Iban Festival Dish · Bamboo-Cooked Chicken
Manok Pansoh (Ayam Pansuh)
Photo: Song GK / Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0
The chicken is cooked inside a length of bamboo sealed with tapioca leaves and rotated over an open fire — no pot, pan, or added oil ever touches the meat.
Chicken pieces are packed into a hollow bamboo stalk with lemongrass, ginger, and chillies, sealed with leaves, and roasted over a wood fire until the bamboo scorches, infusing the meat with a smoky, herbal flavor from its own juices. It's a centerpiece at Iban longhouse festivals and now sold at Sarawak markets and stalls year-round.
Why it's made this way: The dish comes from Sarawak's Iban and Bidayuh communities, traditionally prepared for Gawai Dayak harvest festivals, and it's one of the clearest markers of indigenous Borneo cooking on the island.
More from Malaysia
Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below.
Photo credits.