Hut, traditional sago-making demo impress visitors
SIBU: Sibu Melanau Association ( PMS) wowed visitors with its traditional sago making demonstration in a hut call ‘ nyanan’ at the Borneo Cultural Festival ( BCF) here.
PMS chairman Drahman Jabar said visitors get to experience how Melanaus produce sago in the olden days.
Explaining the process, he said it started with the felling of sago trees or ‘ tubeng balau’ (in Melanau).
“Each sago tree will be cut into at least three sections or logs - each measuring about three feet long.
“During my time, a sago tree is sold for RM10 to RM12. Now a section or the log can cost more than RM 10,” Jabar said when met at the association’s hut on Monday.
“The bark of the log is removed and the log placed on two tied planks and the pith is shreded with a plank with spikes (‘marut’ in Melanau) into ‘pou’.
“The ‘ pou’ is taken to the extraction house (‘nyanan’) where it is mixed with water drawn from the river using a special bucket made from sago palm leaves,” he explained.
A ‘ nyanan’ is usually built by the riverbank and this is where raw sago starch is extracted by stomping barefooted on the ‘pou’.
This process was ‘ menyak’ and it is called often displayed in the ‘ menyak’ dance ( Melanau) where dancers imitate the stomping movement.
The ‘ menyak’ process produces raw sago starch which is collected in a special container called a ‘jalur’.
“The raw sago starch will be cleaned, kneaded and mixed with ingredients including salt; and shaped into small round grains to be baked in a traditional clay oven,” he said.
The traditional way to make sago can take up to three days, but it has now been taken over by machines.