Ambuyat

Instructions

1. 1 Place the sago starch in a large, deep bowl and add about sixty millilitres of room-temperature water, stirring briefly to moisten the starch and create a loose slurry that will hydrate evenly.
2. 2 Bring five hundred millilitres of water to a vigorous boil in a kettle. Pour the boiling water slowly into the bowl with the moistened starch, adding it in a steady stream rather than all at once.
3. 3 Immediately begin stirring the mixture with a pair of long chopsticks or a wooden fork, working it in a circular motion. The starch will transform from opaque white to a translucent, glossy, extremely sticky mass.
4. 4 Continue stirring vigorously for two to three minutes until the ambuyat reaches a smooth, glue-like consistency with no dry pockets of starch remaining. It should stretch and cling to the utensil when lifted.
5. 5 Prepare the accompaniments while the ambuyat is still hot: arrange grilled fish, steamed vegetables, and the dipping sauces in small bowls around the main ambuyat dish for communal eating.
6. 6 To eat, twirl a pair of bamboo prongs called chandas around a small portion of the ambuyat, dip it into the cacah sauce or tempoyak, and swallow without chewing, as is the Bruneian tradition.