If you arrive into this blog post, rest assured you are in the process of making a right decision to visit Satok Weekend Market during your holiday in Kuching. Thus far, Satok Weekend Market is one of the biggest yet interesting fresh food market we have ever been to. Many Sarawakian natives, along with local community setup up their stalls here starting Saturday afternoon till Sunday, selling a variety of forest produce, fruits, traditional snacks, meats, fishes, handicrafts and botanic in an inexpensive manner.
What to do at Satok Weekend Market
Like what you will do in any fresh food market, or better known as farmer's market, regulars come here to shop for food supply and basic necessities that make up their kitchen.
However for non-regulars like us, there are so many interesting fruits and vegetables to see. An adventure in the market is akin an exploration to an uncharted ground. We were like a couple of kid that get excited upon seeing bananas, coconuts and some other quirky fruits.
Botanic and Plant
When you arrive at the main building with hornbill alike roof structure, you can see vendors selling a variety of botanic and plants at the compound right beside it.
Though it is unlikely you able to buy any of these but we had a good time practising our limited botanic knowledge. For instance, this is first times we see a durian tree in pot, and it was difficult to distinguish between different flowers as well.
There are so many varieties even for mangoes alone. No way we would be aware of this if we did not spend a little time exploring here.
Tropical Fruits and Vegetables
"Wowwww..." is our first expression upon seeing the open market selling tropical fruits and vegetables.
The place is big, clean and easily fit up to 100 stalls offering many things grown by natives in Sarawakians. From my understanding, some of the natives even traveled a long distance, carrying their home grown and forest produce to make a living in Satok Weekend Market. On top of that, they are selling their items in real affordable price, thus we feel obliged to accord them some help by buying from them and not going into price bargaining.
I could get a bunch of bananas here for RM2, or 2 bunches at RM 3 without any bargaining. In my hometown Penang where I grown up, that same comb of banana probably cost RM 6.
By the way, the ways how the vendors arrange the items symmetrically really impressed me!
In case you have a limited time in Satok Weekend Market, here are some of the items that worth to check out:
i) Pisang Tanduk
We enjoyed eating bananas but it was nothing excited looking at bananas (unless you mind has gone into some grey area), until we bumped into Pisang Tanduk.
These bananas are long in size, easily up to 30cm. Locals mainly use them for cooking, especially in preparing banana fritters. Some eat it ripe or unripe.
Pisang Tanduk may have intrigued my eyes for a moment but still fail to captive my wallet to purchase any of it. My sixth sense was telling me it would not taste nice compared to normal bananas. Anyone mind sharing your experience?
ii) Dabai
One of the exotic fruits in Sarawak is Dabai, or commonly known as or-kana, means 'black olive' in Hokkien. Nevertheless, it has nothing close to olive other than its aesthetic.
It is grown in wild especially in central region of Sarawak - Sibu, Sarikei and Kanowit. Due to its growing popularity, some villagers have started to grow it at their backyard. However, Dabai is a seasonal fruit and usually available end of the year. We were lucky to spot it at Satok Weekend Market in end of February.
Dabai has a similar taste to avocado, which is buttery and creamy with mushy texture. It is delicious and we really liked it. We even bought half a kilogram back to our hometown and prepare it following the way recommended by the seller.
It is simple to prepare to Dabai. Blanch it for about 15 minutes till the skin soften, then pickle it using "Mahsuri Kicap Manis Pedas" which can be bought at any groceries store. Soy sauce or salt may be a good alternative. I tried it without any seasoning and it tasted awful.
Clink link
iii) Durian
Just like Dabai, Durians are seasonal fruits in Sarawak and usually available in January or July. We were lucky to spot a durian vendor during our visit in end February.
In West Malaysia, this exotic fruit fetches sky-high price but over in Borneo Island, it only cost a fraction of the price we paid in West Malaysia! For instance, the durian in the picture above only cost RM 15.
We were made to understand majority of the durian here come from Serian, which is believed to produce the best durian in Sarawak.
As a matter of fact, I was not a big fan of durian but it was a nice experience sitting at little bench and enjoying durian in Satok Weekend Market!
Be adventurous, as there are more excitement for you unveil in the fruit and vegetables section. Probably I would have bought some vegetables to cook in Airbnb kitchen if was not staying in hotel.
Wet Market Section
The indoor section of Satok Weekend Market mainly features meats and fish. It is interesting to see a variety sea produces of various size, such as mackerel, tuna, stingray, prawns and even lobsters.
Since we have nothing to buy here, we just spent our time seeing the locals life in fish market. Some of the vendors have a laugh at us as our fashion were strikingly odd compared to the locals. At the same time, they are more than happy to pose and even offered opportunity for photography.
Popular Sarawak Black Pepper also can be obtained here.
Kek Lapis
Another section of the indoor offers Kek Lapis, a traditional Sarawak layered cakes with vibrant colour and taste, interlaced with flavous. Probably this is one of the best souvenirs that you could get for your friends in hometown.
Conclusion
We had a fun time in Satok Weekend Market. Two hours are more than enough to skim the market and buying what we interested. Of course, the small regret we had unable to buy any vegetables there and prepare our own dinner for that night. Sarawak Midin is always our favourite.
Have fun in Satok Weekend Market!
Satok Weekend Market
Operation hours: Weekend Only
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Check out Shirleen & Ee Pin's Instagram for more beautiful photos we have taken.
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