Sarawak's restaurant revolution

From durian flowers to bamboo chicken, the traditional dishes of Malaysia's largest region are being championed by a new generation of chefs and restaurateurs.

- Adrian Phillips

“Kuching’s cuisine is the best-kept secret in Asia,” according to writer Karen Shepherd, who was born in Sarawak’s capital and whose enthusiasm for the place knows no bounds. The secret, though, might be out of the bag. In 2021, Kuching was recognised by UNESCO as a Creative City of Gastronomy, becoming the first city in Malaysia to receive the accolade and joining a list of just 50 worldwide. “Everyone seemed to be surprised, but not me,” says Karen, who helped prepare the city’s bid.

Just as in the rest of Malaysia, the cuisine of Sarawak is based around staples like rice and noodles. Owing to its location on the jungle-clad island of Borneo, the state has rich culinary traditions that can’t be found anywhere else. This is due to the island’s separation from Peninsular Malaysia and the fact it’s home to 34 Indigenous tribes. “We eat things that other people don’t,” explains Karen. “Bamboo shoots, coconut shoots, even durian fl owers, which bloom for just one week a year. These are vegetables foraged from the rainforest — the tastiest on Earth.”

The result is a varied choice of dishes, ranging from mild to spicy, and often incorporating ingredients with a piquancy that brings a fabulous complexity to the fl avours. Daun ubi goreng, for instance, features a sharp-tasting shoot called tepus (a wild ginger) that cuts through the sweeter mashed tapioca leaves stir-fried with it; tempoyak plays on the sourness of fermented durian fruit. Other vegetable creations include terung asam sambal (using sour eggplant) and midin (wild ferns cooked with garlic or shrimp paste), while pansuh is a classic dish of meat cooked inside a bamboo stalk.

MEET THE RESTAURATEUR 
Livan Lah