The woman bringing indigenous Sarawak food to the world – Marian Chin
Known for documenting the flavours of her native Kuching, Malaysia, Marian Chin is taking her culinary finds to Hong Kong for the first time
“Come, I want you to have a look at my office,” says Marian Chin, stepping into her kitchen and pantry in Kuching, Sarawak. Each shelf is lined with jars and bottles of herbs, spices, preserves and other indigenous foods found only in the jungle of the East Malaysia state.
Chin relishes the surprises that come from meeting people through her work. “I just spent a morning with a person who knows how to make Engkabang butter [a vegan fat made from vegetables and trees],” Chin says. “Usually it’s a tribe native, but this guy is Chinese. His background is in [Chinese] medicine and he learned it from his master.”
As a child, Chin loved exploring the forest behind where she lived in Kuching and collecting what she found. “I remember that was my favourite thing to do – running to the forest, finding a pitcher plant and even drinking from it,” she says. “Before I could walk, I was already interested in smells – the smell of leaves, bark – and looking through a leaf and seeing light shine through it. I was considered kind of strange, but I was extremely sensitive about these things.”