KUCHING: Ulat Mulong, traditionally a Melanau delicacy in Sarawak, has grown into somewhat of a niche dish on the dinner table.
If you have the stomach for it – ulat mulong for the uninitiated, is basically the humble sago worm which is often served fried – then a new twist to this dish may be just up your alley, or should I say, palate.
The idea of eating worms may disgust many but the fact is the sago worm is actually a nutritious food source that brings with it many health benefits
And the just concluded ‘Forage@The Hills’ food festival took the initiative to organise an activity called ‘Sago Worm Sushi Making’ to take this traditional dish a notch up the culinary larder.
According to one of its organising members, Arif Abdul Rahman, the workshop aimed at giving people a gastronomy experience by making the worm sushi instead of just eating it.
“The fact that Kuching was accepted as a Creative City of Gastronomy and has been the talk among the people, festivals such as this gives the people a deeper perspective on gastronomy while challenging them to have a twist in their everyday, normal food.
“We hope that the experience that we offered to the people will push their imagination and get them more excited to try new things that they have never done before.
“Bottom line is, this does not only benefit the consumers but also entrepreneurs on how they can elevate their own food and have a Sarawak twist to make it unique and stand out,” he said when met by the New Sarawak Tribune during the festival.
On the workshop itself, he stated that the 1 hour 45 minute workshop had received an overwhelming response from the public.
“This workshop is open to all ages. We have children and aunties coming in because they are curious and interested in what we have here.
“Though some decided not to join, they were really excited to see everyone here making the sago worm sushi close up,” he said.
He stated that choosing sushi as the dish and sago worm as its highlight is a way to innovate and uplift Sarawak’s local native ingredients.
“In today’s age, a lot of people know and love to eat sushi. So what we are trying to do here is that we want to challenge the people’s taste buds while combining the dish with something they are familiar with.
“With this twist with the sago worm, I believe it helps people to want to try something new.
“This is where this festival comes in. We create this opportunity for the people while elevating our own local ingredients,” he said.
As for his own experience on the dish, Arif confided that this was actually his first time trying the sago worm sushi.
“Despite being a Sarawakian myself, I actually never had the chance to try sago worm my whole life.
“At least to me, the worm doesn’t really look appetising. But then, since I love sushi and with the twist that we have here, I actually enjoyed it.
“Apart from the worm’s head, it actually tastes great when it is combined with sushi rice and seaweed,” he said.
