Gulai Siput Barai A Dish from Ancient Singapore

Siput Barai shellfish is one of the food mentioned in Sejarah Melayu or Malay Annals. This shellfish would be one of the earliest documented food in Singapore cuisine dating back to the 1300s i.e. 700 years ago during the kingdom of Singapura.

The Sejarah Melayu or Malay Annals is an account of the kings of Singapura and the Malacca sultanate (covering the period 1300 - 1500) written in 1612. The accounts written in Jawi was commissioned by a regent of the Johor sultanate which succeed the Malacca sultanate when it fell to the Portuguese in 1511.

Digging for shellfish at the beach near Tanjong Pagar in 1880. Credit: NAS

In Chapter 3 of the Malay Annals, Sang Nila Utama, a prince and his princess arrived in Batam island from Palembang, Sumatra. At the beach on Batam island, the princess watched her attendants frolicked on the sand. From Batam, Sang Nila Utama later sailed to Singapore island (then known as Temasek) attracted by its white sands (the year was 1299).

At Tanjong Bemban in Batam (1299):

"The princess sat under an aloe (Pandan) tree, and all the females of rank around her, delighted with viewing the amusements of her attendants; one of whom brought an oyster, another a cupang (species of oyster),  another a bari (species of oyster), another pulled a wild plantain, another the butan leaf to prepare a salad; another collected agar-agar (dulse), for making a relish." 

In chef Norzailina's re-creation of the Malacca sultanate royal banquet, she has a dish named Gulai Siput Barai which is shellfish in curry.

Siput barai is a burrowing clam with a long fleshy syphon. It is like a mini version of geoduck clam seen at upscale seafood restaurants.

The long syphon allows the barai clam to bury itself deep in the sand with its breathing apparatus just breaking surface like a submarine's periscope. So, harvesting siput barai is more challenging that other clams on the beach as they are hard to spot and difficult to dig out.

In Malay cuisine, siput barai is cooked in the same way as other shellfish with spices and coconut milk. Spices commonly used include lemongrass, lime leaf, turmeric leaf, galangal, asam gelugor, ginger, turmeric root, candlenut, onion, garlic, fermented prawn paste, salt, etc. The spices are grated and pounded into a paste, stir fried till fragrant, and stewed together with the shellfish in coconut milk.

(Modern shellfish curries inevitably have chili among the ingredients. However, in the old kingdom of Singapura version, there is no chili as the hot spice did not come here until the 1500s, brought by Portuguese from the Americas.)

Gulai Siput Barai is delicious. The fresh shellfish meat is soft and naturally sweet, complemented by mildly spiced, rich coconut milk. Pairs perfectly with rice.

After tasting Gulai Siput Barai at the event hosted by chef Norzailina in 2013, I have not been able to find the dish or even the clams again. If you know where we can get siput barai, please share the information by writing a comment in the blog. 

This is a precious heritage dish.

Thank you 🙏

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Written by Tony Boey on 3 Jun 2021

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