too. It was such eye-opening to witness how the longevity noodles were made from scratch.

First step, the dough was pre-stretched to rope between the two wooden dowels.

Proofing of the noodles.

The noodles, then ready for stretching under the hot sun. As always, I wouldn't miss out the opportunity to try hands on. A few steps backward, and the noodles are lengthened, repeat the steps and pull back further each time. Ohh boy.... it's definitely wasn't easy.

In less than an hour, lines of longevity noodles were draped to dry on the racks.

A group pic with AirAsia Allstars's Joshua, Qastury and other fellow travel companions.

MUKAH

Mukah a small coastal town in Sarawak with Melanaus make up the majority of the population here. It takes about 3 hours car ride from Sibu to reach here. Being a fishing village, Mukah is famous for it's seafoods as they are blessed with good catches from the sea and rivers. Wootz... check out our exotic Melanau lunch at the RiverSide Seafood, Mukah.

One of the famous and unique Melanau cuisine, 'Umai', slices of raw fish mix with ginger, onion, chili and lime juice. The superb fresh fish fillet was tangy and spicy, simply irresistible.

Delectable and succulent smoked tuna complement well with the spicy chili sauce.

A substitute for rice, Ambuyat, a gluey starchy, porridge like consistency, eaten with spicy fish dip and side dishes. The best way to eat this is to twirl it with chopstick.

Roasted sago pearls made from sago starch mixed with coconut milk. Instead of rice, the locals prefer to eat their dishes with sago pearls which has a cookie like, consistency.

Last but not least, sago worms!
Definitely one of the must try exotic delicacy in Mukah. The precious sago worms are from the larvae of palm weevils that live inside the trunks of fallen sago trees. Did you know only about 100 worms could be harvested from a tree each time?

It's WORM-derful!
The fleshy sago worm packed with protein can be eaten live or cooked. To savour the live ones, hold its head, pop its body into your mouth and bite off the tip of its head. A burst of subtle and creamy innards, it was pretty good. But it tastes even better when cooked, I'm utterly captivated. I swear, it was really yummy!

On a side note, I think I'm ready for the Fear Factor challenge. :p

RiverSide Restaurant

No 8, Jalan Boyan, 

96400 Mukah, Sarawak.

Tel : +6016-8709950

Lamin Dana Cultural Boutique and Handicraft Centre

When you are in Mukah, you shouldn't miss checking out Lamin Dana Cultural Boutique and Handicraft Centre to explore the ancient Melanau tribe's culture, heritage and lifestyle.

At Lamin Dana, you could experience staying in the traditional Melanau tall house. All the rooms are equipped with fan and sharing bathroom. 

Cosy shared living room. 

Homey, laid-back ambiance, the lodge overlooks the calm Telian river. After spending about 2 hours here, we make our way back to Sibu.

Lamin Dana Cultural Boutique Lodge, 
Tellian Daya,
96400 Mukah, Sarawak.
Fax: +60 85-643633

Back in Sibu, it was another scrumptious feast for our dinner at The Fisherman Restaurant. 

Roast lamb cutlets
Juicy and succulent, the fork tender lamb is to die for. The wonderful ginger scallion sauce also adds a depth of flavour to the lamb. However, the mint sauce was pretty diluted.

Umai

Lokan

Baked lokan stuffed with a flavourful mixture of minced meats, onions and spices. It was tasty, but a tad sweet for my preference.

Grilled terubok (Milkfish)

Grilled to perfection, the fish skin was crisp while the flesh remains moist and sweet. However, eating this local fish require a little more effort, as the fish was riddled with tiny bones.

Midin belacan

The Fisherman Restaurant has been operating for over 32 years definitely is the best place for great local foods. 

The Fisherman Restaurant 
No 4, (GF) Jalan Chew Geok Lin
96000 Sibu.
P.O. Box 753,
96008 Sibu.
Tel : +6084 316888

Thanks for reading. Coming up next, our Day 3 adventure in Sarikei. In the meantime, in case you missed it, here's my sharing on Day 1 - Sibu Food Trail. XOXO!