IHOLA! This is a blog post about exotic cuisines that can be found
in Tambunan, a timid district located in Sabah.
Before you read further, I
would like to remind you that some or maybe most of the food posted in this
blog post are very exotic, if you are not up to such thing, please stop
here.
Hello again, to those of you who decided to continue reading.
So are you
ready to see how traditional are the food I am talking about?
Let the journey begins~
1. Pungit + Kuyoh
So, basically most of the names of the food in this post are in Dusun language.
So, let us talk about first dish. The main ingredient in this 'Pungit + Kuyoh' dish is bats. yeah like BATMAN but without the MAN. Kuyoh is pumpkin shoots. I've never tried eating bats, I'm just not brave enough yet but from what I heard from the people who have tasted it, they like it.
*The bats will be stir-fried for while and then you add pumpkin shoots, some water, seasoning, wait for a while and then ready to be eaten.
Langgangon a type of chili that can be found mostly in Sabah. If you go to tamu (traditional market) you can see a lot of people selling langgangon. Some people would prefer to grow their own langgangon. They are in white color and are one of the favorites of Sabahan. The spiciness varies, some would be very hot, mild and the funniest type would be no spiciness at all. In the picture above, the langgangon was cooked with 'bunga kantan' or known as torch lily.
This third dish 'bintorung linugu' is a dish where you grill the brinjals, remove the skin/leave the skin, add some lime juice, seasoning, chilies and red onions. This type of dish is perfect for outdoor activities such as campings and picnics.
4.Hinava
Hinava is another well-known traditional dish of Sabah. It is a fish salad. The ingredients are boned fish (I would prefer mackerels), lime juice, chilies, salt, thinly sliced shallots, sliced gingers (to reduce the fishy smell) and a bit of love.
To make a good hinava, you need to use fresh fish.
5.Pucuk Ubi Kayu
Pucuk ubi kayu is basically the shoots of cassava plant. Based on the picture above, the shoots were cooked with shoots from another plant, papayas. Papaya shoots are usually bitter so if you are not a fan of bitter dishes this dish is not for you.
Have you ever tried TADPOLES before? Yeah, the children of frogs.
Landoi = TADPOLES
Kuyoh = Pumpkin shoots.
You cook both of the ingredients to make 'landoi + kuyoh' dish. I've tried tadpoles when I was young but I could not recall the taste, so I have no idea how this dish would taste like.
Do you eat organs? intestines? Because this is a dish where you cook a soup with beef and and intestines. I did not get the chance to try this one. I think it would be perfect as a hangover soup.
Eating this one would be fun. Why? you need to suck the flesh out from the snails. Yes! you got that right, birid means snail. Ruhoi is the green vegetables you see in the picture . As for now, I'm still trying to find the exact type.
Sunsulag is the root of water yam plant. I've tried sunsulag cooked with langangon and tamarind juice. The taste was terrific.
This is a dandelion greens salad. I'm not sure how they made this, but some testified that it tastes great.
Kuyundau=dandelion.
11.Gipan + Kuyoh
River shrimps cooked with pumpkin shoots.
12.Langgangon + Sunsulag + Ikan masin
Basically a dish made of langgangon + Sunsulag + salted fish. This one goes well with white rice.
13.Lindung
EELS. They stir-fried it and added some seasoning.
14.Tomborua + bilis
The scientific name of tomborua is Plectocomiopsis Geminiflora. If you say bitter gourds are bitter, you should try tomborua, it might be the kind of all bitter food. It is usually added in porridge and you can add in meat or like the picture above, they added anchovies
15.Takano kukuanga
This is one of the traditional dishes that caught my eyes. Pitcher plants filled with white rice and steamed. I did not get the chance to try this one because it was limited.
16.Ayam Kampung Rebus
Boiled chickens.
17.Sambal mangga
Mango salad. I'm drooling looking at this picture.
18.Rokot + Lesun
A type of river fish stir-fried with wild herbs called lesun.
Lesun goes well with torch lily and langgangon.
19.Bmbangan + Rokot
BAMBANGAN. If you ask a local to suggest a traditional food, they would surely mention bambangan (often would be referring to preserved bambangan ). In this dish, fresh bambangan fruit was used and cooked with river fish.
20.Sayur kampung campur
Cook some local veggies and tadaa you create 'Sayur Kampung Campur'. A mixture of local veggies. The strongest ingredients would be the well known 'petai' (Parkia Speciosa). They look like flat green beans. The smell is very strong so if you happen to eat it make sure to drink a lot of water to flush out the smell from your body.
21.Tinunu bakas
This one is not 'halal'. Grilled wild boars. They taste great with soy sauce, lime and some chilies. If you want to buy it in Tambunan, you can go to Rompon, it is along the way from Tambunan to Keningau. Rm18+- per kilo or spend some time going to local markets (tamu).
22. Sup Lisis
I'm still trying to find information about this dish.
Broiled wild boar with fern spikes.
24.Sup Gawir
Bats, soup, and more bats.
25.Paus + Sangop Kampung
Venison and local cucumbers.
26.Bubur Kodop Bakas
A porridge full with grinded healthy Schizophyllum commune (cendawan kukur) and wild boar. You can cook it with another type of meat to substitute wild boar.
27.Lindung Kunyit
Another eels dish. Stir-fry the eels and add some turmeric.
28.Keli Masak Kunyit
Catfish cooked with turmeric.
29.Lado Tuhau
Other than bambangan, tuhau (E.Coccinea) or wild ginger would be one of the top two list of must-try food in sabah. Lado tuhau simple means tuhau with chilies. The smell is quite strong if you are not used to it. Some people just could not stand the smell, some would fall in love with it. How about you?
30.Sada Pinarasakan
Pinarasakan is a famous method of cooking fish, in Sabah. You simple boil the fish and ingredients until the water almost dry out. A food dearest to most elders.
31.Ruoi Rokot
Ruoi/ruhoi (a local green vegetable) cooked with river fish.
32.Sokoh + Bulukun (NOT RECOMMENDED AS IT IS LISTED UNDER THE CRITICALLY ENDAGERED)
(All pangolin species are protected under national and international laws, and two are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. - WWF)
33.Pungit + Kuyoh
Bats with pumpkin shoots
34.Bubur Ayam Kampung
Chicken (local) porridge.
35.Tomuning (NOT RECOMMENDED AS IT IS LISTED UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES)
36.Birid
A simple dish. local snails.
These are some of the traditional food that I found in Tambunan. Anyway before choosing your palate please make sure that they are not endangered. 😃 .
These are some of the traditional food that I found in Tambunan. Anyway before choosing your palate please make sure that they are not endangered. 😃 .
This is quite a list! I love all our local food. However, I strongly discourage the consumption of 'exotic' meats; there are two that you mentioned here, the pangolin and the tarsier. Their population is dwindling, and we should not create a demand for their meat. Let's stick to other meat options that are plentiful and not endangered.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment I appreciate it. I reread my post and i did sound like i was encouraging the consumption of the endangered meats. Sorry again. So, I edited the post hopefully it looks better.
Delete