By Ling Hui
PAKAN, March 12: If you’re craving the ribbiting flavours of ‘mee Pama’ (frog noodles), Iban Cafe in Pakan Town is the right place to go.
The frog meat, which tastes similar to crab meat, is tender and succulent. It is a finger-licking combination with the perfectly simmered noodle broth, which resembles a Foochow noodle dish but is sweeter due to the frog skin.
This ‘mee pama’ is nothing like you would imagine when you first read ‘frog noodles’.
There are no huge, whole frogs sitting on the noodles or floating around in the broth; in fact, one would barely recognise the frog, which was cut into several pieces and had its toes removed before it was cooked and served.
Jelimin Manggi, the 44-year-old chef, now serves the dish with cut-up frogs following several past instances whereby her customers were revolted by the frog toes, which they claimed to look like human fingers.
“Last time, when I first started to cook ‘mee pama’, I only cut the frogs into halves. People were grossed out to see the body parts, especially the toes. They said they looked like human fingers.
“Some even requested me to skin the frogs. I’d do it, but I recommend eating them with the skin on because it makes the broth sweet,” she told the D’Drift Team at the cafe yesterday (March 11).
A friendly chat with Jelimin revealed that she originated frog noodles, having had the innovative idea to cook frogs with noodles instead of just soup like other eateries in town because she wanted to sell something different with her very own ‘special recipe’.
Since ‘pama’ is a type of exotic food, she said not all can accept the dish.
She recalled when foreigners outright refused to try her frog noodles when they visited the cafe without knowing she served such unique food.
Despite her being the cook, Jelimin herself keeps away from eating the frogs or even tasting the broth. Her assistant is the one who would taste the broth for her every time she prepares the dish.
“I kill and cut the frogs myself, so I’m not afraid of them. I cook (it) myself, but I just don’t want to eat,” she said.
Meanwhile, Jelimin was also quick to point out that ‘pama’ and ‘katak’ are two different frog species, with the former living near rivers and the latter in swampy areas.
She said she would buy and stock up on five to six kilograms of frogs during the hot seasons because during those seasons, ‘pama’ would be easily caught in rivers as they were cooling off in the water due to the heat.
Other than frog noodles, which are RM18 per bowl, Jelimin also serves prawn noodles, cockle noodles, chicken rice with various toppings, sour noodles, and mee mamak. — DayakDaily
