The wind below the land of Sabah has been blowing quite strongly lately. So much so that it made me fly all the way from Kuala Lumpur for the Sandakan Food and Agriculture Festival! Sandakan may not be the first thought that comes to Malaysian minds when it comes to food but Sandakan have decided to change that. Since last year, Sandakan has been loud in its F&B department with its annual Sandakan Food Festival. We not only found food during the festival but we were also well entertained with a line-up of events that included cooking demonstration, food race and eating contest.
Having food that is available in Borneo only like the bambangan, tarap and tuhau, Sandakan is ready to compete with the rest of the states in Malaysia as a foodie's destination. Sandakan people showed off their culinary skills and homegrown products during the fair. UFO tarts, for example, which is synonymous to Sabah is believed to originate from this very town. Sandakan is also ready to steal some attention when it comes to birds nest with its own harvest from Gua Gomantong, Sandakan.
Scroll down as I bring you from stall to stall. Worry not if you have missed this year's Sandakan Food Festival at Bandar Kim Fung. The third installation is already in planning. From what I heard from the grapevines, it will be in September again. With the success of the second festival, we hope that more vendors will emerge to revive ethnic heritage food and Sandakan's hidden specialties!
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| At the Sandakan Food and Agriculture Fest 2019 |
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| At Sandakan airport. We flew in all the way from Kuala Lumpur for this festival! |
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| State Director of Tourism Sabah, Pn Jamilah Abd Halim (right) and President of Sandakan Tourism Association (centre) officiate the new Sabah travel brochure at the festival |
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| Friendly faces of Sandakan people |
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| A cooking demonstration featuring the bambangan, a mango-like fruit endemic to Borneo |
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| New in this 2nd installation of the festival is space for agricultural produce. Harvests of organic vegetables and fruits from the Bornean rainforest were also available. |
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Sandakan's famous coffeeshop, San Da Gen Kopitiam, with their unique creations.
From left (named according to what I saw): Soft shell crab roll, croquette and honey chicken sandwiched with waffles |
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| The croquette I had that evening made an enjoyable snack |
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| From left: Cream puffs, UFO tarts and salted egg croissants |
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| This ginger beer is the new pride and joy of the state in the F&B scene. It is locally produced using the spiciest Sabahan ginger but is still soothing to the throat. Instead, the spiciness gave the drink its fragrance. With no artificial colouring, flavouring and naturally fermented, it can be drunk as a probiotic supplement. This festival is a wonderful platform to showcase creations like this to install more confidence in the local people do the same. |
Spot me! |
At the festival, there was also theUFO tart eating contest which yours truely participated in.
That was how I got acquainted with UFO tarts.
It is a vanila based cake with a dollop of egg custard that is circled with soft meringue. To be honest, I could only taste soreness in the throat in the contest. I then gave it a second chance by savouring it at San Da Gen Kopitiam.
Goes great with coffee or tea.
Photo credit: Meira Nadhira |
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| Casual snacks like stuffed crab and sausages will definitely be waiting for you |
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Some food like fried chicken, makes a universal favourite.
Malaysian Chinese cakes like cintoi has also been uniting people of Sandakan |
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| A Sandakan vendor happily turning Takoyaki balls |
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| Sushi for those who has an appetite for Japanese food |
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| Being the capital of the state when British North Borneo Charted Company ruled Sabah, Western food is not foreign in Sandakan |
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| Pandan rice |
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| Some homemade kaya |
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| Locally planted coconuts |
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| The flames that made all the slabs of meat yummy |
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| BBQed pork |
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| Pork buns and dim sum |
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| Some call it tapai, some call it lihing, in Sarawak it is famously called tuak and commonly known in English as rice wine. |
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| Sweet buns from China freshly made at the stall |
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| The dumplings were snapped up so quick that this was all when I arrived |
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| Zhejiang seafood noodles which was slurpingly delicious |
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| The Indonesian food, bakso, is commonly found in Sandakan |
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| Try the uncanny combination of cheese and banana |
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| Food trucks also contributed to the gastronomic merriment |
The Sandakan Food & Agriculture Festival 2019 was organized by Sandakan Tourism Association and is supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Environment Sabah, Majlis Perbandaran Sandakan, Tourism Malaysia, Sabah Tourism Board, Malindo Air, Maswings and GrabCar.
For more information, please visit:
https://www.facebook.com/sandakanfoodfest/
Search for these hashtags to see more of the event on social media:
#VisitMalaysia2020 #VM2020 #MalaysiaTrulyAsia #CutiCutiMalaysia
#SyiokOSabah #SabahOKbah #visitsandakan #makansandakan
#experiencesandakan
#theWILD #theSAVOURY #theSTORIES #sandakanfoodfest #foodieSandakan
#TourismMalaysia #MalaysianHospitality #maswingmates
You are soo sporting Ewen, for joining the makan contest 😂💪
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