Taro and Preserved Pork Soup

Hi, how are you all ... how's the New Year? ...whether it started as you would expect?... for me 00am at 1.1.2011  was a very exciting moment... still at kampung at that time and celebrate the year transitional moment with family and friends. These is how the villager welcoming the New Year every year ends ... almost everyone awake all night long or until 00am are elapsed.  Entire family enjoying BBQ and steamboat till midnight and sparks are emitted into the open sky exactly 00am and lasted nonstop for almost 30 minutes. 

It was a great fun to enjoy the beauty of the night when the entire village bathed in the light of the fireworks. And everybody wish for the New Year to continue shining and blessed with peace, happiness, healthy, wealthy and prosperity like the rays of light and color of the fireworks.  

Okay ... let the 00am passed by and we facing the new coming days with a new spirit... 

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I'm not around for a long time. Seem like it been ages since my last post. Actually, there are many drafts that I’ve wrote down but not know which one to publish.

I just remember about my post a couple of month ago.... Preserved Pork (pinongian).  Maybe some of you are wondering how the result is and what kinds of dishes are suitable to it... So, I made a decision to share it here today.

Actually pinongian can be cooked in various ways. It can be cooked alone or mixed with any suitable vegetable. In KadazanDusun traditional cuisine it’s often cooked as soup with slices young jackfruit or young pumpkin or even in braised yam sticks (also called taduk by KadazanDusun).

For this recipe I made some modification by using taro instead of the vegetable that I’ve mention above.   I encourage you to try it because it tastes heavenly delicious and it's very ideal to served with KadazanDusun wrap rice .  Do not fear the fat because the actual process of fermentation has been sucking out nearly 80% of the fat from the skin and the lard...

 

 Taro and Preserved Pork Soup

(Pinongian miampai Lolondu)

Ingredients:

Pinongian that been preserved for a month

Medium chunks of taro

• some carrot
• some ginger
• 1 liter of water 
• salt to taste

Method:

• Clean and cut 200gm of pinongian into pieces.
• Bring water to boil in a pot.  Put in taro, carrot and sliced ginger.  Cook till become a bit soft.
• Add in pinongian and cover the pot.  Cook until well-done. Season and serve.

 

Preserved Pork (Pinongian)

Pinongian is one of the traditional foods that have been handed down from generation to generation of KadazanDusun people. This is the best way to store food for longer lasting, especially in the days before there are refrigerator. In that time, when they got more result in their hunting or fishing, they need to preserve it for not to become stale and rotten.

The preservative used is the Flesh of the seeds from the tree Pangium edule or known locally as Pangi (called buah keluak or kepayang in Malay). It widely grows in the forest. The preservative quality of the seed is very potent (contain hydrogen cyanide) that eating it raw can induce nausea, vomiting and even death. The fresh pangi need to soak for a few days and then smoke-dry before can use it flesh as preservative.

Actually Pinongian is different from Bosou even though both been through fermentation process. The difference is, bosou being preserved to get it sourish taste while pinongian preserved in order to make the meat or fish will last longer. Bosou can be eaten directly after the fermentation, while pinongian must be cooked before serving, even after preserved within a period of time.

Here I would like to show you how to make pinongian. This time I used the pork skin and some pork lard. However you can follow the same method if you want to preserve fish or other meat.

Ingredients:

• 1kg skin and pork lard
• 10-15 pangi

Step 1:

Pound pangi flesh into coarse powder

Step 2:

Clean, cut and drain the skin and pork lard

Step 3:

Sprinkle the pangi over the meat

Step 4:

Mix until well combined

Step 5:

Store in airtight bottle, container or jar

 ***We will see the results within 2 -4 weeks. More fragrant and more delicious if preserved for a longer period***