SI'ET (Sago Worm)

This is the famous sago worm among the Melanaus in Sarawak. In Melanau we call it si'et. People say that this worm is full of protein.

To prepare the worm is easy, firstly we need to put the whole packet of live worms into a bucket of clean tap water, this process is to let the worm "cleaned themselves" (berak & kemeh). It will take around half an hour tops. Then put a little cooking oil into the pan and fry them, then add soy sause to taste. When they are fried, they smell like pop-corns. The worm is best eaten with sago pearls.

This is how we eat it, with sago pearls....the sago worms taste like chicken pop-corn (a soggy chicken pop-corn) ;-)

This is the inside of the sago worm after I have chewed half of it. It's oily & soggy...but taste really delicious. Sometimes you can also eat the head....but at times the head can be a little too hard to chew.