Cotton candy is one of the oldest forms of candy. The colourful fluffy cloud that brings out the kid in you.
But do you know Sarawak also has its very own cotton candy? It is known as Gula Mitai. It is a favourite amongst Sarawakians.
It is made entirely by hand without any cotton candy machine, similar to the infamous Chinese Dragon's beard.
Some say this snack originates from Indonesia, known as gula rambut nenek or grandmother's hair candy.
This delicious Gula Mitai is made with sugar, oil, wheat flour and food colouring.
It is made by melting sugar pots of sugar. The wheat flour is 'lightly fried to get rid of the raw flour taste.
The hot sugar syrup is twirled and pulled in the fried flour until it forms fine strains of 'hair'. It has to be pulled while it is scorching. Hence, there is not a lot of people who can handle this heat. It takes a lot of arm work too!
The strains of 'hair' are then rolled into a ball for easier handling.
The texture of this Gula Mitai is in between cotton candy and spun sugar. It's soft yet crunchy at the same time, definitely not the typical cotton candy you get in the carnival.
We also found out that Kelantan has similar cotton candy, called sema tarik Kelantan, that uses coconut sugar.
Give it a try if you do see one.
We saw some seller selling in Shoppe too!
Gula Mitai on Shopee. Image source via shopee