The Serumpun Codex · Ferments, grains and starches
Kasam
The Iban way of fermenting fish, boar or beef with salt and rice.
The entry
- Name
- Kasam
- Other names
- Pekasam; kasam ikan (river fish), kasam babi or pekasam babi (wild boar), kasam ensabi (mustard greens)
- Scientific name
- Not applicable: a method of fermentation
- What it is
- The Iban way of fermenting fish, boar or beef with salt and rice.
- Knowledge from
- Chef Laura Sim Bara, Iban knowledge holder. The Bidayuh preparations of Kampong Gumbang, Bau, and Kampung Mongkos, Serian, are recorded by Sageng et al. (2024).
- Shared with Serumpun by
- Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak, at the second meeting, in his office in Petrajaya, Kuching.
- How it is used
- Rice is dry-fried until dark and pounded coarse, rubbed onto the salted protein, packed airless into a guci or tempayan, sealed and aged for two weeks at least, one to three months if possible. River fish soften so far that the scales can be eaten.
- In the French Borneo kitchen
- Kasam & Mawang, the main at the Kuching Finale, presented by Chef Laura Sim Bara: kasam rubbed on the beef, with mawang for acid.
- Season and place
- Iban longhouses across Sarawak; not seasonal
- Conservation status
- Not applicable
- Codex Alimentarius
- No Codex standard
- Medicinal knowledge
- Held privately by the community
- Consent
- Given, recorded by CHASS, 30 October 2026
Sources
- The Living Pantry, James Won
- Sageng et al., Journal of Ethnic Foods, 2024
- The Star, via Sarawak Multimedia Authority, 2025
Added to the Codex on 1 November 2026. Sources last checked on 30 October 2026. This ingredient is also told in James Won's words in The Living Pantry.
Anyone may cook with this knowledge, commercially too, provided the community it comes from is credited by name. To correct or withdraw this entry, write to the Custodian at connect@chefjameswon.com.
How to cite this entry
Serumpun Sarawak (2026) ‘Kasam’, The Serumpun Codex, ed. James Won. Available at: https://www.chefjameswon.com/serumpun/codex/kasam/ (sources checked 30 October 2026).
Quote any entry with this citation, and name the community whose knowledge it is.