♪ >> A visit to Sabah begins at its capital, Kota Kinabalu.

There are street markets, and then there is the Donggongon Street Market.

Exotic foods, handicrafts, local coffee -- in other words, everything under the sun.

And also, the unpredictable weather, the green pasture.

Sabah, the Land Below the Wind, is so spectacular, next on "Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan."

♪ ♪ ♪ >> "Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan" is brought to you by... >> ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ >> Circulon cookware.

Circles for life.

>> Monogram.

A full line of professional appliances designed for food and entertaining enthusiasts.

♪ ♪ By Melissa's.

The freshest ideas in produce.

By Granite Expo.

Offering a wide selection of cabinet and countertop solutions.

And by B&G Group of Malaysia.

♪ Building Malaysia's tomorrow.

♪ >> Rising 13,400 feet above sea level, Mount Kinabalu is a treasure chest of local legends and home to thousands of species of exotic plants.

Welcome to Sabah, the land of surprises and spectacular landscapes, below the sun and the clouds, the Land Below the Wind.

The spectacular Mount Kinabalu is the tallest peak in Southeast Asia, and it's all part of the Kinabalu Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The name Kinabalu came from the local Kadazan.

It means "the revered place of the departed."

There are morning markets all over Sabah, but this one at Kundasang is truly special.

It's located just off the road, about 6 kilometers from Mount Kinabalu Park.

Each morning, local farmers bring in their daily harvest -- all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables, even fresh-cut flowers, rice, and raw honey.

This place is a must-stop for all visitors to the park.

Everything is very inexpensive, and the beautiful view is absolutely priceless.

♪ ♪ "Sinalau Bakas."

Hi!

>> Hi!

>> Hi!

That means "barbecued wild boar."

As I traveled downhill, I was overwhelmed with the appetizing smoke from the roadside barbecue stand.

The local native people here -- they are roasting and barbecuing the wild boar.

Mmm!

This is the simplest ingredient they use.

Look at this.

You got to see it.

Smoky flavor, aromatic, and -- ahhh!

-- smells so good.

Smoky.

I'm gonna find out how they make it, how they roast it.

You know, when you start with the freshest wild boar, you don't need too much seasoning.

The seasoning, the marinade, is very simple.

All you add is salt, garlic, and chopped onion.

That's it.

Put it together, and you marinate it.

Mmm!

[ Chuckles ] It's amazingly delicious.

I can smell it -- not only the barbecue aroma but the smoky aroma because we're roasting it and barbecuing it at the same time.

Now look at this.

This is what you call "energy-efficient," even though it's a makeshift barbecue oven.

Heat up this, and the smoke smokes this, and then the smoke travels all the way up where they store this football fruit, and this football fruit -- it is a wonderful seasoning as well as preservative.

In Indonesia, they use it in curry, and here they use it in this marinade, as well, and they use this inside.

Cook it for 30 minutes.

After they smoke for several weeks or a couple months, they cook this, and then they chop them all up and use in the marinade.

This can last for months up to a year.

This is very, very good.

Now I am about to try this.

[ Sniffs ] Smells good.

Mmm!

Has a special texture to it.

It's smoky.

It's tasty.

Much more better texture than a regular pig that's raised in a confined area.

That's why everybody comes.

You see people lining up.

I love it.

This is the best barbecued pork I have ever tasted.

♪ There are street markets, and then there is the Donggongon Street Market, and it's like a street market on steroids.

What can you find here?

Hey, how about everything?

This is, by far, the biggest street market in Sabah.

But you must remember that this place is only open twice a week.

Come here on the wrong days, you will see plenty of street and no market.

Come on the right days, you will see exotic foods, handicrafts, fish, local coffee -- in other words, everything under the sun.

This place is called Donggongon for a reason.

Just follow the rhythmic beats of the gong.

[ Gongs clanging ] ♪ There is a saying -- "If you have not come to taste this local speciality, Hakka special food, you have never been in Sabah.

That's the reason why I am here now.

Particular sang nyuk mian -- it means "raw slice of meat over noodle in a rich broth topped with all kinds of innards."

Let me try it.

Mmm!

Very, very rich.

Then here is all the rice noodle.

Mmm!

The noodle's nice and smooth.

Sang nyuk is a thin slice of pork, only marinated with corn starch and salt, just right.

Then you lightly poach it in the broth.

That's why it is so beautiful.

Mmm!

Tender, moist, and very, very juicy.

Now, this is what makes it interesting.

You don't just top it with thin slices of pork -- liver, intestine, kidney.

Everything you see is here.

Oh, on top of that, vegetables.

It's a one-dish meal.

Here.

They call it a dry tossed noodle.

This is actually noodle in a very thick, dark sauce.

That is the thick soy.

Very, very dark.

Mmm!

Very smooth, very rich.

I order something plain -- plain broth with a tiny bit of vegetable -- but you can add fish ball and all the innards in here, too.

Ooh!

Both of these -- make sure when you come to Sabah, you got to taste this, only in Sabah.

If you've never tasted this, you have never been in Sabah.

Remember that.

♪ One good thing about driving across Malaysia is that there's always a farmers market nearby, especially in Sabah.

To get the best farm-fresh vegetables, you really have to get up and get there early, even before the sun is fully up.

But trust me -- it is all worth it.

And today I am so honored and privileged and excited to have two of my buddies, Chef A.J.

and Chef Lorraine.

Today we'll show you how to do my version of a Malaysian dish that I learned from Sabah.

They have a lot of fresh produce.

Of course, everybody knows that they have chili and they have eggplant, but they also use a lot of long beans.

And then what I'm going to do is I'm going to quickly cut up the long beans, slice at an angle like this, see?

Slice, slice, angle.

And I slice and slice, okay?

And I put it right here.

And then also cut up some carrot, and I also match the same size, so you can do any way you want, okay?

I cut it up, and then I slice it thinly, okay?

Huh?

Cut, cut, cut, cut.

And I set it aside, and I put it right here.

And then, of course, in Malaysia, without chili, it's not Malaysian food.

So I remove these, and I trim the seeds like this, and then all the seed is out.

And then I julienne this, also.

Okay?

And give and match the shape of all of these ingredients.

And eggplant is very, very popular, so what I'm going to do is cut it and I cut it.

Eggplant -- there are so many ways to do it.

One is... you deep-fry it.

One is you steam it.

One is you poach it.

And I -- Okay.

And then I slice into... strips.

Now, you can poach, you can steam, but I quickly use this to deep-fry it -- just show you how colorful this is when it's done.

I put this over here.

Wow.

To the rim.

There's a lot of moisture, so we've got to watch out, okay?

And don't put in too much at one time.

Okay.

Then I take it out.

I don't want to fry it for too long.

Nice and golden brown like this.

Beautiful.

You can still see this nice and beautiful purple, okay?

So, we have all these ingredients here, and we're ready to cook.

The first thing I want to show is flavor.

This is the belacan.

And I put this in and pound it along with dry shrimp.

So what I do is I never, never waste the liquid.

So...very flavorful.

So what we do is I chop this up.

Okay.

Once this is chopped up, I'm going to put it in and pound it a little bit... Mmm... along with this, and I pound it.

Okay.

Now I have another ingredient.

I don't know how often you use it.

This is from Indonesia -- tempeh.

And it's fermented soy beans.

It's widely used, and it's very, very good.

So, what I do is I quickly deep-fry this until they're golden brown.

I deep-fry this.

After deep-frying and you try it again, it's very different.

This is beautiful.

So it's nice and golden brown -- look at this -- and crispy.

And we shut it off.

Nice and golden brown.

Let's finish it up.

And then we're going to stir-fry this with a tiny bit of... oil.

And then... the one that we pound, right?

We put this right over here and put it in.

This is very, very rich flavor, and I have more dry shrimp.

Put it in.

Why not?

This is really good.

When this is all nice and ready, I put all the rest of the ingredients here, okay?

Then this is done.

Beautiful.

Okay?

Drain well.

And this is [Sniffs] -- Mmm!

-- very nice.

You can smell the fermented soy beans.

And then...

I put the eggplant back in, so you have really nice, colorful combination.

[ Sizzling ] Then the flavor's absolutely gorgeous.

And then, at the most, I put a tiny bit of sugar.

Tone it down a little bit.

Tiny bit of salt or soy sauce.

[ Sizzling ] Wow.

This is going to be so good.

And it's so easy to do.

And then the tempeh, fried.

Put it right in here so you have something very, very Malaysian... very nice and dry.

And this way you can put it served along with rice or noodle.

Beautiful.

And this is done.

Nothing is overcooked.

If you want, you can actually use a tiny, tiny bit of water.

You remember I said don't throw this away?

Make sure.

This is going to be so flavorful.

Let it steam a little bit.

Mmm.

Beautiful.

This is done.

And then look at that.

It is so beautiful.

Nice.

And the flavor is so aromatic, and it's so colorful.

And I would like to present this to the two master chefs.

Enjoy.

>> Thank you, Chef.

>> Thank you.

>> I love vegetables.

Yard-long beans were one of my favorite green vegetables back when I was growing up in Guangzhou, China.

But you don't have to be a vegetable lover to enjoy this dish.

It is so healthy.

You won't even miss the meat because you got the shrimp, you got the tempeh.

It is very healthy, delicious, and colorful.

Enjoy.

♪ I'm happy to cook with my good friend Chef Wai again.

How are you doing, Chef Wai?

Chef Wai has taught me a lot, and he is the culinary director of the YTL Group and also culinary adviser right here at Gaya Island Resort, Sabah.

>> So, we're going to cook braised chicken with lihing wine.

>> Lihing wine?

>> Yes.

>> What's lihing wine?

>> It's particularly local-brewed glutinous rice wine.

>> It's made with glutinous rice.

So, we're going to do the braised chicken, first of all, and then, of course, you have the liver, the gizzard, and the heart and everything.

So, step number one?

>> I dry-roasted some whole ginger.

>> Beautiful.

>> So we need a little 2 tablespoons full per person per serving.

>> And then, of course, you can also, if you want, chop it up like this.

>> Yep.

>> This is very unique.

Never seen this before.

That's why every time I cook with you, I learn something.

In typical Chinese cooking, they don't dry-roast it like this, but this is very unique.

You just heat up in the frying pan.

You just roast it.

So, what's next?

>> So, we're going to have some chopped garlic.

>> Definitely chopped for you.

>> We add in tablespoon of sesame oil, and we're going to add in the chicken.

>> Chicken -- look at that -- already cut up into big-size chunks and all the innards.

Let's put it in.

>> Drop it in and give it a good toss.

>> Beautiful.

>> And a pinch of salt... >> Pinch of salt.

>> ...just to bring out the flavor.

>> Yeah.

Simple ingredient.

The key is the dry-roast ginger.

>> So, we're going to cook it until it turns into light brown.

Then add in the lihing wine.

>> The lihing wine.

And how much?

>> So we get at least like 8 tablespoons.

Okay.

Lets the liquid become bright.

Then add in a bit of chicken stock.

>> Chicken stock?

How much?

>> So, we're going to add 1 cup of chicken stock.

>> 1 cup.

While we're braising the chicken with the lihing wine and the chicken stock, we will let it cook, and then, in the meantime, we'll make the soup.

This is basically sweet vegetables with egg flower drop soup.

Yeah.

And then you put it in.

>> Put it in and give it a quick stir.

>> Now, this is also very interesting.

You use sesame seed oil almost as a cooking oil.

>> Yeah.

So until it's lightly brown, 1 cup of chicken stock.

So, we bring it up to a boil, then we add in the vegetable.

Locally we call it "pucuk manis."

So in the middle of braising chicken, we need a little bit of black fungus.

>> I'm going to julienne, right?

>> Yeah.

>> A lot of the Asians believe this actually slows down blood clotting.

In the meantime, this is also cooking.

And then we're going to beat up an egg.

And then we'll make a little egg flower, slowly, slowly, slowly, and then shut it off.

Beautiful!

>> Beautiful.

Okay.

Then give a touch of sesame oil.

>> Very simple, very nourishing.

Now we serve this -- the braised chicken with... >> Lihing wine.

>> ...lihing wine, sweet vegetable with egg flower drop soup.

♪ What a beautiful evening.

What a beautiful setting to have a wonderful meal with you.

Ahh.

Let me try this soup.

>> This is widely available in local markets in Sabah.

>> Its natural sweetness -- it just brings out.

Even though this particular recipe is so simple -- >> Yeah.

>> It's just vegetable, egg... >> Eggs, and a bit of chicken stock.

>> And a little bit of salt... >> Yeah.

>> ...and chopped garlic.

That's it.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Exquisite vegetable.

Something I've never tasted before.

Let's try the chicken.

>> Try the chicken.

>> Mmm.

First bite, I can taste the wine.

Ginger goes really well with chicken.

>> Yeah.

>> Absolutely delicious.

As I said several times, each time we get together, I learn something from you -- particular local Malaysian specialities.

I hope we'll meet again.

Thank you for inviting me.

>> It is a pleasure.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ Laughter ] ♪ >> To entertain visitors, staff members at the resort perform their traditional music and tribal dance.

The best part is that anyone can join in, even beginners like me -- a fun way to burn off those extra calories.

Here is an educational experience that is also very healthy.

♪ After a great workout, it's time to replenish those calories, and the perfect way is to enjoy some local desserts.

This looks very interesting.

What is this?

>> This one we call kuih panjaram.

It's a local kuih in Sabah.

>> Oh.

This is all the mixture -- the rice flour and the egg and the water.

You just deep-fry it?

>> You just deep-fry it.

>> Just put it right here and deep-fry it.

>> Yeah.

>> And this is a very interesting cooking utensil.

It's just a little stick here.

>> Just a stick.

>> Now look how nice it comes up.

You have to let it rise for about one night.

>> One night.

>> One night.

>> We keep it for one night.

>> Oh.

So, it's, like, fermented.

>> Yeah.

>> Now look at this.

This is a very, very interesting cooking utensil.

Yeah.

Look at that.

It looks beautiful.

And pick it up.

>> Yeah.

>> Ah.

Then put it right here.

That's one.

What is this liquid?

>> We call this kuih bulan.

>> Kuih bulan.

A nice mixture.

They're nice and thin crepes like this.

You put the peanut right in the middle, okay?

And, oh, this is interesting.

This is cream of corn.

>> Yeah, cream of corn.

>> You put it right in the middle.

That's it?

>> That's it.

>> It gives you a nice texture.

>> Yeah.

Fold it.

>> Just fold it like this?

>> Yeah.

>> Ahh.

Look at that.

And then the whole thing is done.

Look how beautiful.

Hey!

Both of these you should make at home because it's so interesting, so easy, and yet very, very local, very indigenous.

It looks like we have more and more sweets and snacks here.

What is this?

>> This one we call a sweet corn pudding.

>> Can I try one?

>> Yeah, sure.

>> Mmm!

>> I love it.

Very smooth, very custardy.

This looks beautiful.

It's like a spring roll.

>> Yeah.

We call this kuih lenggang.

>> Mmm!

This one is a little bit sweeter than the other one.

>> Yeah, because of the sugar.

>> Got wonderful texture.

>> It's a sweet potato donut.

>> Mmm!

Very different texture.

The yam itself is very sweet.

>> Yes.

>> Potato curry puff.

Now, this is very popular in many places -- popular to eat here.

Looks like a sesame seed ball.

>> Kuih bom.

When you deep-fry, they will pop.

>> They fry up like a smiling.

>> Smiling.

>> Just open your mouth and... >> [ Chuckles ] >> So, everywhere you travel, you always learn something new.

Always explore.

Always discover.

It's a discovery -- a journey of discovery.

Thank you so very much.

>> Sama-sama.

>> Mmm.

With a wonderful experience in Mount Kinabalu, the unpredictable weather, the green pastures, Sabah, the Land Below the Wind, is so spectacular.

We sing and dance to celebrate a great harvest.

This is unity and harmony brought by our respect for each other's culture.

So join me next time for more "Taste of Malaysia"... >> "With Martin Yan"!

>> Bye-bye.

>> You can visit our website to learn more about Martin and his travels, get information about upcoming events, find and print selected recipes, provide e-mail feedback, and more.

It's all at yancancook.com.

"Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan" is brought to you by... >> ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ >> Circulon cookware.

Circles for life.

>> Monogram.

A full line of professional appliances designed for food and entertaining enthusiasts.

♪ ♪ By Melissa's.

The freshest ideas in produce.

By Granite Expo.

Offering a wide selection of cabinet and countertop solutions.

And by B&G Group of Malaysia.

♪ Building Malaysia's tomorrow.

♪ ♪ ♪