Chapter 167: Traditional Coconut Oil-making
Looking at the cute banter between her doted white fox with the annoying hornbill, Hana chuckled mirthfully while shaking her head. Her right hand slowly fluffed up the coconut shavings as she immersed herself in nostalgia…
"Ibu (1), let's buy the instant coconut milk! I don't like making santan (2) out of these coconut shavings. It's tedious. Let's buy that one!" Little Hana shook Ma'am Shaza's sleeve haphazardly as she tried to pull it towards the grocery aisle for the tiny dark-blue box labeled with the word 'Coconut Milk'. The small 200 ml box had a suave reddish-green chicken on top (3). However, when little Hana locked her gaze with Ma'am Shaza, a hard stare came back at her. Her hand automatically let go of her mother's sleeve in fright.
"…" Ma'am Shaza didn't speak a word, but her eyes were warning the little wilful Hana to behave. She had enough of the little girl's nonsense. The babes were at home with only her eldest taking care of them. She really needed to double up.
"Three coconut's worth of coconut shavings, Uncle Maniam. One, only the white part. The other two didn't matter." Hana listened to her mother's hasty conversation with the shopkeeper.
"Boleh, boleh (4), Shaza. Little girl, come, come." The old Indian grandpa fetched several cola-flavored toffees from within a large plastic bottle and placed them on her tiny, outstretched palms. Little Hana grinned happily as she stashed the candies inside her pocket.
"Share it with your siblings." The shopkeeper whispered a little too loudly with a conspirational tone. Little Hana nodded vigorously while grinning as she dashed away happily.
"Where're your manners?! Say thank you!" A hand held Hana's head as it redirected the head towards the old Indian grandpa.
"It's okay, it's okay, Shaza. Kids will be kids. You were once as energetic as this too." The good-natured grandpa chuckled lightheartedly.
"Aigoo, Uncle, don't tease me!" Hana saw her mother blushed a little more furiously.
"If you need help, just let Uncle know. I can ask the kids around here to deliver stuff to your house, alright?" A compassionate light shone from the old shopkeeper's eyes. Hana peered through and she saw a hint of pity mixed in.
Her mother looked at the floor as she tried to hide her expression.
"It's okay, Uncle. I can still manage."
…
"You know, Hana, it's not that Ibu disliked using boxed coconut milk, but it is expensive. Additionally, your sister's coconut oil is finishing. Ibu need to make some to stock up. Pity her hair, so little. A good rub on the scalp daily will help a lot. You can see how your hair turns out." Ma'am Shaza, who was twenty years younger, filled Hana's thoughts. She was still quite a youthful beauty in her own right, with fewer wrinkles and crowfeet at the corner of her eyes. She caressed little Hana's thick, voluminous hair gently and sigh.
At this time, Babah (5) had never entered the picture for quite some time already. Hana couldn't remember what he looks like anymore. He was always away for long periods. One day, he just didn't return anymore. Hana was too little to remember the hazy memories. She could only remember his warm touch, tousling her hair before saying goodbye every time since it was her favorite moment with Babah.
Two weeks back, she saw her mother soullessly staring outside the window for a long time. She couldn't understand why. In the beginning, all of them peered through the window together to see what was it, but there was really nothing out there. No one understood. She tried talking to her mother, but her mother never answered. Even her brother's attempt at making conversation with her was to no avail.
A few days later, Ibu dressed all of them up smartly. It was a schooling day, but no one was asked to go to school on that day. Some stranger drove a grey van and brought all of them to join a ceremony on a tidy field arranged with stone structures. It was a solemn event; nobody laughed, joked, or make merry. Because all of them could sense their mother's tense mood, nobody dared to make a scene this time. It was a short event and was closed with a kenduri (6). The fried chicken was delicious. That was the only impression she got on that day.
Now she knew what that event signifies as she grew older. It seemed that her Babah was with the army, though she was unclear in what division. She heard that he went MIA in one of the dangerous missions a few years back. Due to the mission's nature of being a top national secret, Ibu didn't even know what to do besides grieving in silence. After some time, her Babah was declared dead; leaving behind a grave without a corpse, and a heartbroken young widow with seven kids. It was the first and the last time Hana saw her Ibu sobbed upon the empty grave on the carefully manicured field full of neat rows of tombstones.
Little Hana inquisitively observed her mother kneading the fluffed coconut floss inside a large tub with her bare hands.
Ma'am Shaza stared at her for a second longer before saying, "The kneading helps release more milk. Wash your hands and come here to help out. Ibu will teach you how to make coconut oil the traditional way. Learn well." For once, Ibu let her help. Maybe, she just needed a companion.
Little clueless Hana of the time happily nodded and eagerly joined her mother. They kneaded the wet coconut floss while chitchatting about random stuff. The mood got lighter and was filled with bubbly laughter towards the end. It was one of the best memories she had with Ma'am Shaza when she was younger.
"Alright, take a kitchen towel. We need to strain it."
"Is this good?" Little Hana took a random piece of dirty towel she picked on the floor. Well, it only earned her a gentle knock on the head.
"Seriously? Take a clean one in that drawer. Choose a nice one without prints."
Hana rummaged through the drawer and picked one she felt the 'cleanest', and without any motifs on top. She passed it to her mother and observed her every action carefully from then on. Obviously, it was for the sake of earning brownie points.
Ma'am Shaza observed her daughter with a faint smile etched to her face a few seconds longer and sighed lightly while shaking her head without saying a word. She stretched the piece of cloth over a washbasin neatly and place it down. After that, she poured out all soaked floss with whatever liquid present over the cloth into the shape of a small white mound.
"Ibu, it's going to spill!" Little Hana fidgeted at the side as she saw excess white liquid drenched the cloth.
"Calm down, calm down. It doesn't matter, as long as the floss didn't spill out of the cloth, all is good." Ma'am Shaza spoke calmly while her practiced hands gathered the edges of the cloth. She spun the mound within the towel just like when one was squeezing out water from a drenched cloth. Thick white liquid with a pleasant fragrance oozed out from the squeezed cloth and was automatically collected within the washbasin.
Ma'am Shaza squeezed the coconut floss containing cloth hard for the last time. After that, she transferred the white liquid into a smaller bowl and placed it in the fridge to set for about an hour.
Within that one hour, little Hana has been bombarded with lectures on the goodness of coconut oil, why it was favored by the older generation, and what was the general usage of it. It then progressed to technical information on the coconut tree as a whole. The info dump was so tremendous, Hana only remembered the ensuing headache she felt from withstanding the onslaught of information at that time. Ma'am Shaza had been too engrossed with her explanation; she had gone all out to cover from the coconut fruit to the leaves, flower, and trunk. The one hour turned to more than two, the pitiful eight-year-old Hana struggled hard to maintain her focus.
Hana chuckled as she remembered the nostalgic memories. She still remembered how her mom suddenly stop talking and looked at the wall clock with astonishment. To Hana's anguish, she even berated Hana for not stopping her.
Who dared to stop Ma'am Shaza when she was talking so passionately?
The answer was, no one. Not even their late Babah.
After that, the method was quite straightforward. They scooped out the solids separated from the refrigeration of the coconut milk, and reheat it several times until no more water was present within the liquid-solid mixture. The nutty aroma clung to Hana's body for a few days, as if she was wearing a peanut perfume at that time.
"Ibu… Is she alright? Did she take her medicine properly?"
The flashback down memory lane made her think of her strict mother who must be worried sick over her. She could sense that her position in her mom's heart was a bit special. When Ibu was down, she will always find little Hana to do some activities together. Maybe that was the means to distract herself. She noticed this pattern once she was older.
Worry clouded over her. Hana forgot to text her mother after she returned from the excursion to the Waterwave Clan's ground. After all, she only greeted Arash with a short and brief message this morning. After that, one thing after another happened consecutively, making her time so packed with stuff to do.
Authors' Note:
1) Ibu = mother in Malaysian language. There're a few variants. Emak, Mak, Bonda all mean the same thing
2) Santan = coconut milk in Malaysian language.
3) 'Coconut Milk' and a small chicken on top = a popular brand 'Ayam brand' for instant coconut milk. The link is what it looks like. Mrs Mooncat choose the one from Msia's popular online shopping site, Shopee (https://shopee.com.my/Santan-Kotak-AYAM-BRAND-Coconut-Milk-200ml-1L-i.73949485.3524614527)
4) Boleh = can in Malaysian language.
5) Babah = father (other variations with the same meaning: ayah, abah, papa, ayahanda, abi)
6) Kenduri = something like a small feast event, usually like a buffet meal (seconds is allowed, but usually people only eat once)
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