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Kadazan-Dusun Heritage · Citrus-Marinated Fish

Hinava

Hinava — street food from Sabah, Malaysia
Photo: Terencetulus / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

It's often mixed with grated seed of the bambangan, a wild mango native to Borneo, which adds a sharp tang to the lime-cured fish.

Thin slices of raw Spanish mackerel are tossed with lime or calamansi juice, bird's eye chilli, ginger, and shallots, sometimes with grated wild mango seed folded in for extra tang. It's a fixture of Kadazan-Dusun celebrations and now sold at markets and restaurants across Sabah.

Why it's made this way: It's a heritage dish of Sabah's Kadazan-Dusun people, traditionally served at weddings and the Kaamatan harvest festival, and was officially recognized as a Malaysian national heritage food in 2009.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3443 dishes from 118 countries. Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below. Photo credits.