By Soon Li Wei
PETALING JAYA: Most Malaysians are not familiar with the traditional food of the Bajau people, an indigenous group inhabiting Semporna, Sabah, and parts of the Philippines.
Known for their nomadic, seafaring way of life, it is only natural their cuisine is deeply rooted in their maritime environment.
Anyone who has been to Semporna will undoubtedly attest to the deliciousness and uniqueness of their seafood and other traditional dishes, which are certainly difficult to come across in Peninsular Malaysia.
Those missing traditional Bajau food need not take a flight to Semporna as there is a restaurant in Sunway Mentari here that actually offers authentic Bajau fare.
Restoran Seri Semporna owner Azreena Salleh, 35, said the main ingredients for their cooking are imported from Semporna including fish and seafood.
“We have a frozen food facility in Semporna dedicated to storing fish and seafood catches before they are transported to Peninsular Malaysia by air to ensure their freshness,” she told Bernama, adding her restaurant uses pogot or kandaman fish for grilled dishes.
“These fish are not found in Peninsular Malaysia and are only available on the east coast of Sabah.”
Traditional Bajau fare
Azreena, who is a Bajau and lived with her family in Semporna until 2000 when they decided to move to Kuala Lumpur to seek treatment for her cancer-stricken mother, said her eatery offers a variety of food ranging from snacks, desserts, hot meals, soups to various types of seafood dishes, as well as several types of special Sabah-style kerabu or vegetable salad.
According to her, the best-sellers are roast lamb, belawis grilled fish, scallop salad and ‘Uji Rashid’ grilled fish with sambal belacan (a popular Malaysian condiment), adding she often recommends these dishes to her first-time customers.
“Latok, a type of seaweed, is one of the appetizers favoured by the Bajau people. It has a slightly salty taste and a crunchy texture when eaten…it tastes better when eaten with a dipping sambal,” she said.
Another must-try delicacy for newcomers to Bajau food is putu, which is basically made from grated tapioca that is squeezed to remove excess moisture and then steamed until cooked.
“We (Bajau people) eat putu as a substitute for rice and it is usually eaten with typical Bajau dishes like tayum, tehe-tehe, sagol, grilled fish and other types of seafood,” Azreena said.
She added her restaurant also offers the tarap fruit, also known as marang, which is also highly recommended as it is only found in Sabah and Sarawak.
“Physically, it resembles cempedak but tarap is very soft and will melt in your mouth when eaten fresh,” she said.
TikTok videos
On why she decided to open a restaurant specialising in Bajau food, Azreena said her parents used to run an eatery in Kampung Air in Semporna and from a young age, she and her eight siblings would help them in the kitchen and at their restaurant.
“That’s how we learned to cook from them. Sometimes, we would take turns accompanying our father to the market to buy fresh ingredients,” she said.
Eight years ago, Azreena opened a restaurant in Jinjang, Kepong, here to continue her parents’ legacy and also to satisfy her longing for traditional Bajau cuisine. However, she was forced to wind up her business when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the nation in 2020.
A year later, the single mother-of-three decided to resume her restaurant operations but this time in Sunway Mentari.
She said the reopening of her restaurant, albeit in a different location, was prompted by the success of her attempts to introduce Bajau traditional dishes and recipes through TikTok videos.
“I never imagined my videos would go viral. I was surprised that my interactions with Sabahans who couldn’t return to their hometowns during the pandemic led to my videos going viral and receiving an enthusiastic response,” she said.
Azreena said she continued creating and posting videos on TikTok even after opening her restaurant in Sunway Mentari, adding people of diverse ethnicities, especially those who have visited Semporna for tourism or scuba diving purposes, have been patronising her restaurant after watching her videos.
“Many of them told me my dishes taste the same as the food they had eaten in Semporna,” she said. – BERNAMA
