The workers arrange the fresh prawn on the special "container" before they send it to the "smoke house". The burning process will take few hours. Normally the "smoke house" care taker have to make sure the fire is under control, otherwise the prawn will turn black.
Do you know what is smoke prawn? It is different from the ordinary dried prawn that we can found in the market. In Sarawak, smoke prawn industry can be found in Kampung Belawai, Mukah. Its seasonal industry. They has started as early 400 years a go. The local community in the early days produces smoke prawn for own consumption but due to good market demand they decided to produce it commercially.
There is several type of method to produce quality smoke prawn. Some of them just used any kind of wood to dry the prawn but people at Kampung Belawai have their own ways to keep their quality of their smoke prawn. They used “bakau” (rhizophora mucronata) wood to dry the prawn. This wood will produce special aroma and its make the prawn taste sweet and it did not produce a smoke smell on the prawn. Smoke prawn from Belawai did not use any artificial ingredient to keep it lasting for few months.
There is several type of method to produce quality smoke prawn. Some of them just used any kind of wood to dry the prawn but people at Kampung Belawai have their own ways to keep their quality of their smoke prawn. They used “bakau” (rhizophora mucronata) wood to dry the prawn. This wood will produce special aroma and its make the prawn taste sweet and it did not produce a smoke smell on the prawn. Smoke prawn from Belawai did not use any artificial ingredient to keep it lasting for few months.
10 kg of fresh prawn can produce only 1 kg. 1 kg smoke prawn will cost us RM50.00 (factory price). Market price is between RM60 to RM80.00 per kilo. Good for Beer drinker.........