The locals of the Kanan region in Bamauk Township of Katha District of Sagaing Region are still using the traditional way to produce peanut oil and sesame oil such as placing them under a heavy block.
They peel the peanut and sesame and dry them in the sun. Then, they pound them in the large motor and place them in the pot to boil. Moreover, they put it in the material (nhyat taung) made of Tazaungmon bamboo strips with 8 inches each in width and height, and make holes in mango trees, tamarind tree or Albizzia lebbek, use the Rosewood block with 8 feet in length and a girth of 10 feet to press over it and another Rosewood flat-block with 3 inches in height and 4 feet in width. Then, they put the nhyat taung between the two blocks and make a hole with bamboo with 2 inches in seize to flow the oil. After that, the people put heavy stone or wood over them, climb on them to produce oil. It can produce more than 30 kyattha (ticals) of oil after three hours.
“We adopt such way so far. We do not buy any oil. We make the oil that way using the peanut and sesame grown in our fields. We can get quality peanut oil and sesame oil. There is plenty of fake oil during this time. We do not eat much oil as they are not good for our health,” said Daw Than Yin, aged over 83 from Sauk Phar village. More than 30 years ago, there was no oil miller in the villages of Bamauk Township and so the people created the ox-driven oil grinders. Currently, such tradition becomes disappeared in some villages and only 23 villages in the Kanan region still use such traditional ways. — Hlaing Bwa/GNLM
