A taste of Sabah at Restoran Ikan Bakar Semporna

For Sabahans living in peninsular Malaysia, a plate of familiar food can sometimes do more than satisfy a craving. The taste of latok, hinava, bambangan, ambuyat or grilled fish can bring back memories of family meals, hometowns and the everyday flavours they grew up with.

That sense of connection is something Fatimah Salleh understands well. The 43-year-old proprietor of Restoran Ikan Bakar Semporna in Kepong has spent the past decade serving authentic Sabahan dishes to customers, who include fellow Sabahans living and working far from home.

For some, she said, simply being able to sit down to a familiar meal can ease the homesickness that comes with living on the other side of the country.

“This restaurant is a place where people can satisfy their longing for traditional Sabah food,” Fatimah told Bernama. “We know that many Sabahans who have moved to or are working in peninsular Malaysia crave the traditional food from home.”

Among the favourites is latok, a type of seaweed commonly eaten with grilled fish and sambal. Other dishes such as hinava, bambangan and ambuyat also offer customers a taste of the state’s varied culinary traditions.

Fatimah said about 70% of the ingredients she uses are brought in from Sabah, including some of the fish used for grilled dishes.

For her, maintaining those flavours is about more than authenticity. Food, she believes, carries something of the places and people it comes from, making it an easy way for Sabahans to hold on to part of their identity even when they live far away.

It can also introduce those flavours to people who did not grow up with them. Nalwazra Abdullah was born and raised in peninsular Malaysia, but her family’s Sabahan origins meant the state’s food was part of her childhood.

“Since I was young, I grew up eating Sabah dishes such as latok and putu,” said the 28-year-old, who is a regular customer at Fatimah’s restaurant.

Putu, which is made from cassava, is traditionally eaten in place of rice, although Nalwazra has found a playful way to introduce it to friends from peninsular Malaysia who may be unfamiliar with it.

“I taught them the simple way of eating it – first with condensed milk, before having it with other dishes,” she shared.

For younger Sabahans who grow up elsewhere, Nalwazra believes such food can also help preserve a connection with their family heritage.

And for those who already know the flavours well, a familiar dish can be enough to make the distance from home feel just a little shorter.

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