Satok Market

Satok Market, Kuching, Sarawak

The narrow lanes in the Satok weekend market in Kuching, Sarawak (a state in East Malaysia in Borneo) are crowded, and it gets really hot under the colourful canopies. But I’d not miss going to the market, which opens every Saturday and Sunday, as it’s the best place to find Sarawak’s food produce, handicrafts and knick knacks.To get to the market from downtown, walk the kilometre or so from along Jln Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce, and turn right onto the westbound lanes of Jln Satok after you have crossed under the Satok overpass. The markets are liveliest in the late afternoons and evenings on Saturday, and mid-Sunday morning. If the weekend coincides with a major holiday however, then some of the stalls will not be open, for instance, the Dayak-owned stalls on Gawai. Walking south here, you will enter the general-produce section, which sprawls around and takes up space wherever. Well, some tourists brochure indicates Satok Sunday Market, don’t be misled. Satok Markets open from Sat 2pm till Sun noon around the clock (Weather permitting of course). It’s a short taxi ride from Kuching Waterfront, of course you can choose to walk.

 For locals, the weekend market is where they come for ingredients from other parts of Sarawak. There are jungle produce like ferns, bamboo shoots, yam shoots, roselle, herbal roots and honey. There are also dried and preserved food like shrimp paste, cincaluk and smoked fish.

 When in Kuching during the weekends, you simply can’t afford to miss Satok Weekend Market. @ Jalan Satok locally known in Malay as 'Pasar Minggu', is a Kuching institution that dates back several decades. For many years, Satok market have been the best place to buy all assortment of local products, food & jungle produces. Not only that, you would probably see many of Sarawak Ethnic groups people doing their business here.

 Midin

Terung Asan

DuriAN A good place to start exploring the market is from the pedestrian overpass. The first section, directly south, has stalls selling a wide range of goods from hardware to souvenirs to clothing. This is a good place to pick up a bargain on batiks and cheesy Sarawak t-shirts. From here, head towards the fresh-plants section, where you can stop to admire delicate bonsais, pick up a bunch of local flowers for your dearly beloved, or see what a durian sapling looks like.

 With stalls selling eggs, vegetables and fruits, sprinkled with various others hawking drinks and snacks. The fruits section sells in-season popular tropical fruits such as watermelon or mango, and at the far end is a stall selling cakoi, which is deep-fried bread dough, a popular snack item. Going back up, stalls selling kueh(small Malaysian cakes) jostle with others selling Malay food and Chinese pastries. Definitely try apam balik, a Malaysian pancake folded over and stuffed with butter and peanuts, or kueh salat, a small cake made from salty glutinous rice and pandan-flavoured jelly.

 I love the market because so many of the produce sold are foreign to me. I didn’t buy much because we didn’t have access to a kitchen in Kuching, but I tried what I could there. I bought ikan terubuk asin (which I’ll blog about later), roselle (next blog) and Sarawak laksa paste.