Home Food Relish Sarawakian Food Made By The Locals in Long Napir Kitchen Restaurant

Relish Sarawakian Food Made By The Locals in Long Napir Kitchen Restaurant

by Natasha Christopher

Truly Sarawak has one of the best nature views and rich heritage of culture to go along with it. From it’s traditional ‘rumah panjang’, to their clothing and most importantly, the food. Sarawakian food is what makes the Land of Hornbills place a special one.

Recently, I had the chance to try a local Sarawakian food located in Desa Sri Hartamas called Long Napir Kitchen. Upon entering the restaurant, it presents an ambient Sarawakian feel while being serenaded on the TV of the musically melodious tunes of the sape.
long napir
Owner, Nur Alisha Maisara opened this place with her husband about 9 months ago. Hails from Limbang, a town situated north of Sarawak, Alisha fondness for the local food there always amazes her. However, she always has difficulty finding halal Sarawak food there. She then decided to impart her love for Sarawakian food and to make it easy for Muslims to enjoy the food in Kuala Lumpur too. Thus, Long Napir Kitchen was born.

Long Napir Kitchen serves their famous Kolo Mee and many other things too. However, we were presented with dishes that the locals eat there and it’s beautiful. Almost all of the staff are made up by an all-Sarawakian team. Boldly speaking, everyone needs to try the food here.

These are some of the food we were presented with;
linut napir
Linut Set, RM 24.90  

The linut essentially is made up of sago flour which is the star of the dish amongst the other side food we were presented. Comes with a freshly grilled fish, sambal assam, and chopped up cucumber. The linut on its own presents a mass sticky glue type of feel. When I say it’s sticky, it really is. You have to untangle the thick linut but it makes it all worth it once you pair together with the sambal assam to enhance the taste.
linut napir 1
Note: This is a famous Melanau dish famous which the Chief Minister pass it down to his people. 

Pansoh Chicken, RM 24.90(S), RM 36.90(B)
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Probably an Instagramable food here to the point one of the managers explained to us that sometimes certain customers take about 10 minutes to start eating, after all, that picture taking. We can see why as well. Typically, the staff would pour the pansoh chicken together with its broth from a bamboo shaped container for photography purposes. This Sarawakian dish that’s cooked in bamboo is cooked to perfection here.

Now, as for the taste, it has a similar flavour to a ginger chicken but for pansoh chicken, together with its own herbs and spices, like Bungkang leaves which elevates the taste further, making it a portion of comfort food for all to enjoy. It’s the aroma from the pansoh and the tenderness from the chicken is what sets the dish apart. 

Nuba Laya Set, RM 16.90
nuba napir
This Kelabit local food is certainly an adventure that one must try. It comes in a pulut form kind of rice that comes with vegetable dishes. The vegetables are cooked in their own spicy, and sweet way that complements well with the rice. However, if you’re not much of a “eat your greens” type of person, the set comes with a fried fish. Make sure you try their sweet sauce with the fish. Blew my mind.

Dabai Fried Rice, RM 16.90
dabai
One look and it’s a cross between a nasi kerabu rice and nasi goreng kampung. The rice is purple in colour and is widely enjoyed by everyone. Dabai or in other words, Sarawak Olive has a hint of salty mysterious tones into the food that is loved by Sarawakian. Comes with a fried egg to further balance the taste of the dabai that is rich with small shrimps and anchovies.

Mixed Umai, RM 26.90(S), RM38.90(B)
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A colourful dish you can’t stop looking at. It consists of a mixture of fish, prawns and jellyfish. What you need to know about this dish is the fact that it is served raw. It is dressed together with lime juice and some garnish so you have that sourish flavour to it. This dish certainly plays a lot with your tongue palate that takes you to another exciting level of food dining.

Fun fact: Umai is best paired with beers!

Steamed Terubok, RM 18.90
terubok
A widely famous dish amongst Sarawakians. The ‘Ikan Terubok Masin’ of Steamed Terubok is regarded as salmon of the east. This majestic fish has beautiful, succulent fish meat but there’s one catch. Be mindful of the fish’s bones as you can find it a lot. However, it did not stop me from eating this dish. The sauce is a little salty from the fish texture itself but eat it with rice and you’ll never be sorry.

Be sure to explore the different types of sauces they have for pairing. My favourite: nasi kedayun, and lalapan sauce. Oh, to get that extra kick to your food, use your hands to eat 🙂
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Long Napir Kitchen has taught me on the importance of preserving a big cultural aspect from where you come from and to share the happiness of food with a newbie to Sarawakian food like me. I can now say I’m very well educated to the Sarawak food and it’s all because of the friendly and dynamic staff in Long Napir Kitchen. 

Long Napir Kitchen 

Address:  31 Jalan Sri Hartamas 22A/70A, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Contact number: 03-6211 1323

Business Hours: 10am-10pm 

Social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/longnapirkitchen2018/ 

 

 

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