How ‘bunga kantan’ became Mariyaton’s recipe for success

So the 57-year-old mother of three began looking for another way to turn the harvest into income. Her answer? Serunding.

With RM500 in capital, Mariyaton and her family began experimenting with a "bunga kantan", or torch ginger, version of the traditional floss, carrying out eight rounds of trials before they were satisfied with the flavour. The challenge was getting the balance right, particularly reducing the bitterness of garlic while combining spices and anchovies in a way that complemented the distinctive floral taste of bunga kantan.

“Then I let my friends taste it and they liked it. After that, I tried to market it,” she told Bernama.

Even then, there was more testing to do, including working out how long the finished product could keep. Today, the small venture she started at Felcra Nasaruddin Belia generates around RM6,500 in monthly sales.

And while bunga kantan serunding may be Mariyaton’s signature product, it is far from the only thing coming out of her kitchen. She has since developed tapioca shoot serunding, petai serunding and chaya shoot serunding, along with bitter gourd crisps, salang leaf crisps and popia simpul kasih.

The products are marketed on social media, while some have also made their way into Petronas Mesra and Shell outlets as well as through agents around the country. She had initially imagined selling only within the Felcra Nasaruddin Belia community.

Yet her torch ginger serunding was later taken up under Felcra Bhd's Sambal Street initiative for distribution to Brunei, Singapore and Dubai. “I never dreamed of going that far,” she said, revealing that she had recently travelled to Singapore after visiting Brunei the previous month and Dubai before that. Mariyaton's willingness to experiment has remained central to her business.

She also prefers to employ Malaysians where possible, saying she wants the business to create income opportunities for others as it grows. Felcra has supported her expansion through assistance including business premises, machinery and processing equipment, while helping rural entrepreneurs improve in areas such as certification and production capacity. Follow Mariyaton on TikTok .

She can be contacted at 019-578 0132.