When I arrived here in Sabah some 15
years back the place was different. Wilder is certainly a term that
comes to mind. I remember travelling from Donggongon to my friends’
house in Ma’ang, where I still stay now: right after Donggongon
there were those vast patches of sago palms and I was in awe of
those massive, un-orderly groves and swampy patches. I imagined
crocodiles and monkeys, snakes and flying foxes to inhabit those
forbidding places at the fringes of rice fields. But what to me was
untamed, wild beauty and adventure was ‘under-developed’ and
‘under-utilised’ land to others – and to some probably simply ‘eye
sores…’ It was not long before the last sago groves close to
Donggongon disappeared, and at the current rate of so-called
land-reclamation it won’t be long before sago palms, once so common
and important here, will be totally gone.
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the basket in
the middle is a 'basung' made from sago fronds |
Not so long ago, I’d say it is not even a generation since, sago
palms, or rumbia in the Kadazan and various Dusun
languages, were vital for the locals. When I arrived here and
admired the untamed growth of sago groves I did not know what I know
now. I only saw the “savage beauty” of Borneo. Now that I know how
many uses sago palms have I regret doubly that those groves
disappear. Or what I regret perhaps more is the disappearance of
any respect for those palms and the environment they grow in. I
do agree that certain places need to expand, and roads must be
upgraded, but if there was some respect for nature and her creations
development should also mean protection. But I don’t want to go
ranting about environmental protection here, this is an article
about sago palms and what I have learned about them over the past
few years. Everything is truly astonishing; a quick botanical
description first:
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Sago -
Biology
The sago palm, Metroxylon sagu, is found in tropical
lowland forests and freshwater swamps across Southeast Asia
and New Guinea, where it is the primary source of sago
flour. It tolerates a wide variety of soils and may reach 30
meters in height. The palm genus Metroxylon contains
several species, many of which are extensively used by local
populations for a wide variety of application.
Sago palms grow very quickly, up to 1.5 m of vertical stem
growth per year. The stems are thick and either are
self-supporting or have a moderate climbing habit. The
leaves are pinnate, not palmate. The palms only reproduce
once – after flowering – and then die off. Harvesting is
done before they flower, at the age of 7 to 15 years, when
the stems are full of starch stored for use for
reproduction.
True sago palms must not be confused with an ornamental
plant often called “Sago Palm”, or “King Sago Palm” (Cycad
sago), which is actually a slow growing, and poisonous,
cycad.
Cycads are gymnosperms from the Cycadaceae family;
palms are angiosperms (flowering plants) from the
Arecaceae. The two taxa are completely unrelated. It is
interesting to know though that cycads are a type of living
fossils, having survived since at least the early Permian
period.
The misnomer sago palm for cycads probably stems from the
fact that some people of the Pacific and Indian Oceans also
process starch known as ‘sago’ from cycads. There are large
biological and dietary differences between the two types of
sago and unlike Metroxylon palms cycads are highly
poisonous: most parts of the plant contain the neurotoxins
cycasin and β-Methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA); or more
understandably: that’s something really, really not good for
our health! Before any part of the plant can be eaten the
toxins must be removed through extended processing.
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Sago Palm Uses in Borneo
Sago Flour / Sago Starch
The superficially most obvious use for sago palms is its starch,
which when processed is sold in the form of ‘pearls’. It closely
resembles pearl tapioca. Both are typically small, about 2 mm in
diameter dry balls. If very pure both are white, but more frequently
they are coloured naturally a light grey, brown or even black.
Artificially coloured sago pearls in pink, yellow and green can be
found in Indian grocery stores. Both, tapioca and sago pearls are
widely used in South Asian cuisine, in a variety of dishes, and
around the world, usually in puddings and desserts.
Before the advent of industrial processing of sago starch the locals
have already had a long tradition of ‘sago pudding,’ which is made
from sago flour laboriously extracted from the starch found in the
sago palm pith. Sago pudding goes under many different names and it
is considered amongst virtually all peoples of Borneo one of the
most traditional dishes. Most probably it was the staple food of the
early inhabitants of Borneo before rice and agriculture were
introduced. The Penan of Sarawak and Kalimantan, who do not
cultivate rice, still rely on sago as their primary staple. Sago
flour is nearly pure carbohydrate and has very little protein,
vitamins, or minerals, which are supplied by game and fish that
accompany it.
To process sago flour the sago palm has to be cut down, which is
done before it flowers. That is when the starch content is at its
highest concentration. The trunk is split length wise and its pith
is crumbled up – either by pounding, grating, crushing or kneading –
and then washed and soaked in water to release the starch. The raw
starch suspension is collected in a trough, trench or other suitable
container for setting. Ideally the water can seep away, or it is
slowly drained manually. The raw starch ‘cake’ thus obtained is
dried and further processed for storage. Sago flour, when made
properly, can be stored for many months.
In Sabah the sago flour is mixed with hot water and eaten as a
pudding – sometimes you can find on the tamu sago ‘noodles’, which
are used like their ‘modern equivalent’, sago pearls, in soups,
puddings and desserts. The Kadazan call their sago pudding
natok; in Penan it is called na’oh; the Murut,
Kedayan, Bisaya and Brunei call it ambuyat. In Melanau
it is called linut.
The Melanau people of Mukah in Sarawak have developed a whole sago
industry and besides sago pearls they also offer sago cookies and
chips in a variety of local flavours. You can find those truly
excellent snacks, called Tebaloi/Tabuloi, in any grocery store,
supermarket and even at the airports through Sarawak. In Sabah such
entrepreneurship sadly lacks – could it be because sago here is
considered something of a poor man’s dish and not worth of any
development? And yet there is much more to come on sago palms:
Sago Grubs
Since we talk about food one must mention sago grubs – or butod in
Kadazan and siat / si’et in Melanau. When a sago tree is cut Sago
Palm weevils lay eggs in the rotting pith of the trunk that develop
into nice, fat, wriggly grubs the size of a man’s small finger. And
while sago pudding is virtually devoid of proteins, sago grubs are
virtually pure protein bombs and thus the ideal accompaniment...
they can be eaten raw (and alive, which I kind of don’t really
like), in soups or, best of all, grilled…!
Other Uses
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making 'atap'
- roof thatch |
When I introduce sago palms to travellers they invariably think of
sago and tapioca pearls in the first place – I have described the
tedious and time consuming process that the production of sago
starch requires. Here people may think of ‘atap’ first
when hearing sago palm – ‘atap’ is roof thatch. Before the arrival
of corrugated iron virtually all houses were covered in palm thatch,
and sago palms, together with nipah palms (Nypa fruticans) were the
preferred choice. Making atap is time consuming but the result lasts
for up to five years and keeps the house cool, unlike zinc roofing
which has the tendency of transforming any room under it into an
oven. There are even atap wall partitions. It is rare nowadays to
find a house entirely thatched in atap, but rural people may use it
for their kitchens, and for those parts of the house where they work
during the day, like the veranda, since it is much cooler than zinc.
‘Atap’ is fairly common in Kota Kinabalu international resorts and
other attractions; they use it to give gazebos in their landscaped
gardens that exotic flavour!
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house and
shelter atap-thatched |
'kumbar'
ready for use |
However, there are many more uses for this palm tree than roofing:
leaves are used for roofing and wall elements, and also to wrap
foods; the spathe, or frond (kumbar in Dusun languages) is
used, whole, to make ‘basung’ – indigenous carrier baskets
and other waterproof or watertight recipients – and thin strips of
the frond can be used to make mats, baskets and trays; the long stem
of the leaf (kumbar) is used for making walls and partitions
while the white pith of kumbar is a traditional stopper or cork for
bottles; the tough outer layer of the trunk, or bark, can be used
for durable flooring. Furthermore, the area where sago grows is
usually swampy, on the fringes of rice fields, where a multitude of
vegetables like ‘lomiding’ ferns grow and where the locals used to
fish and catch crabs, and other animals.
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as good as a
prefabricated kit! |
the bamboo pegs
are home-made... |
Artefacts made from the various parts of the palm are now rarely
found. However, there are certain areas in Sabah where people still
rely very much on what is naturally available, and even I did
recently when I made a partition for my kitchen – I used kumbar, the
long stems of sago leaves. It is a material that is freely
available, light, sturdy, durable and even insulating though the
latter is not that important in our climate… it is simply an awesome
building material that comes ‘prefabricated’ in regular elements
that can be stacked kit-like to form an aesthetically pleasing, yet
secure wall or partition. The only things you need are some bamboo
pegs – which I made myself – a hand-saw and a hammer, and a parang
or machete. I wonder why this material is not used more. I enjoyed
making the wall as much as I enjoy looking at it now, and it has
only cost me some sweat… and it is admired by all my local friends
though it is absolutely not modern. Sometimes I don’t understand
people… however it be, sago’s past importance is celebrated in
Sabah’s Pesta Rumbia every year. It looks like sago is
making after all some sort of a come-back. Maybe not as a building
material, but as a food, just like in Sarawak!
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the back of my
kitchen - natural, sturdy & durable, yet biodegradable!
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