Best. Food. Ever. After the last episode of Derek Eats That! featuring the worst food ever — cockroach — it seems only fitting that this week I indulge in something delicious. And Babi Hutan, also known as Sinalau Bakas, might just be the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten in my life.
Sabah in East Malaysia is known for its seafood, and don’t get me wrong, the seafood here is nothing short of amazing. But I’ve been eating a lot of seafood. And I’m a sucker for pork. It’s my weakness, my kryptonite.
So when I heard about Sabahan roast wild boar, a traditional dish of the Dusun people, my stomach started rumbling.
What is Babi Hutan?
If you’ve ever been to Bali then you’ve heard of Babi Guling, the famous Balinese Hindu pork dish. Babi Hutan can be considered the Sabahan equivalent. The name translates as “pig of the forest” (much like orangutan aka orang hutan translates to “person of the forest”).
The boar is cooked fresh on the roadside. Pick your preferred cut of meat then watch it get seasoned and cooked right in front of your eyes. The finishing touch is a mixture of barbecue sauce and chili sauce. The smell alone will drive you crazy. First time I had babi hutan I was forced to speed eat the entire kilo on the roadside because my driver was Muslim and couldn’t even be around the smell of pork. (Time lapse in the video below.)
Where to find Sinalau Bakas
As Sinabalu Bakas is a Dusun dish, it can be found in Sabah wherever there is a large Dusun population. However the most well-known location — and easiest to reach from Kota Kinabalu — is the stretch of road from Tamparuli to Kundasang. It’s also conveniently located on the way to Mount Kinabalu, which means most tourists to Sabah are going to drive right past this place anyway 🙂
There are several different babi hutan vendors on this stretch of road but you want this shop:
The lady who runs this restaurant is a top-notch chef and knows how to cook a mean boar. Never in my life have I eaten 500 grams of meat in one setting, let alone a whole kilo in less than 10 minutes. But enough typing. Let’s get down to some eating.
Miss you mis youuuu
It’s been too long!!! How are you?
8kgs in 2 months!!! ????????????
Yup from 69kg to 77.7kg ????
Nice number btw ???? indeed msian food give “more” to your weight but not height????
Holy Crap Derek. Better watch out or you will catch up with me! LOL! Glad you are doing well! #behappy
At this pace might be surpassing you quite soon 😉
I seriously doubt that!
ye of little faith ????
‘Derek Eats That’ rocks…
I’m thinking momos next……ohhh how I miss those….drooling just typing this 🙁
Buffalo momos…
nice , i can eat , but its not muslims food
Yes definitely not Halal but very delicious 🙂
yes bro , but must cooked enough
8 kilos lol. Good time to share that I lost that in 2 months haha
Lost, or magically transferred to me? ????
Thanks for taking it 😀
Let’s do a eats that together sometime.
Definitely! Next country we cross paths in.
Where are you?
The fride rice with chile and eel 🙂
Eel? Mau!
Hahaha…
Bagus, ntar gue kasi spesial
That’s how I became who I am today.
Lol hmmmm why don’t I believe you ????
Hahaha! I can imagine your figure right now, Derek! How’s it goin’? ????
Going well, eating a lot of food ???? haha how about you?
Oh! Me, too! Hahaha! Whenever I see food, I eat it. LOL! Any plans of going back here in PH? ???? #piggingout
I want to return but no definite plans yet….now usually traveling where work is and haven’t had any work offers from the Philippines :/
Awww, is that so? Well you can always have a night or two in Manila for vacation. Hehehe!
Will let you know when I get that chance
A’right! Just hit us up if you have the chance! ????
u still in kk? ????
No, bounced over to Perak for a gig now just arrived in Bangkok to play tour guide for the weekend.
You look great and the video rocked! Stay well.
Thanks, appreciate it 🙂 best wishes for your weekend!
So is that your permanent base? Trying to figure out how to hang out again!
Am thinking about moving my base over here but for now still at the village in Thailand in between trips. We are long overdue to cross paths again Matt….
You need to come and visit Matt. It’s a nice little spot.
Yes, agreed!
Where exactly? I’ll be in BKK and Chiang Mai in August
East of Pattaya on a nice quiet stretch of beach in Rayong province Matt c’mon down we’ve got great food, fiber internet and no tourists ????
I’ll be away all of August, so my place will be empty.
It’s a fantastically quiet beach and a great place to put your head down and get some work done. Plus plenty of great, cheap food.
‘Love it Derek!
A nice bit of pork n’ crackling, made the authentic way. Yum! ‘Shame it wasn’t presented in a leaf!
I had some of this in the Philippines and in Bali. In Bali, we found a small shop and ate this piece of pork with a bit of spicy sauce & some rice, in a leaf. On the roof of their house!
My German hubby wasn’t originally convinced, as the surroundings were not Swiss -clean (if you know what I mean), but once he tasted that delicious pork, he changed his mind!
Was what you had in Bali “babi guling”? That is always served in a banana leaf along with a couple of sides, as opposed to the babi hutan — which is just meat, seasoning and sauce. However, they also make a babi nasi lemak (a popular Malay breakfast with rice, chicken, anchovies, peanuts and sambal) that has pork instead of chicken and this is served on banana leaf 🙂
Yes, I can totally imagine your husband’s initial skepticism. Have seen that look in many a wary eater before they realize that sometimes the places with questionable hygiene often have unquestionably delicious food 😉 Cheers to him for overcoming his mind though!
Yep! It was babi guling. The rice came extra as there were definately no other “sides.” Very spicy though. We were all spluttering!
Ha! Ha! I had to drag my husband to Asia in the first place as he’s a “if it isn’t Germany, Italy or the UK, then I’m not interested” type of guy. It took me ages to convince him to go to Thailand. And he liked it, but he isn’t in a hurry to go back!
p.s. I know!!
hi andrew.. pls come to Sabah, you be feasting more than just a pork i promise you tht
feasting on pork in Malaysia? Holy crap I had no idea!! seriously I would have thought pork would be out everywhere there. i guess its so good it makes up for the lack of bacon in the rest of the country?
Hey Derek, you should try Butod, roasted as I like it that way. There are plenty other Sabahan traditional food like pork bosou, tuhau and few more but I recommend those 3 foods. The bosou and tuhau however has unpleasant smell but you should try before judging it 😉
Oh butod! Yes I’ve seen photos before. Have eaten many many bugs but big fat juicy worms are my second least favorite (my #1 least favorite is cockroach, here’s the video) so not sure I’ll like Butod hahaha but sure why not, I’ll try it. However pork bosou sounds AMAZING! Am drooling now, so guess I should say thanks for that lol
Hey Derek.. the next time you here in Sabah.. give me a ring.. here my email.. [email protected].. if its food then i am ur guide..
Woo-hoo, thanks brother….food? I like food. Count me in! 😀 Just left Malaysia last week (lots of video editing from Sabah and the peninsula to do still) and am in Thailand now hard at work slaving over a laptop, fun fun :/ tp sy kn blk k Sabah segera, jgn khwtr. Appreciate your offer, thanks. Added your email to my contacts but you can also respond directly to this email (or follow the link to post a public comment response). Cheers!
Just seeing her cut the meat, it’s so fatty, looks so delicious, I’m salivating.
If you ever visit Sabah, you MUST try the babu hutan. (Unless your diet/religion says otherwise.) Personally, I salivate every time I think about it. Can’t even look at the photos or video. Heading for Malaysia in less than two weeks but still cannot decide if I should fly in to KL or KK……really thinking Sabah just to indulge some more muuuuaaaahahahahaha 😉