Bak Kuh Teh. I was so hungry that it took half of my meal before I could take a picture. hehehe
It’s one thing to experience adventures of a particular locale, but like icing to a cake, tasting native food is another adventure of the palate kind.
So how does your Bak Kuh Teh taste like? Honestly, it’s a wierd sounding name, but it’s one of those authentic Malaysian foods you may come across on many of their food or restaurants here. It’s highly customizable to your taste buds, you can choose a combination of spices, with either beef, chicken, or lamb on a bowl of herbal soup and there you go. Instant Bak Kuh Teh. Later I learned (from googling of course) that Bak Kuh Teh is really Chinese in origin. Its recipe was brought here and became really popular due to it’s therapeutic qualities as well.
Satay! The dark one’s the lamb and the light one is the chicken. I prefer the lamb!
And what better to add on its side is Satay. It’s actually a barbecue but with a choice of either a lamb, chicken or pork. And add to it is the kinda sweet and spicy Satay Sauce! It’s delicious and cheap.
The lady preparing our Nasi Goreng rice.
Now if you’re looking for a different kind of dining experience. Head over to the smoke laden, dimly lit and barbecued aroma vicinity which is the Filipino Market at night. Try their version of rice mix foods (like yang chow) which they call Nasi Goreng. Again, it’s another combination of recipes to your choice of chicken, beef or pork. It’s a bit tricky choosing the right meal due to some language barrier but with a little pointing here and there, we got the idea. Now rice wouldn’t be complete without some ulam.
Is this why there’s no more chicken to be seen at Manukan Island? But where’s the rest of em?
Alas! surrounding the area are walls of chicken wing barbecues which they call Tungkit Ayam (ayam = chicken). Now where did the other part of the chicken go with all these wings? I bought two to add to my Nasi Goreng rice and it was just perfect combination.
One thing in common with Malaysian food are the spice and chili flavors in their food. Though it’s a nice welcome (since I like spicy food) I can’t seem to find one to take home as a pasalubong. No special delicacies. Instead I bought a bottle of their spice and some canned curry lambs and beef.
That marks the end for these entries on Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. For a first time traveler outside of the country, I thought it was all well worth the money and the time. It just opened up a lot of doors for me. Hopefully early next year we’ll get to visit one of the most important historical ruins to grace our lovely planet. Crossing all my fingers for that. Until then, there’s more to explore in our native land.
Ferdz Decena is an award-winning travel photographer, writer and blogger. His works has found print in publications such as Singapore Airlines’s Silver Kris, Philippine Airlines’ Mabuhay, Cebu Pacific’s Smile and Seair InFlight. He has also lent his expertise to various organizations like the Oceana Philippines, Lopez Group Foundation, Save the Children and World Vision, contributing quality images for their marketing materials.
