A byword for good fresh fish
BATU SATU is a byword in Miri.
It is a signal for good fresh fish and after Chap Goh Meh, everyone is keeping a sharp ear out to catch it.
Batu Satu is also a seaside fishermen’s market along the Kuala Baram Road. The name means bubuk aplenty when the season is at its peak.
Some years, Batu Satu sees less bubuk, some years, more.
There was one year when RM10 could get you 5kg of bubuk. Perhaps that price is now a fond memory from those good old years.
A retired police officer told thesundaypost, “I was first posted here in 1957, after my graduation from the police academy. During the bubuk season, people would be bringing their gunny sacks to buy bubuk at the seaside – from Lutong to Kuala Baram where small fishermen’s huts had been erected.
“There were also small fish markets in those days by the riverside or just the seaside. We literally scooped the bubuk, offered for sale by the fishermen, into our gunny sacks and carried them to our cars or motorcycles.
“We could buy one whole gunny sack for RM2 or even less in those days! The beach could even be pink in colour when the tide was low, especially when no one was around to net the bubuk! Those were really the days of plenty.”
He added that after more than 50 years, things have really changed – the fishermen are finding life harder and bubuk scarcer.
“The climate has changed a lot too in comparison. It’s too hot now and the weather is unpredictable.”
Alex, a consumer, lamented that they have been waiting for some time this year and still the bubuk seem to be playing hide and seek with the fishermen.
“My family and I are planning to make belacan if we can this year. Now that I am retired, I have plenty of time to do something like that. But the weather is sometimes hot and sometimes rainy. And the sea is so dirty at times.” Speciality fish My friend Simon Sim wanted some ikan masin lumek from Batu Satu, prompting a group of us to drive there. Unfortunately, only fresh lumek could be found.
Lumek is a soft boned fish – a very slippery and soft textured fish. It can be made into soup or fried, smoked, sun dried, and salted. As the fish comes only once a year, it is well loved by all races in Sarawak. Did you know curried lumek is sold in UK restaurants, even in the 1800s? Interestingly, there is a connection between the Sarawakian lumek and its Indian counterpart – the famous Bombay duck, so-named by Robert Clive (1725-1774) after he tasted some during his Conquest of Bengal. Subsequently, at the height of the British East India Company, the UK imported a lot of Bombay duck or lumek for its Indian restaurants. Bombay duck or lumek tastes nice fried or curried. This fish is also known as bummalo in Bengali, and lizardfish. Its scientific name is Harpadon nehereus. Today, lumek has been made popular by innovative youthful entrepreneurs. It has made in roads as a trendy street food in Kuching, served in paper bags to go. At RM5 for three pieces of crispy fried lumek, many youths enjoy biting into the fresh battered fish at the malls. In smoke-houses all over Sarawak, lumek is a popular finger food in the form of toasted smoked fish with a good sour dipping sauce when men get together for their happy hours.
Sun dried or smoked lumek have become prized souvenirs many buy when visiting tamu in Kuching or other towns in Sarawak. Pounded and then roasted over charcoal, the lumek is a very delectable party finger food. Lesser known fish In recent years, consumers have been getting more adventurous in trying out lesser known fish. Maybe it is due to the fact that better quality fish have become too expensive.
One fish that is gaining some popularity is the toman laut, according to one of the fish stall vendors at Batu Satu. It can be curried or just deep fried. Ikan toman laut comes in different sizes.
“If you know how to cook it, it’s very nice – you can even steam it with salted vegetables.
“Ikan tongkol or tuna is very popular as ikan bakar in the smoke houses or rumah asap. Today the tongkol is also fetching a good price. We love it as a curry,” the fish vendor explained.
Another fish that is often feared is the ikan sembilang or catfish, which has terrible stingers resembling cat whiskers.
Fishermen are very careful with ikan sembilang. A sting can make a full-grown adult cry with perhaps an overnight stay at the hospital. A doctor must be consulted at the very least.
Ikan sembilang is actually a good white fish and easily prepared with assam pedas – a favourite Sarawakian way of cooking fish. Sepuh – a new phenomenon In the past one or two years, the coast of Northern Sarawak has been struggling with decaying vegetative matter washed in by the tide.
Called sepuh in the local dialect, it is made up of leaves and other vegetative matter and can be found on the shores of Lutong, Miri and as far as Sibuti.
This year, fishermen net more sepuh than fish. It is very irritating, to say the least. The sepuh fill up the fishing boats and could crush a lot of the small fish.
Fishmongers too would find it time-consuming separating the sepuh and the fish.
“You look at the beautiful bubuk here. They are very small. How much time do you need to separate the good and the bad, the edible and the inedible,” noted a fisherwoman with such sadness in her eyes.
Sepuh is now sold at RM5 per plastic bag to farmers. At least, the fishermen and their families can make some income from it. Family business
Hassan (name has been changed) has been a fisherman for more than 30 years at Batu Satu.
He was mending his nets by a stall – a task he had to do before going out to sea the next day if the weather is good.
His friend, who was selling some fish at the stall, said, “Life is good for those of us who work hard. The sea is good – sometimes we have a lot of fish to harvest and sometimes not. This is the way of the natural world.
“During the bubuk season, we see more people and are very excited. The younger ones will carry the trays of bubuk and help pull the boats.
“We practise a lot of gotongroyong here. We are like one big family here.”
Two stalls away, a young girl who had almost finished selling her fish, showed thesundaypost a small live eel. There was another one less than two inches long.
According to her, a good catch does not happen every day. Sometimes, when the winds are strong and the waves too high, her fisherman father will come home empty-handed.
The fishermen bring their radios or handphones with them when they are out at sea to maintain a line of communication.
“I’m glad we have the help of technology. Many tragedies can be averted and more powerful boats can also reach the smaller Batu Satu fishing boats in distress with early warning.
“Our people go out for a few hours only. So they cannot go
very far. They don’t take unnecessary risks,” the girl said. Cincalok Containers of cincalok are sold for RM10 or more each. The fermented krill look so pink and fresh.
The fishermen and their families would deliver their first batch of cincalok for sale as soon as possible. Usually, there isn’t enough bubuk available for them to make belacan.
Dayang, who has been making a bit of belacan on the side, explained, “10kg of bubuk can’t make you much belacan – only about 3kg. So if I can only buy 5kg of bubuk today, I will just make some cincalok.
“I would say 50kg of bubuk would be just the right amount to make some belacan for the family and a little bit more for sale.” Outing at Batu Satu
A family was waiting patiently for more boats to come at the pondok, a specially built gazebo at Batu Satu for both customers and fishermen alike.
The family moved to Miri from Bintulu more than 15 years ago. They come to Batu Satu every year to buy bubuk to make belacan.
Last week, they were unable to buy any.
The mother looked disappointed when she told thesundaypost of their predicament. The father, however, was more positive, “Next week, we can come again. Maybe when the weather is better and the water calmer, the bubuk will come. Today is a picnic.”
He then went over to the fried chicken stall to get some snacks for the family. So when you next come to Miri and hear whispers of Batu Satu, you’d know why people scramble into their cars or clamber onto their motorbikes with a gleam of anticipation in their eyes.
“Life is good for those of us who work hard. The sea is good – sometimes we have a lot of fish to harvest and sometimes not. This is the way of the natural world. — A fisherman