Tebaloi, Sago Cookies - Sarawak MFF #2

Lydia loved this, she said it taste like milk cookies. LOL.

Tebaloi is a traditional snack of the Melanau tribe of Sarawak. I first had a taste of this back in 2001 when I went to Sarawak for 11 day, on a fun trip with my uni mates. I fell in love with it at first bite. It was absolutely delicious and addictive. We bought these mostly at souvenir shops and they don’t come cheap for that few pieces of cookie. Now it’s even more expensive, 50% more of what I used to pay, if I didn’t remember wrongly. It used to be RM2 per box, but now it’s RM10 for 3.

After making this myself, I came to realize… how much the middle man made of out of this. The high price of each box mostly goes to the cost of the printed box and the souvenir shop owner and the middleman, of course. Furthermore, coconut may not cost as much if they were to source it nearby in their village.

My total cost for making
RM1.00 for coconut (1/2 a fruit)
RM 0.90 for Sago flour
RM 0.22 for sugar
RM0.30 for egg

This box of tebaloi I had here was a gift from Sharon from her last trip back to Kuching. She gave me 3 boxes during CNY bloggers gathering. Thank you Sharon :)
It tasted different from what I use to have, less coconutty, therefore, less fragrant. I shared 1 pack with fellow bloggers and they weren’t very impressed with it, like I said, this box of tebaloi wasn’t as good. Different brands, different quality. You won’t know not until you buy and open the pack.
But my dear blogging friends, do not let that one box of tebaloi stop you from trying more. The real thing is actually much better.

When it was fresh out from the oven, I chomped on one right after it cooled and crisped up. It was absolutely delicious and fragrant, like a thick Kuih Kapit with more texture to chew.
If you like Kuih Kapit, egg rolls or love letters, which ever you may call it, give this Sarawakian snack a try, you might fall in love with it as much as I do. If you can’t find banana leaves, you can use non stick baking paper.

Tebaloi

Reference: Nutriweb
Method rewritten by: WendyinKK with minor adaptations

200gm grated coconut
200gm sago flour
100gm sugar
50gm egg
1/8 tsp turmeric powder (for colouring)
Banana leaf for baking

1. Mix sugar with egg and lightly whisk.
2. Combine the coconut, sago flour and turmeric powder and mix evenly.
3. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until a dough forms. If it feels too dry, use your hands and squeeze the dough, it will turn moist.
4. Preheat oven to 180C (no fan) and then lay a piece of banana leaf on an overturned baking tray. Matte side of the leaf facing up.
5. Spread some of the coconut dough onto the banana leaf, using fingers to press them really thin. As thin as you can. (Take note that I did 2 big trays of this)
6. Bake for 10 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Let it cool for 2-3 minutes. It will still be warm.
8. Then flip the tebaloi sheet, and peel the banana leaf off. Snip the tebaloi sheet into smaller squares.
9. Place the squares onto a baking grid and bake for 160C(fan) for 20-30 minutes or until lightly golden.
10. Place them onto the rack to cool off and it will crisp up.
11. Keep in air tight jars.

I am submitting this to Malaysian Food Fest,
Sarawak Month hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts