Sabah MFF: Hinava (Kadazan Dusun Fish Salad)
Posted by KELLYSIEW on MAY 9, 2013 This month, the Malaysian Food Fest takes us to Sabah, the other Malaysian state on our beloved Borneo Island. Although we were pretty much neighbours, the only experience I’d had with Sabah was a brief stopover at Kota Kinabalu airport many many moons ago. So unfortunately I haven’t had authentic Sabahan cuisine yet. What I do know though, is that Sabah and Sarawak share some similarities in food preparations. When I saw the recipe for Hinava, a fish salad commonly prepared by the Kadazan people, I can think of another dish very similar in Sarawak: the Umai by the Melanau people. Both recipe calls for white fish flesh and lime juice as the main ingredients, and the citrus cooked the fish flesh, just like the Spanish ceviche. In fact it is possible this dish has Spanish influence, even. Hinava is usually consumed during the Kaamatan Festival (rice harvest festival), there are some variations in recipe but many uses thin slice...