Traditional Foods of Kadazan Dusun and How To Make It :)

Jeruk Bambangan

Bambangan is a well known fruit for the Sabahan people (Sabah, Malaysia) especially among the Kadazan and Dusun tribes. But nowadays, it is getting popular among every race in Sabah. The tree is very tall and it takes long years to mature and bear its fruits. The fruits are round and brown in colour. It has a nice smell when it is ripe. This fruit either can be eaten raw when it is ripe or turn it into Jeruk Bambangan, a local delicacies that can be a delicious appetizer.

The Ingredients:

1)      A few fruits of Bambangan

2)      Bambangan seeds

3)      Salt

Step 1:

Peel off the bambangan skin. Be careful when doing this because the bambangan will produce sticky substances around it. This can burn your skin if you touch it with your bare hands so it is advisable for you to wear hand gloves. Any hand gloves will do. If you do not have hand gloves you can use any clothes to hold the bambangan while peeling it. Make sure you do not wash the bambangan after you have peeled it because it will make it very slippery and that will make it hard for you to cut it into small pieces.

Step 2:

Cut the peeled off bambangan into small squares pieces making sure that it is not too small, just the right size. It also does not have to be at the same size. Do not throw away the seed. You need that as one of the ingredients.

Step 3:

Now just put aside the pieces of bambangan. Take the bambangan seed and you need to peel the outer layer of the seed. This can be a tricky thing to do because the outer layer is very hard but be careful not the cut the inner seed that is white in colour.

Step 4:

When you get the white seed, take any type of grater to grate the seed into crumbs. Grate all the bambangan seeds that you have, as much as you can.

Step 5:

Now take the bambangan pieces that you had cut earlier and mix it with the seed crumbs slowly, mixing them bit by bit. When you had mix all of the crumbs, add 1 to 2 table spoons of salt (or enough to taste) to the mixture and mix it all again. Leave it to be about half an hour before putting them in jars or containers.

Tuhau

Ingredients

Tuhau

½ cup lime-juice

2-4 red onions - sliced

2-3 red chilies – sliced

salts

Method:

1. Prepare the ‘tuhau’ by taking off the hard skin. Use only the soft flesh inside. Wash and cut into ½ inch long. Put in a mortar and pound finely
2. In a bowl, add to the pounded ‘tuhau’, the lime-juice, the red chilies, the red onions and salt, and mix well,
3. Serve with other dishes.

Hinava

Hinava is a type of cuisine of the Kadazan Dusun indigenous ethnic group in Sabah, Malaysia. It is a form of salad with pieces of raw fish marinated in citrus juice. Tongii is actually mackerel fish in KadazanDusun language.

Very simple and easy to prepare dish.


Ingredients200g raw Mackerel (tenggiri) fish flesh
juice of 4-5 lime (enough to cover the fish flesh)
salt to taste
ginger, cut into fine strips
shallot, peeled and slice thinly
chili, cut into fine strips

Method

1. Wash and then slice the fish flesh thinly.
2. Add the lime juice and salt. Mix well. Set aside for about 10min, preferably in a refrigerator.
3. Add ginger, shallots and chili. Mix and serve.

VariationsYou can also add dried grated bambangan seed and finely sliced bitter gourd if your like bitter taste.