Kelantan is well-known for its exotic foods which are not widely known and available outside the state. Due to its geography, lying near Southern Thailand and Indochina it shares many similarities in terms of social culture, including foods with people of the said places. One of the unique and weird foods in Kelantan is known as Etak Salai. This is a popular snack amongst Kelantanese.
There were a small number of Cham Muslims in Tonle Sap Lake. We visited them in Chhnok Tru floating village. Like others, most of them worked as fishermen, earning a living from fishing. We greeted them in Arabic which means "Bless and peace be upon you". And they answered "unto you peace". They built a small floating mosque for congregation prayer and other activities like quranic class. Overhanging on the wall were times of five daily prayers. I also saw a few names of Malaysians who visited the place before where the names were written on the planks. The bespectacled white hair and radiant face imam, in his late 50s or early 60s, wore a white turban and briefly informed us about the Cham community. There were 97 families, and about 400 Muslims stayed in the said floating village. After prayer at the blue wooden mosque we precariously walked on the rickety small pole bridge across the water, now and then hanging on the bamboo rail to avoid falling into water. Nearby, a water hyacinth floating on the surface of water got stuck near the old wooden boat. We visited one of the houses at the bank. Sitting cross legged in the living room which was void of furniture we ate Cham foods which in many ways similar to our Kelantanese foods - spices and sweets. Fried Ikan Toman or big catfish from the lake was extremely delicious. We were 'charmed' by the Muslim Cham hospitality.
Our visit would not be complete if we did not personally see and note how Etak was harvested in Tonle Sap Lake. This lake which is rich with aquatic life including fish, snails and clams for time immemorial never fails to provide food and livelihood for the local community. We sailed to the vast open water, so big that hardly we could see land from both sides, indeed this lake itself is an ocean. We were indeed lucky when we saw two wooden boats and a score of fishermen harvesting Etak using nets where they scoured the bottom of the shallow lake which abundance of the said clam. Baby clams which relatively lesser size would be spared, if caught they would be soon released back to the lake and allowed to grow. Harvested clams were stacked on the deck of the boat and then transferred on the iron cage to sieve them to ensure adult clams were harvested. Looking at the clams' size, shapes and colour which are almost identical to the ones sold in Kelantan we confidently said most of Etak Salai sold in Kelantan came from this place. Local Etak is relatively small and yellowish, but here bigger and darker. However, it was an early hypothesis we needed to do lab analysis so we brought it back to the lab. If what we guess was true, Etak that available in Kelantan as our popular snack comes from far away, a thousand-mile journey before ending up in our mouths. Afterwards the fishermen left and continued their jobs, we left but not empty handed with a lot of photos and a few videos of their activities.
It goes without saying visiting foreign countries not only enriches our experiences but also opens up our minds. We are more likely to accept there are many ways to do things as well as how to look at things from multiple perspectives. It makes us more tolerant, to say the least. Apart from buying one or a couple of books pertaining to a country that we visited, we would not lose the opportunity to visit a main market that attracts many to come. In Phnom Penh, we visited the Russian Market, locally known as Phsar Toul Tom. We call the market as 'pasar' the same goes for Khmer. This market is named after Russia because in the 1980s many expats especially from the USSR came here for shopping. Almost anything we can find here, souvenirs to bring home including magnet fridges, key chains, t shirt printed I love Cambodia and Angkor Wat, clothes as well as cheap imitated branded watches. It was a surprise to know denim blue shirt only cost USD 5 dollar. After a tour of the round - soft earth tone colour market, we bought a pair of traditional Cambodian clothing, more or less like Kelantan Songket. Vendors, most women manned their stalls and were very friendly, calling customers to see their wares. One thing we were impressed with was the cleanliness of the market; hardly we saw rubbish and leftover foods on dried floors. We wish Pasar Siti Khadijah in Kota Bharu to emulate this market. Sometimes, no need to go far to learn, Cambodia has a lot to offer. A matter of fact is travelling makes us realise we can do things better than our neighbours, if not, the same with them. After all, we in many ways the same.
Unlike the dry section, the wet section of the Russian market was more vibrant and lively where sight, sound, smell, taste and touch came into play. Once we entered this section, we saw stacks of smelly dried freshwater fish, neatly arranged on big bamboo trays, perhaps from Tonle Sap Lake. The most striking one was in the middle where a heap of stackable fish was neatly arranged like a big flower. Next, lying on rectangular steel tray were varieties of freshwater fish including snakeheads, cat fish and silver catfish. Looking at the chunk of the middle part of giant snakehead reminded us of the one that we ate during our visit to the Cham Muslim family in Tonle Sap on the previous day. The owner of the stall stood against a round wooden chopping board, and cut fish into pieces according to the needs of his lady customer. In the other stall, we saw blue giant freshwater prawns stowed in crushed ice, the same species that we got in Kelantan River back home. A small mount of cockles also visible. While we observed local freshwater fish, prawns and clams, on our minds Etak or Asia Clams were our particular interest of the visit of this section. We hoped to find them.
It was some sort like a treasure hunt for us in searching for Etak, the elusive clams which hidden in the muddy and sandy beds in the Mekong River and Tonle Sap around the wet section of the Russian Market in Phnom Penh. We were elated when we found them. Unlike fish, crabs and prawns which are preponderant items amongst sellers and customers, we found only a few vendors of Etak. They were displayed on plastic baskets and steel bowls on the market floor. Two types of Etak we observed, the first one was relatively bigger and darker and the second one smaller and yellowish in colour. As far as we were concerned the former likely thrived in muddy beds and the latter grew in sandy riverbeds. The women vendors sitting against their wares, waiting patiently for customers, hopefully, to get buyers very soon. The market was indeed a meeting place, Etak which was harvested elsewhere, transported and displayed here, sold and ended up on someone plates.
We observed the selling of Etak around Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. Looking at different types of sundried clams, women vendors, customers as well as sides where businesses were operated. We could easily find and locate sundried Etak carts in the capital, along the narrow and busy roads as well as in front of markets. There were different types of clams - chili- hot, spicy and ordinary flavours. Small stature women vendors, wearing big round hats to avoid scorching sun as they needed to move their carts of merchandise from one place to another to ensure Etak was always exposed and naturally cooked under the long exposure on the hot sun. As usual empty tin can containers similar in size to our can of sweetened condensed milk were used as a scale of measurement of price where a vendor scooped preferred Etak of their customers and put in small plastic bags. We found people of walks of life consumed sundried Etak, the popular snack of Cambodians. In Kelantan, although we consume Etak, we prefer Etak Salai or smoked Etak to sundried one. Etak is usually sold at specific venues on roadsides. A short visit to this land where in many ways similar to Kelantan enriched our knowledge and experience about similarities we share between us. Unsurprisingly many people relate Kelantan with Cambodia. Consuming Etak is one of many.
One of the best things about travelling is shopping. Maybe for some, they went overseas mainly for shopping but for us, our trips are mainly for official purposes, some sort like the main course and shopping is only dessert. It is not the main aim however it can make your and our visit 'sweet' and memorable enough. Phnom Penh is heaven for the cheap price of clothes with acceptable quality and up to date. We asked our Muslim Cham Tuk-Tuk driver to a few clothes shops in the capital city. After window shopping and browsing, we ended up at one shop selling male outfits including jeans, t shirts and blazers. On the front of the shop, male mannequins, a few headless, were clothed and displayed the various colours and brands of the latest designs. Thinking of official and office use, we looked for blazer. Since the price was much more affordable, around RM 200 a pair, we ended up buying two. As for us who do not usually prefer expensive and branded clothes getting good value for money for such an item was a golden opportunity not to be missed. Back home, every time we wear the clothes we remember the capital city and our epic journey. Phnom Penh was indeed a shopping heaven for us.
Our short visit to Cambodia especially in the capital Phnom Penh, Kampung Channang as well as the great Lake Tonle Sap enriched our knowledge and experience about the elusive clam, Etak which is locally known as Leah. Overall, Cambodians as well as Kelantanese of all genders, ages and walks of life eat the said clam as a favourite snack. We found similarities between the nations, but the finding in many ways leads to more questions to which we are not certain known the answers. First, where did eating Etak in Kelantan was first originated? If the answer pointed to Cambodia, the following questions go to when it was brought to our shore? And who was responsible for the introduction? Perhaps through business or through the immigration of Cham's people to Kelantan. Culturally both in many ways are alike. Physically, we are of small stature, brown skin, black jet hair or auburn, if we are asked to guess, hardly we can differentiate between the two. All those questions preoccupied our minds. Along the main road to the airport, we saw a row of frangipani or Plumeira trees, which we called Kemboja, with red and pink flowers in full bloom and neat array of white government buildings captivating our views.
