Exotic Food of Kadazan-Dusun People of Borneo | Hivana Tongii a.k.a Raw Fish Salad

Here's another recipe post from me, but unlike my previous recipes, this time around, I will introduce to you one of Sarawak and Sabah's exotic food known as hinava or umai. The word hinava comes from the Kadazan-Dusun people from Sabah. Whereas umai is a word from the Melanau people from Sarawak. But for the sake of this post and to avoid confusion, I will refer to this dish simply as hinava tongii (Spanish mackerel hinava).

❤️ What Is Hinava Tongii? ❤️

Hinava tongii is a traditional native food of the Kadazan-Dusun people in Sabah. It is a raw fish salad mixed with bitter gourd, lime, garlic, ginger, bird's eye chilli, and shallots or onions. Yup, you read that right. The raw fish, typically Spanish mackerel or "tongii" is mixed with those ingredients.

I introduced two exotic food of the Iban in one of my recent posts: ASEAN Hive Community Challenge #25 | I Dare You To Eat the Iban's Exotic Food - Sago Grubs & Onch Slugs! While eating sago grubs or onch slugs may make you feel squeamish, I assure you that this recipe will not give you a similar reaction 😁. I wanted to include this dish in that previous post, but I thought it would be better to share the recipe with you in another post because hinava is very easy to prepare using ingredients you might already have at home.

Hinava is not a traditional native dish of the Iban but the Kadazan-Dusun people in Sabah and Melanau in Sarawak. For clarity, Sabah and Sarawak are two different states in Malaysia. My husband is a Kadazan, so he loves to make this dish on weekends when he is not busy with work.

Without further ado, let's check out the recipe!

❤️ The Ingredients ❤️
  • Three slices of Spanish mackerel (this fish is also known as tenggiri in Malay)
  • Half medium size bitter gourd

1.jpg

  • Four red onions or shallots, 4 cloves of garlic, medium size ginger
  • Fifteen Calamansi lime

2.jpg

So that's all you need for the ingredients. They are easy to get and common items in Asian kitchens. However, I don't have bird's eye chilli, so I excluded it from the ingredients. I highly suggest you include it, though.

Next is the method of preparation. While the ingredients are easy to get, the cutting and slicing of the ingredients could be tedious and time-consuming.

❤️ Super Duper Simple Instructions ❤️
  • I mentioned that this dish includes raw fish, but I am paranoid and prefer to boil the fish to kill any parasites on it. I am not saying that raw fish is unsafe because thousands of native people consume this dish daily without any issue. I just prefer to boil the fish first until it's half-cooked (boiled for about 2 minutes).
  • Toss the water and set the fish aside.

3.jpg

  • Slice the bitter gourd and chop them into small pieces.
  • Cut the Calamsi lime, and slice the garlic, onions, and ginger.

4.jpg

  • Remove the fish bones and smash the meat.
  • Mix it with the onions, garlic, and ginger.

5.jpg

  • Mix it with the sliced bitter gourd.

6.jpg

  • Use a sieve and squeeze the calamansi lime juice into the mix. Throw away the seeds and skin.
  • Put a bit of salt to taste.

7.jpg

  • And finally, mix everything with a spoon...and that's it! Store it in a container and keep it in a fridge for a couple of hours. But this step is optional, of course. I prefer it served chilled because it tastes better that way.

8.jpg

Serve it with hot rice!

9.jpg

❤️ Tip ❤️

You can substitute the fish with other seafood like squid, prawns, or jelly fish. Prawns hinava tastes very yummy! Again, if you feel paranoid about parasites, do boil them in hot water for a couple minutes. Otherwise, feel free to make it raw. The taste is better when it is raw.

What do you think about hinava? Will you give it a try? Or do you have similar local dish?

That's it for now. If you read this far, thank you. I appreciate it so much! Kindly give me a follow if you like my content. I mostly write about making art, life musing, and our mundane yet charming family life here in Klang Valley, Malaysia.

Note: All images used belong to me unless stated otherwise.

Thank you for visiting and reading my post. I hope you like it!

💲💲💲 Blog on Read.Cash And Earn Bitcoin Cash Like Me. Click Here 💲💲💲

Check out my NFT Collections on OpenSea

My Third NFT Collection - Women Empowerment - Is Now Available On NFTShowroom

nftshowroom.jpg

Sort:  

Your recipe looks healthy and enticing. I normally leave all my raw seafood experiences for restaurant outings, but maybe I would give this a try if I change my mind and decide to do it for myself:)

Some people shun it because they dislike bittergourd/garlic/onion. The raw fish may put some people off, too, boiling it may solve that, but the taste might change. 😄

Ah, bitter gourd!!! I just looked at the photo. I tried it once in the Philippines and I didn't like it. I thought maybe I didn't know how to cook it. That's interesting. Maybe I could substitute it for chayote/Sayote/Cho Cho?
I love garlic and onion so that would be no problem.

Yes, you definitely can use a chayote 😃

I could eat mackerel every day! Its so tasty and so healthy! I should try your recipe, it looks really a very unique plate!

I love mackerel, but the prices of deep-water fish are quite expensive here. I hope you give this recipe a try 😃

Delicious

It is. Thank you for commenting 😃