Banana Site

Ok, true/facts= sabahan use the banana tree as vegetables and its delicious… maybe you guys can try it… I am serious….

Uh, I don’t exactly see myself chewing on a mango tree… but yes we do eat banana “trees” (see below recipe) and some of the many banana varieties here in Sabah have a mango taste…

Here is the traditional recipe for Jaruk Sagut, the Rungus name for a pickle (jaruk) of banana trunk (sagut) and shrimp, as prepared by the Rungus and Dusun of the north of Sabah:

Ingredients:

•2 sagut – banana trunks*, pith only

•2 daun sebilikan (a sour tasting leaf found in forests – optional)

•1 bowl of tipun – dried shrimp

•6 to 8 limes

•Salt, Chilli to taste

Preparation:

1.Extract the pith of the banana trunks: use only the last two stems of the very core of the trunk, they are the whitest and juiciest

2.Cut pith into 2-3 mm slices, thread and wash in water

3.Wash shrimp in water and soak for a while

4.Slice the daun sebilikan

5.Mix all ingredients with the lime juice

6.Add salt and chilli to taste

*banana trunks: any banana tree that has not yet flowered will do, but I was confirmed that the pisang rimba was the best. It is also the commonest banana variety growing wild and abundantly in abandoned rice-filed clearings. Its small fruits are rarely eaten by people, but they are a favourite with the monkeys.

Editors Comment – the banana is a plant, not a tree!