‘food’ a type of fried pastry.
Ja is a special pastry, unique to Sulu, which is difficult to make. It is made from rice flour batter, which is tapped through
a coconut-shell-sieve into hot coconut oil and rolled into a cylinder shape as it fries. The batter flows through the holes
as the cook taps the sieve's handle. The rhythm with which it is tapped through makes a difference in its appearance. Ja looks a bit like shredded wheat cereal, except that it is finer, lighter and crisper. Ja is written with an acute accent to distinguish it from ja , a contraction of sidja , "always".