of the palm — a soft white spongy and mealy
substance — is gathered, and for the purpose of
distant transportation it is put into conical bags
made of plantain- leaves, and neatly tied up.
In that state it is called by the Malays sangoo
tainpiii, or 'bundles of sago' — each bundle
weighs about thirty pounds. On its arrival at
Singapore it is bought by the Chinese manufac-
turers of sago, and is thus treated : — Upon being
carried to the manufactory, the plantain-leaf
covering is removed, and the raw sago, impart-
ing a strong acid odour, is bruised, and is put
into large tubs of cold spring water, where it
undergoes a process of 2)uritication by being
stirred, suffered to repose, and then re-stirred
in newly-introduced water. When well purified
thus, it is taken out of the tubs by means of
small vessels; and being mixed with a great
deal of water, the liquid is gently poured upon
a large and slightly-inclined trough, about ten
inches in height and width, and in the descent
towards the depressed end the sago is deposited
in the bottom of the trough, whilst the water
flows into another large tub, where what may
remain of sago is finally deposited. As the
strata of deposited sago increases in the trough,
small pieces of slate are adjusted to its lower
end to prevent the escape of the substance.
When by this pouring process the trough
becomes quite full of sago, it is then removed to
make room for a fresh one, whilst the former
one is put out into the air, under cover, for a
short time ; and on its being well dried, the
sago within is cut into square pieces and taken
out to be thoroughly dried, under cover, to
protect it from the sun. It has then lost the
acid smell already noticed, and has become quite
white. After one day's drying thus, it is taken
into what may be called the manufactory — a
long shed, open in front and on one side, and
closed at the other and in the rear. Here the
lumps of sago are broken up, and are reduced
to an impalpable flour, which is passed through
a sieve. The lumps which are retained by the
sieve are put back to be rebruised, whilst that
portion which has passed is collected, and is
placed in a long cloth bag, the gathered ends of
which, like those of a hammock, are attached to
a pole, which pole being suspended to a beam of
the building by a rope, one end of it is sharply
thrown forward with a particular jerk, by
means of which the sago within is speedily
granulated very fine, and becomes what is
technically termed ' pearled.' It is then taken
out and put into iron vessels, called qualfles, for
the purpose of being dried. These quallies are
small elliptical pans, and resemble in form the
sugar coppers of the West Indies, and would
each hold about five gallons of fluid. They are
set a little inclining, and in a range, over a
line of furnaces, eacjii one ha\'ing its own fire.
Before putting in the sago to be dried,, a cloth,
which contains a small quantity of hog's lard
or some oily substance, is hastily passed into
the qually, and the sago is equally quickly put
into it, and a Chinese labourer who attends it
commences stirring it vigorously, and thus
continues his labour during the few minutes
necessary to expel the moisture contained in the
substance. Thus each qually, containing about
ten pounds of sago, requires the attendance of
Page 1636
Presented as published in 1892. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
of the palm — a soft white spongy and mealy substance — is gathered, and for the purpose of distant transportation it is put into conical bags made of plantain- leaves, and neatly tied up. In that state it is called by the Malays sangoo tainpiii, or 'bundles of sago' — each bundle weighs about thirty pounds. On its arrival at Singapore it is bought by the Chinese manufacturers of sago, and is thus treated : — Upon being carried to the manufactory, the plantain-leaf covering is removed, and the raw sago, imparting a strong acid odour, is bruised, and is put into large tubs of cold spring water, where it undergoes a process of purification by being stirred, suffered to repose, and then re-stirred in newly-introduced water. When well purified thus, it is taken out of the tubs by means of small vessels; and being mixed with a great deal of water, the liquid is gently poured upon a large and slightly-inclined trough, about ten inches in height and width, and in the descent towards the depressed end the sago is deposited in the bottom of the trough, whilst the water flows into another large tub, where what may remain of sago is finally deposited. As the strata of deposited sago increases in the trough, small pieces of slate are adjusted to its lower end to prevent the escape of the substance. When by this pouring process the trough becomes quite full of sago, it is then removed to make room for a fresh one, whilst the former one is put out into the air, under cover, for a short time ; and on its being well dried, the sago within is cut into square pieces and taken out to be thoroughly dried, under cover, to protect it from the sun. It has then lost the acid smell already noticed, and has become quite white. After one day's drying thus, it is taken into what may be called the manufactory — a long shed, open in front and on one side, and closed at the other and in the rear. Here the lumps of sago are broken up, and are reduced to an impalpable flour, which is passed through a sieve. The lumps which are retained by the sieve are put back to be rebruised, whilst that portion which has passed is collected, and is placed in a long cloth bag, the gathered ends of which, like those of a hammock, are attached to a pole, which pole being suspended to a beam of the building by a rope, one end of it is sharply thrown forward with a particular jerk, by means of which the sago within is speedily granulated very fine, and becomes what is technically termed ' pearled.' It is then taken out and put into iron vessels, called qualfles, for the purpose of being dried. These quallies are small elliptical pans, and resemble in form the sugar coppers of the West Indies, and would each hold about five gallons of fluid. They are set a little inclining, and in a range, over a line of furnaces, each one having its own fire. Before putting in the sago to be dried, a cloth, which contains a small quantity of hog's lard or some oily substance, is hastily passed into the qually, and the sago is equally quickly put into it, and a Chinese labourer who attends it commences stirring it vigorously, and thus continues his labour during the few minutes necessary to expel the moisture contained in the substance. Thus each qually, containing about ten pounds of sago, requires the attendance of