Announcing The 8th Merdeka Open House 2013 Date & Theme: Treasures from Sabah & Sarawak

My apologies for the long silence after the intense posts on Zespri 14-Days Challenge. Not only need to recharge but it was school holidays which is usually the busiest time for me. Also for the absolute silence on this year's Merdeka Open House. Nope, I did not forget nor neglect this yearly virtual open house held in conjunction with the Independence Day in Malaysia.

Map sourced from Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_map_of_Malaysia.svg

We are celebrating 56 years of independence this year and I was thinking what theme we have not explored. We have done long forgotten recipes, Muhibbah themed dishes, noodles, sweets, food from our hearts, eating thru Malaysia and uniquely Malaysia. So what's next? As I was pondering over this... it just suddenly strikes my mind, why not something to do with our Eastern sisters from the Borneo Island. How about celebrating this Merdeka Open House on Malaysia Day which falls on 16th September with the theme Treasures from Sabah & Sarawak???

From wikipedia:

Malaysia Day is held on September 16 every year to commemorate the establishment of the Malaysian federation on the same date in 1963. It marked the joining together of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore to form Malaysia. The formation of the new federation was planned to occur on June 1, 1963, but was later postponed to August 31, 1963, in order to coincide with the sixth Hari Merdeka. Several issues related to the Indonesian and the Filipino objection to the formation of Malaysia delayed the declaration to September 16 of the same year. The postponement was also done to allow the United Nations team time to conduct referendums in North Borneo (now Sabah) and Sarawak regarding the two states participation in a new federation.

I think will be great honour to do this year's Merdeka Open House on Malaysia Day. I was really worried like goshhh what am I going to cook up, where the heck to get sago worms? hahaha freaking out a little but it's all good. There are many dishes from Sabah & Sarawak ranging from Sarawak Laksa, Kek Lapis, Umai, Ambuyat, Hinava, Konpia, Pansoh Manok, Pinasakan, Kolok Mee etc. So there are many dishes we people in West Malaysia will get to play masak-masak with.

We would like to hear why did you choose the dish, give a little introduction of the dish (well whatever research you can rake up online but make sure it's at least trustable). You'll need to post up the recipe as well to share with us and the rest of the world and as usual photo(s) is a must! 

All Malaysians, local and abroad, are eligible to participate. Spouses married to Malaysians are encouraged too submit their entries too ;-)

What you need to do:

1. For this theme, you will need to cook a local dish uniquely found in East Malaysia. We would love you to introduce the dish to the world by telling us about the dish, and why did you pick this dish. We do not just want recipes and photos BUT would love to hear a beautiful story.
2. Take a picture of your dish, type in your write-up and the recipe (if you have one, otherwise your ingredients and method would suffice if you're the guesstimate/agak-agak type). Do stick to traditional recipe without any shortcuts or replacement of ingredients to make it modern or fusion but it is all right for overseas participants due to limited ingredients. This open house is something for us to cherish our wonderful roots and we hope we could preserve the recipes that our ancestors have hand down.
3. Post it up in your blog between 6th - 12th September 2013 to ease me in rounding up by 16th September.
4. All entries must reach me by 12th September 2013, midnight Malaysian time at babe_kl(@)yahoo(dot)com. Our virtual party will be on 16th September 2013 (Monday). In your email, attach a picture of your dish (minimum 500x375 pixels) and please state the following details:
   
   Name or nick
   Location
   Permalink/URL of your post
   Name of the dish

If you do not own a blog but wish to participate, kindly do your write up and send it together with the picture to me. I’ll post it up for you.

I can't wait for your submissions and participation. Do help to spread the word around so that we have more Malaysians taking part in this event. Thank you :D

I guess I would also need to kick my lazy bump to start off my Facebook Page so that there will be a special round out in there which could be fun with interactive comments.

A recap of our previous years' themes:

2006 - Malaysians Recipe Long Forgotten

2007 - Muhibbah

2008 - Mee and My Malaysia

2009 - My Sweet Malaysia

2010 - Food From Our Hearts

2011 - Makan Through Malaysia

2012 - Uniquely Malaysia