KOTA KINABALU STREET FOOD AT ITS FINEST

Some people prefer to dine at air-conditioned restaurants and some will dine anywhere as long as they can fill their stomach with good food – for many of us, the latter usually means street food. The good thing about street food is that there is no reservation needed. So savour these deliciously off-beat traditional specialties and get a true taste of the local culture to boot.

One of South East Asia’s well known desserts is the ‘ais kacang’, which essentially means shaved ice with red beans. The main ingredients of this particular dessert are red beans, evaporated milk, attap chee (palm seed), sweet corn and grass jelly. You can find the best ‘ais kacang’ at Taman Tun Fuad Stephen car park. Other traditional desserts like coconut pudding and ‘lychee kang’ are also available. They are open for business from 4.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. daily.

If the weather is too cold for an ice treat, warm up with a cup of ‘teh tarik’ (literally ‘pulled’ milk tea) or coffee with the local cakes; head down to the weekend market at Putatan and choose from penjaram, apam balik, jelurut, onde – onde and so much more. If you’re not into ‘teh tarik’ and coffee, you can always quench your thirst with a glass of fresh coconut juice. The market opens as early as 6.30 a.m. and closes at 5.00 p.m.

Sabahans like to get creative when it comes to food, which is how we came up with ‘sanggar’ cheese. If you’re wondering what it really is, it’s actually deep fried banana fritters with a little bit more swagger! It is served with grated cheese and topped with a drizzle of condensed milk drizzle or chocolate syrup. It’s one of Sabah’s famous snacks, especially during the rainy season and is available at a stall just across G*Mart Supermarket at Cyber City Apartment (Jalan Lintas). Better grab some while it’s hot, because they’re only available from 2.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.

Craving for something a little more fulfilling? Then make your way to Kedai Kopi Yee Fung, one of the oldest kopitiams in town, famous for its ‘laksa’ (rice noodle soup with prawn, shredded chicken meat, slices of boiled egg and deep fried bean curd in hot curry and coconut milk soup), which is served with shrimp chili paste or ‘belacan’. Its claypot chicken rice and ‘ngiu chap’ (beef noodle soup) are also famous. It’s always a full house at Kedai Kopi Yee Fung, so that’s why they open as early as 6.30 a.m. and close at 6.00 p.m. on weekdays and 4.00 p.m. on weekends and public holidays!

Another famous traditional appetizer in Malaysia and Singapore is the “Chai Taw Kway” or “Kuih Lobak Goreng” in Malay and Fried Radish Cake in English. It is essentially white radish made into cake using rice flour and mixed with chili paste, garlic, eggs, bean sprouts and a few secret ingredients before it is deep fried. Although it is not widely available, you can find some of the best “Chai Taw Kway” at one of the hawker stalls under the Segama Street bridge. The hawkers open their stall in the evening at 5.30 p.m. until midnight.