5 Traditional Foods From Sarawak Added To The National Heritage Dish List
It’s one of efforts to preserve and promote the nation’s heritage food culture.
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Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC) Dato Sri Nancy Shukri announced that five more traditional foods from Sarawak have been added to Malaysia’s national heritage food list.
The announcement was made during the 2022 Malaysia Food Festival in Petra Jaya today (2 June).
The five foods are:
- Sarawak laksa
- Kolo Mee
- Burasak
- Borongko
- Nuba laya
According to Harian Metro, Burasak and Borongko are Bugis traditional food while Nuba laya is a traditional food of the Kelabit community who lives in the Bario highlands.
Previously, nine other Sarawakian food was added to the list. In 2009, Manok Pansoh, Hinava/ Umai and Bubur Pedas Sarawak made into the list. In 2018, five food were added: Sayur Midin Goreng, Sarawak layer cake (kek lapis), Kelupis, Tebaloi and Celorot.
To date, a total of 213 foods in the country have been declared national heritage foods.
Adding local food to the list is one of MOTAC’s initiatives to promote heritage food culture by recognising locally unique foods as national heritage and documenting them under the National Heritage Act 2005.
According to Dayak Daily, MOTAC is also focusing on emphasising research, documentation and publication of books related to heritage and ‘endangered’ foods.
So far, MOTAC through the Department of National Heritage (JWN) has published six books on national heritage food to help their continuity and encourage the younger generation to learn how to make heritage foods.
MOTAC through JWN is also planning to nominate the categories of Malaysia Breakfast in 2024, and Festive Food in 2026.
Nancy explained that the Malaysia Breakfast category would include foods eaten by Malaysians during breakfast such as roti canai, nasi lemak and teh tarik.
The Festive Food category refers to the food eaten during festivals such as lemang, kuih bakul, and Chittu Urunde.
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