Dabai / Malaysian Olives

                             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 ………