Sinalau

Sinalau, salau or sinalai refers to the types of traditional smoked meat common among the indigenous Kadazan, Dusun, Murut, and Rungus of Sabah in Malaysia. It can also be referred to as the traditional method employed by the indigenous ethnics of smoking meat over indirect firewood and charcoal heat, which is also considered as a symbol of Sabah's cultural richness and culinary tradition.

Sinalau

Sinalau at the Himbaan Bongol food stall beside the Ranau–Tamparuli Road
Alternative names	salau, sinalai
Type	Smoked meat
Course	Main course
Place of origin	Malaysia
Region or state	Sabah
Associated cuisine	Sabahan cuisine
Created by	Indigenous Kadazan, Dusun, Murut, and Rungus
Main ingredients	Either wild boar, pig, chicken, beef, duck, venison or fish, indigenous spices with salt
Ingredients generally used	Condiment: bird's eye chilli served with fresh kasturi (calamansi) lime and soy sauce, fermented shrimp paste (sambal belacan), and garlic, as well as vinegar
Variations	Sinalau bakas (wild boar), sinalau wogok/vogok (domesticated pig), sinalau manuk (chicken), sinalau sapi (beef), sinalau payau (deer), sinalau putik (duck), and sinalau/sinalai sada (fish)

Etymology

In the Dusunic languages, the word sinalau carries the meaning of "smoked", referring to meat that was dried with fire. The word was further compiled by British Consul in Brunei Spenser St. John in his list of "Vocabularies on the Dayak languages of Borneo" regarding the indigenous people he met throughout his life and service on the island, which was later published in "The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo" by English-born anthropologist and museum curator Henry Ling Roth in 1896.

Sinalau by types

Sinalau can be divided into several further variations depending on the meat that is being used. The most common types of sinalau, including:

Sinalau bakas

Sinalau bakas (smoked wild boar) in a bowl

This type of sinalau preparation involves the selection of fresh wild boar meat obtained through hunting activities in the surrounding interior forests of Borneo. Once retrieved, the fresh meat is cut into large pieces and marinated with a mixture of salt and local herbs such as garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and turmeric. After the marinating process, the meat is then grilled over slow firewood, with the process taking several hours, during which the meat is hung over the fire and the smoke from the wood gives a unique aroma and flavour.

It is common being served with main commercial alcoholic drinks such as Carlsberg, Guinness, Heineken, and Tiger Beer. Along the route from Tamparuli to Kundasang Valley, especially around Kelawat Village, various roadside stalls selling fresh sinalau bakas are available, although these stalls usually operate irregularly, depending on their fresh catch. Other inner Sabah districts such as Keningau, Kota Belud, Ranau, Tambunan, and Telupid are also famous for selling the delicacy, especially at the local tourist markets.

Sinalau wogok/vogok

The sinalau wogok is another version of indigenous smoked meat which uses the domesticated pig meat, typically served with linugu/linopot (steamed glutinous rice wrapped in leaves) and shrimp paste condiments. Wogok/vogok carries the meaning of "pig" in local Tambunan Dusun and Coastal Kadazan language. This type of sinalau is available throughout the roadside stalls within the Penampang–Papar–Kimanis road, in the Pan Borneo Highway, which is the traditional home of the local Kadazan people.

Sinalau manuk, sapi, payau and sada

Sinalau manuk om sada (chicken and fish) version of smoked meat

The sinalau manuk is another variation often served as a popular roadside delicacy, featuring chicken meat marinated in local Kadazan-Dusun indigenous herbs and smoked slowly over firewood, where it is also popular as a halal alternative among Muslim consumers to traditional Sabahan smoked meat aside from the sinalau sapi (the beef variant), sinalau payau (the deer variant) and sinalau sada (the fish variant). The sinalau sapi is available either using commercial beef or village-raised livestock. The payau is another rarest variant, since it is available based on seasons, with the meat marinated and smoked traditionally, sometimes using mangrove wood for additional aroma. The sada, another variant of sinalau, is usually from river fish such as tinfoil barb (lampan/lampam) or tilapia that will be cleaned, marinated in salt, and slowly smoked over wood embers until it is dry, smoky, and crispy on the outside.

See also

• List of cooking techniques
• List of smoked foods
• Pig roast
• Street food

References

Bibliography

• Roth, Henry Ling (1896). The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo: Based Chiefly on the Mss. of the Late H. B. Low, Sarawak Government Service. Truslove & Hanson.
• Boutin, Michael; Pekkanen, Inka (1993). Phonological Descriptions of Sabah Languages: Studies from Ten Languages, Bonggi, Ida'an, Kadazan/Dusun, Kalabuan, Kimaragang, Labuk-Kinabatangan Kadazan, Lotud, Tagal, Tatana', Tombonuwo. Sabah Museum. ISBN 978-983-9638-05-9.
• Kok On, Low (2005). Membaca mitos dan legenda Kadazandusun [Reading Kadazandusun myths and legends] (in Malay). National University of Malaysia Publisher. ISBN 978-967-942-735-6.
• Regis, Patricia; Baptist, Judeth John (2012). Food Heritage of Sabah: A Cultural Perspective. Department of National Heritage, Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture Malaysia. ISBN 978-983-3862-19-1.
• Lobel, Jason William (31 January 2016). North Borneo Sourcebook: Vocabularies and Functors. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-5782-0.
• Sading, Denis J.; Ebos, Esmarida (2018). Inventori budaya etnik negeri Sabah etnik Tobilung [Inventory of ethnic culture of Sabah state Tobilung ethnic group] (in Malay). Sabah State Cultural Board. ISBN 978-967-16032-0-8.
• Linggang, Rasimi (2019). Bahasa Dusun Kimaragang [Kimaragang Dusun Language] (in Malay). Institute of Language and Literature, Malaysia. ISBN 978-983-49-2232-0.
• Anthony, Presla (31 October 2020). Hungry for Adventure. Ukiyoto Publishing. ISBN 978-93-90414-17-8.