KUCHING: Terung Asam Sarawak is of course familiar to Sarawakians but terung asam sambal paste? By and large it is indicative of the endless possibilities of this eggplant.
The Terung Asam Sarawak sambal paste is one of the products made by Cahaya Kebun Sdn Bhd and it is among its best-selling products.
During the recent Asean Food Conference 2023 (AFC), held from October 24-27, New Sarawak Tribune visited Cahaya Kebun’s booth and spoke to its Marketing Executive Nicole Lee Siao Yen about the terung asam sambal paste.
She said the idea of making the sambalproduct came from the company in collaboration with local farmers and factories.
“For instance, although we have our own farm when it comes to terung asam, we still collaborate with local factories.
“This is because there are times where we run out of stock for terung asam, so we decided it is best for us to collaborate with local farmers, as we cannot get terung asam all through the year.
“One of our collaborators is Morganic Farms in Serian, and they will supply us with terung asam, and we turn it into a sambal paste,” she added.
When it comes to the taste, Nicole said that it is somewhat between sour, sweet and spicy, with the sour taste coming from the terung asam itself and the spiciness coming from the belacan.
“This terung asam paste can be used for any type of dish such as fish soup, nasi lemak.
“The best thing about this is that we can just serve it with rice and even fried egg, and it will be delicious as well.
The terung asam sambal paste including the its paste. (Photo: Neville Timothy Sanders)
“We also tried with our other product such as instant kolo mee, and we used the paste as its additional ingredient and it still tastes wonderful,” she added.
Priced at RM15 per bottle so far over 600 bottles of terung asam sambal paste have been sold.
Nicole said its base customers are usually the locals, with some of it also sold to restaurants and coffeeshops.
“This month we also have sold it to Selangor, Perak and even Negeri Sembilan.
“We are aiming at the local market first, and once we are able to do so, we will go for the international market like Singapore or Indonesia and Brunei.
The terung asam sambal paste is currently being sold at Cahaya Kebun in Jalan Wan Alwi Kuching.
For more information regarding the product, visit its Instagram account @cahayakebunsdnbhd.
