Sustenance from creepy sago caterpillar

KENINGAU: High demand from exotic food lovers has prompted a trader Suis Lim to sell sago caterpillars or "Butod" in Kadazan Dusun language at the Keningau Sunday Market, here.
Suis, 61, said overwhelming demand from food enthusiasts especially among the Kadazandusun Murut community helps her to earn between RM300 and RM600 a week with a total income of about RM1,200 every month.
The mother of 11 children from Kampung Kuangoh Bingkor packed 10 sago caterpillars in a plastic bag to be sold for RM10 a pack and could sell about 30 packs per week.
"The demand for butod is very high but not many can supply it due to the creepy wiggly characteristic of the caterpillar," she told Bernama in the market, here today.
The popular local speciality can be eaten alive or stir-fried with leeks for a tasty lunch.
"Selling butod is very profitable but to get it is very complicated because it only can be found in the decayed stalks of a type of palm called 'rumbia' which is increasingly difficult to find in Bingkor," she said.
Thus, her family took an initiative to replant rumbia trees to ensure that the business could survive in the long run. — Bernama