Posts
Dabai
/ Malaysian olives 23/11/12
Dabai
/ Malaysian olives are in season and are abundant in supply in Sibu now. I bet the supply is so much greater than
demand as I see the drop of prices of olives in different sizes and qualities
as compared with the prices I knew few weeks ago.
So
dabai, dabai everywhere abundant in supply.
What are the growers, sellers and buyers going to do with so many dabai
at their disposal? I guess the growers
have to negotiate with the sellers for a price that is incentive enough for
them to sustain. And the sellers have to
think of all ways to find and persuade the buyers and told all the health benefits
of eating dabai.
Well,
well, well for the amateur grower like my husband who has 5 dabai trees and 4
trees are really fruitful. He has harvested
at least 100kg this time. This is the
first time he has collected so many dabai.
What is he going to do with them?
At the time when dabai are in
abundant in Sibu. They are not lucrative
enough for him to think of selling them in town.
Luckily,
they did not ripen at the same time. Otherwise
it would be a tough job for him and his two friends to pick them. The dabai spaced out to ripen in a period of
two weeks. They went three times to
pick. My husband had to take leave for
five days. He and his another friend, Lu
had to go there to look after them more vigilantly for fear someone who would pick them as our
farm has not been fenced up yet. This friend
has been farming with him for the past 12 years. They go there almost every Saturday
afternoon. This is the first time they
have had such a rich harvest. Three of
them each took home 30+kg.
For
our share of 30+kg, We gave away some
to 2 neighbours beside us, my husband’s siblings and friends. The rest about 15kg+ we kept. Luckily, I have learnt from relatives and
friends different ways to eat them and preserve them. We find the balai marinate with soya sauce
and brown / cane sugar and heated under the sun taste best. You can also put dabai in warm water to
soften them and then marinate with soya sauce and sugar. I also try to bring water to boil first and
turn off the stove. Then I steam them in the pot for a few
minutes.
To
preserve them, I pack them in containers and put them in the freezer
compartment of the refrigerator. People told
me they can last for a year or more. I
shall find out. Lately, I have found out
an interesting fact about the frozen olives/ dabai which will become soft and
ready to serve when you de-froze them. I
have tried them and it proved to be true.
I was overjoyed to realise it. Hence
I can take the loads of olives at ease now as I know how to preserve them.
For the baked or steamed olives that we cannot
finish, I scrap the fresh off the seeds and add in sugar to make olive paste and
bottle it. It is another fun way of
eating olives.
People
say olives like durians are heaty . I think
so because they seem to work up my digestive system a bit more and I pass out
bad wind every now and then. I think it
is a kind of food with a lot of good enzymes, too. I think it is tonic as well.
Dabai
are a seasonal fruit. I see dabai
heavenly food we have on earth. They should
have the properties as good as their ‘cousin’ the Mediterranean olives which
have been proven to be so good for health.
So
dabai, dabai everywhere in Sibu, how nice to know we can eat to enjoy them and for
our health’s sake. We can preserve them
to prevent them to go rot /waste. Maybe
someone shall process them ………
