Skip to main content

Cuisine

Traditional Kadazan cuisine involves mostly boiling or grilling which employs little use of oil, and with locally unique modifications and nuances as well as particular usage of locally available ingredients, particularly bamboo shoots, sago and fresh water fish. From simple appetizers of unripe mango dressed with soy sauce and chili flakes to a variety of pickled foods collectively known as noonsom, tangy and pungent flavours from souring agents or fermentation techniques is a key characteristic of traditional Kadazan cooking. One of the most well known Kadazan dishes is hinava, which is similar in concept to the South American ceviche. It is a salad made with pieces of raw fish marinated in citrus juice, ginger, onion and other ingredients like bitter gourd and grated dried bambangan seed which is similar in texture to desiccated coconut strands. This dish is sometimes served in certain Sabahan restaurants which do not otherwise have a traditional Kadazan menu. Another popular dish is pinasakan, which consists of sea or freshwater fish (usually smaller species) cooked with bambangan (a variety of mango found in Borneo) or takob-akob (a very tart dried fruit). The bambangan fruit is also eaten with meals as an appetiser. It is often pickled as noonsom and garnished with grated bambangan seed. Tuhau is a fragrant local root that is often made into a salad or is preserved with vinegar as noonsom. Wild boar or bakas, whether char grilled, stewed or even made into noonsom is very popular with the Kadazandusun community, often an essential item at weddings and major gatherings. Sweets include hinompuka, a type of gooey rice cake steamed in banana leaves and flavoured with dark palm sugar. The Kadazan people are also renowned for lihing, a sweet-tasting wine brewed from glutinous rice and natural yeast.
Contemporary Kadazan food is influenced by Chinese and Malay food as well as international trends, and often sees the use of traditional ingredients interpreted in new and novel ways. For example, bambangan is available as an ice cream flavour and chicken lihing soup or sup manuk nansak miampai lihing is popular with both Chinese and Kadazan communities alike. Lihing is also used in marinades, local variants of sambal relishes and even as a flavouring for stir-fried noodles.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Music And Dance

The Kadazans have also developed their own unique dance and music.  Sumazau  is the name of the dance between a male and female, performed by couples as well as groups of couples, which is usually accompanied by a symphony of handcrafted bronze gongs that are individually called  tagung . The  sompoton  is another musical instrument. A ceremonial ring of cloth sash is worn by both male and female. The  Sumazau  and gong accompaniment is typically performed during joyous ceremonies and occasions, the most common of which being wedding feasts. The Kadazan have a musical heritage consisting of various types of  tagung  ensembles  - ensembles composed of large hanging, suspended or held, bossed/knobbed  gongs  which act as drone without any accompanying melodic instrument. They also use  kulintangan ensembles  - ensembles with an horizontal-type melodic instrument. [2] [3] The late Chief Priestess Bobohizan, Bianti ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Language

The  Kadazan language  has adopted several loanwords, particularly from other northern Borneo indigenous languages and also Malay. There are claims that Penampang people speak Kadazan Tangaa' dialect while the Papar people generally speak Kadazan. The use of the language has been declining due to the use of Malay by the Malaysian federal government and by the use of English by missionaries, which was done through the method of language shift enforced by the work of both the colonial and federal governments. The state of Sabah has introduced policies to prevent this decline, which is also happening to other native Sabahan languages. This included the policy of using Kadazan and other indigenous languages in public schools. Efforts have also been done to allow the language to become official in the state. In an earlier 2005 Unesco’s report, the Kadazan-Dusun language was classified as an endangered language, spoken by a mere 300,000 people. The language has apparently joine...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Culture Of Kadazan

Kadazan culture is heavily influenced by the farming of rice, culminating in various delicacies and alcoholic drinks prepared through differing home-brewed fermentation processes.  To'omis  and  linutau  are the main rice wine variants served and consumed in Kadazan populated areas, and are a staple of Kadazan social gatherings and ceremonies. The most important festival of the Kadazans is the  Kaamatan  or harvest festival, where the spirit of the paddy is honoured after a year's harvest. This takes place in May, and the two last days of the month are public holidays throughout Sabah. During the celebration, the most celebrated event is the crowning of the  Unduk Ngadau , the harvest festival beauty queen. Young women of Kadazan, Dusun, Murut or Rungus descent from certain districts compete for this title. The beauty pageant is held to commemorate the spirit of Huminodun, a mythological character of unparalleled beauty said to have given her life i...
Post a Comment
Read more