By Ling Hui
BAU, May 26: A unique local dish with the moniker monkey cup rice (‘nasi periuk kera’), a traditional Bidayuh delicacy, is available at only RM2 each at the Kampung Duyoh Produce Market here.
Bidayuh stall owner Lai Lee, 57, said the dish is similar to the Malay ‘lemang’ but instead, rice is stuffed inside Bau’s iconic monkey cups or pitcher plants, thus giving it an earthy fragrance.
Called monkey cups by locals, the plants get their nickname from monkeys which use them as drinking cups after it rains, as the plants’ open mouths naturally collect rainwater.
“It’s not difficult to make it. I wash the monkey cups and then submerge them in warm water.
“After stuffing the rice and ingredients inside, I steam them for about an hour,” she told DayakDaily when met at her store yesterday (May 25).
She said wild monkey cups grow in abundance in her pineapple farm, and that is where she harvests them for the dish and to be sold every weekend.
There are usually two types of monkey cup rice: plain ones and those with prawn sambal fillings. Both types are sold at RM2 each at Lai’s stall but prices may differ depending on sellers.
“Sometimes, if there are weddings in the villages, they will order from me in bulk. Other times, I just sell them at the weekend market here,” she added.
Apart from monkey cup rice, Lai sells homemade catfish crackers and different types of rice harvested from her paddy fields.
Washed and empty monkey cups are also available in bags at the market. — DayakDaily
