A Tale of Pulau Tenggol's Wolverine

I once wrote about the legend of Panglima Hitam Tambun who defeated the notorious pirate Lang Merah and his men by the Dungun beach during the reign of Sultan Zainal Abidin the third. Now we have a guest writer named Mr. Stopa who told me an interesting story about the King with the claw who probably still resides at his kingdom Pulau Tenggol! Here how it goes:

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Dear SPD,

Came across your blog while strolling on blogs on Ganu Kite. Kijalian by birth (sédé mung Awang !! – oh my, your fancy rigmarole!!), Dungun was never far from me when I was swimming with the fishes in Kijal, Kemaman. From afar as told by GrandPa, Dungun and the the land around it look like a finger knuckle about to jentik (flick) a piece of cotton ball ie. Pulau Tenggol.

Pulau Tenggol, he added, was the place full of treasures with skulls scattered all over the place. There lived a man with hands like claws who was a king with many wives. "Don't harm the crab " said GrandPa, as they would cry and swim all the way to Pulau Tenggol and make an official report of your wickedness to the King with the claws. Soon an army of crabs would descend on our little kampong, specifically looking for you ie. me. "Laugh as much as you like, ridicule me if all I care, as the crab never forget about you."

"There will be a day when you least expected, their descendant who were told of your cruelty, would snap your crown jewel, should you take a dip in the south China Sea".

For that reason, from that day onwards I never did any skin dipping in South China Sea.

I am approaching my trip to Pulau Tenggol in June with trepidation. I know the story was not true, but the thought of losing (though way passed expiry date) the family heirloom, sends chills down my spine.

My question to you are: has the man with the claw hands been caught? What happen to his wives? Any of his kids got claw hands? Any of them selling ikangceluktepung (Terengganu style fishes tempura) in Dungun ??

Yours Truly

Stopa

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I hope someone can help Mr. Stopa find the answer of his last question.

Hikayat Sang Gupal

This is probably the best asang gupal I have ever tasted in my entire life. It proves that innovations in our local cuisine are always welcome—as long as they don’t ruin the taste, the love, the feel, the childhood memories bound up with it. I have always loved asang gupal first for its chewy texture, and second for its taste.

Asang gupal, sang gupal, asam gumpal, asam gupal—whichever sounds right to you—is made of sago with sweet green bean filling, served warm or cold with salty-sweet coconut milk. Sometimes it reminds me of Japanese mochi. I reckon there are quite a number of asang gupal varieties that have come into existence through Terengganu’s cultural evolution. I remember the ones I always bought from Pasor Minggu Dungung were bathed in coconut milk infused with ginger and fenugreek. The ginger was mild, while the fenugreek tossed in the aroma of an Indian spice shop on a hot afternoon.

This newest version, however, substitutes the traditional ingredients with jackfruit flesh. Sweet, milky, fruity. No spice. And it works. I praise the innovator of this unique version, because it tastes so good. They even violated tradition by abandoning the fist-sized sago balls. Instead, these asang gupal look like longan or lychee, deceiving the taste buds of their confused devourer.