Give your tastebuds a kick with fresh asam paya

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A local woman keeps an eye on two baskets of asam paya while holding her sleeping child.

A local woman keeps an eye on two baskets of asam paya while holding her sleeping child.

SIBU: Asam paya is selling like hot cakes at Sibu Central Market.

The extreme sour taste of this fruit when used in a dish gives a kick to jaded tastebuds worn out by bland food.

According to local asam paya seller Aminah Seman who hails from Matu Daro, asam paya grows wild in swampy areas of Sarawak’s jungle.

“It’s sour taste makes it a popular ingredient in cooking among locals, especially bumiputeras.

“Asam paya is an ingredient in preparing the popular Melanau Umai Recipe (also known as ‘Sarawak Shashimi’),” she enlightened when met at the market yesterday.

Aminah, 65, said asam paya is not available throughout the year.

“Asam means ‘sour’ while paya means ‘swamp’ in Malay and Bahasa Iban while. Nowadays asam paya is found pickled in bottles or as a canned drink. But nothing is as potent as freshly plucked asam paya,” she said.

“Fresh asam paya is shiny and juicy when peeled. When it is exposed to the surroundings for many days, the fruit shrivels up and the skin cracks. So fresh asam paya is preferred,” she said.

Aminah said it’s not easy harvesting asam paya as one could be pricked by its thorny branches and there might be danger, such as snakes, lurking in swamps.

In Sibu, asam paya is available at Sibu Central Market which is Malaysia’s largest indoor market, home to thousands of stores selling everything imaginable.

Highlights include Iban ladies selling all kinds of exotic fruits, jungle produce and handicrafts as well as Chinese poultry sellers offering live chickens and ducks wrapped up in tubes fashioned from old newspapers.