Expatriate Forums in Malaysia

When I was last in malaysia , I stayed in a village and drank rice wine. It was harsh and purple ish colour. Now back at home I want to make some to give to my friends. Does anyone know what the method is to make it? All help drunkenly appreciated

I believe the concoction you are looking for is "Tuak" , the super potent version is "Langkau". Our first party in the villiage we had 100 1.5 liter bottles of Langkau, 15 cases of beer, and several bottles of hard liquor and wine, and something called a Jolly Shandy and had to buy more later in the evening. They were mixing the langkau with all kinds of unusual things in a big tub late in the evening. It was a great time and I understand why you are looking for the recipe. The Ibans sure love to party. I was out of comission for a week. Here is a recipe I have found, I have not tried it, I just cut and pasted from a website. I hope this helps.

Tuak
Tuak is our special rice wine. It is a drink for all occassions, be it Gawai, weddings or entertaining our visitors. Westerns who have had a taste of tuak, love it, and in some cases might smuggle it home too!
Preparations??
Glutinous rice is cooked and left to cool in a 'tapan' or any flat utensils.
For every 5 Kg of glutinous rice you will need 5 kg of round 'ragi'(yeast) and 5 pieces of thin slice ragi. (round ragi for bitterness, slice ragi for sweetness). The yeast are pounded into powder and mixed with the rice after it has cool. This mixture is then left to ferment in any clean container (jar) for a week or so.
Cool, boiled water plus sugar(syrup) is added to this mixture. (10 kg sugar for 20 liters of water)
Depending on your taste, your tuak is now ready. if you prefer you can wait another week. The longer you keep your tuak the more portent it will be. Bottom up friends!!

Langkau
If you distilled the above, you will get langkau. If you want to know more, come and have a taste yourself. Be warned, it is for stout-hearted folks only!

Have you watched this movie called “The sleeping dictionaryâ€

Hello Guest,
Sarawak is a fantastic place. I actually prefer it much more than KL for relaxation. For people that don’t need to re-create home life or have Expat only friends it is a fantastic place. I have spent most of my time in Malaysia there as my wife is Iban and her family still lives there. People are much friendlier there and there is a much more relaxed attitude. A great Iban village right outside of Kuching is Lundu. That’s where my in-laws are from although her parents live in Kuching the rest live in Lundu. I have never met a friendlier people as the inhabitants of that town. They seem to only want to have fun in life and don’t have much hatred or conflicts with anyone. They love to work hard and party harder and are very welcoming to people they hardly know. The Ibans really seem to know how to make you feel part of the group.

I also have seen and now own “The Sleeping Dictionaryâ€

Apa Khabar....

Great to hear lots of good comments on people of Sarawak. Myself for instance is hailed from Kuching Sarawak but currently work and stay in Kuala Lumpur for the past 4 years.

Yes, the rich nature plus the wonderful cultures of Sarawak truly make Sarawak, the land of the smiling face (my own tag line though... )

Im half Chinese and half Melanau. Melanau is one of the tribes in Sarawak and most of them now converted to Muslim after the independence day. However, my paternal grandma (Melanau) didn't convert herself and remain till the day she passed away as Melanau. Actually she was raised by a chinese family but her Melanau root is still very rich inside her.
Each of my sibblings does not look like Chinese at all and always been mistaken as Iban, Thai or even Hawaiin ......the lost Sarawakian Chinese.

Tuak is a strong version of Apa Khabar....

Great to hear lots of good comments on people of Sarawak. Myself for instance is hailed from Kuching Sarawak but currently work and stay in Kuala Lumpur for the past 4 years.

Yes, the rich nature plus the wonderful cultures of Sarawak truly make Sarawak, the land of the smiling face (my own tag line though... )

Im half Chinese and half Melanau. Melanau is one of the tribes in Sarawak and most of them now converted to Muslim after the independence day. However, my paternal grandma (Melanau) didn't convert herself and remain till the day she passed away as Melanau. Actually she was raised by a chinese family but her Melanau root is still very rich inside her.
Each of my sibblings does not look like Chinese at all and always been mistaken as Iban, Thai or even Hawaiin ...the lost Sarawakian chinese

Tuak is a traditional drink that serves like wine amongst the Iban. Surprisingly there's no alcohol contents in it however due to the glutaApa Khabar....

Great to hear lots of good comments on people of Sarawak. Myself for instance is hailed from Kuching Sarawak but currently work and stay in Kuala Lumpur for the past 4 years.

Yes, the rich nature plus the wonderful cultures of Sarawak truly make Sarawak, the land of the smiling face (my own tag line though... )

Im half Chinese and half Melanau. Melanau is one of the tribes in Sarawak and most of them now converted to Muslim after the independence day. However, my paternal grandma (Melanau) didn't convert herself and remain till the day she passed away as Melanau. Actually she was raised by a chinese family but her Melanau root is still very rich inside her.
Each of my sibblings does not look like Chinese at all and always been mistaken as Iban, Thai or even Hawaiin ...the lost Sarawakian chinese.

Tuak is a favourite tradtional drinks amongst Iban. It's widely consume during festive occassions. If you are planning to visit Iban Longhouse, dont forget to request for a sip of Tuak...and you will love it. For foreigners maybe first few sip you will not like it but gradually after the sweet and sour taste will take over your taste buds and your will simply love it.

Dear Lene and Funinmalaysia,
But is the ritual of the sleeping dictionary actual? (and if it's the case, is it still actual? )
Thanks

Jules

Jules


Dont mix realty with dream!!!!
it s just a movie!!
Go and check for yourself and post the result here, we are all interested to know if your dream meet the movie.

It works for Funinmalaysia!!!!!

By the way, Hello to you FuninM.., i really enjoy your valuables posts here. Keep on the good work.
Tell us when you are back in sarawak and invite us for a Tuak testing session in your longhouse

Jules wrote:Dear Lene and Funinmalaysia,
But is the ritual of the sleeping dictionary actual? (and if it's the case, is it still actual? )
Thanks

Jules

Hello Jules,
While the Iban are an inviting people and rather fun loving the story of a sleeping dictionary is based in fiction. At least my wife her parents and grandparents have never heard of such a thing.

Lene wrote:Apa Khabar....


Im half Chinese and half Melanau. Melanau is one of the tribes in Sarawak and most of them now converted to Muslim after the independence day. However, my paternal grandma (Melanau) didn't convert herself and remain till the day she passed away as Melanau. Actually she was raised by a chinese family but her Melanau root is still very rich inside her.
Each of my sibblings does not look like Chinese at all and always been mistaken as Iban, Thai or even Hawaiin ......the lost Sarawakian Chinese.

Hi Lene,
My wife is also half chinese. Her mother is Chinese that was adopted by an Iban family. While her birth certificate shows here as full Iban she winds up looking 100% Chinese. Her brother looks 100% Iban and her sister looks like a mix. It can be quite confusing for people as they try and speak Chinese to her or she trys to explain that she is Bumi.


Hi Pat,
Thanks for the compliments. I try, Im happy to see this board being used so much. Ill have to invite everyone over for some Tuak or Langkau next time in Lundu.

Hi Funnin Malaysia

Glad to have you back and give your review about the Iban in Malaysia.
Yeah, I have always been mistaken of other races and never been seen as Chinese...pretty sad but at the same pretty interesting.
My brothers and sisters all look like mix. That's the beauty of it.
bet your wife must be very pretty...

About the sleeping dictionary...never heard of it before. Maybe it's just a mystical story about it and as said, it's just a fiction...superficial fiction.

Keep this page active and it's wonderful to see that many are interested in this traditional Iban wine 'TUAK". should i call it wine???

Forgotten to insert my username...
The previous posting was from me, Lene...ok ciao for now...
till then hope to hear opinions from each of you all out there.