Hinava explained: Sabah's Kadazan-Dusun raw fish salad, and how to try it

Hinava is a raw fish salad from Sabah, traditionally made by the Kadazan-Dusun people. Fresh fish, most often tenggiri (Spanish mackerel), is sliced thin and tossed with lime or calamansi juice, chilli, ginger, shallots and, often, grated bambangan seed. No fire is involved. It is a dish of Kaamatan, the harvest festival, and of weddings and engagements, and Malaysia's Department of National Heritage recognised it as a national heritage dish in 2009. Think of it as Borneo's answer to ceviche, with its own wild mango twist. (Wikipedia, MySabah)

What goes in the bowl

The base is short and simple: fish, citrus, chilli, ginger, shallots and salt. Mackerel is the usual choice because it is lean and has few bones, and prawns or squid can stand in for it. Some versions add raw bitter gourd, sliced very fine. As the lime works, the flesh turns milky white and firms up, which is why people so often compare hinava to ceviche or even yee sang. (MySabah, Malay Mail)

The ingredient that makes it taste of Sabah is bambangan, a wild mango that the Malay Mail describes as endemic to the state and sour even when ripe. Its seed is grated into the salad, and some groups use it in place of vinegar. If you are in Sabah around July or August, look out for the fruit at tamu markets and roadside stalls on the road between Kota Kinabalu and Ranau. (Malay Mail, Amazing Borneo)

Whose dish is it?

The short answer is that it belongs to a family of communities, and the recipe changes as you move around Sabah. We could not find a documented date or a first maker, so we won't offer you one. What the sources do record:

• Hinava tongi is the version the Kadazan are best known for.
• Hinata is the name the Lotud Dusun give to a similar dish, dressed with lemon and vinegar.
• Hinava ginapan uses prawns as the main ingredient.
• A travel piece drawn from a BBC food series counts about 33 tribes in Borneo, each preparing it in its own way. (Wikipedia, Amazing Borneo)

Across the border, Sarawak has a close cousin in umai, which Tatler traces to the Melanau people and which was recognised alongside hinava in 2009. (Tatler Asia, MySabah)

The version the elders remember

MySabah records the memories of a 91-year-old Kadazan elder, and they are worth knowing if you like details. The traditional hinava described there uses limau kapas, a key lime, for its aroma, with bitter gourd sliced very thin, and the fish gets a quick rinse in hot water so it turns whitish and springy. The same article notes that most restaurant hinava today is a cheaper, simpler version. That is no shame, since a good simple hinava is a very fine thing, but it does explain why two plates can taste so different. (MySabah)

How to eat it

Have it as a starter, or with plain white rice or linopot, the rice parcels of Sabah. MySabah calls the flavour mild and refreshing, so it makes a gentle first step into raw fish for the curious. (MySabah)

Two sensible cautions. Hinava keeps badly: the Malay Mail says to eat it within a few hours, or a day or two if refrigerated, so freshness is everything. And lime changes the texture without actually cooking the fish. WebMD's advice on ceviche, its close cousin, is that the fish remains uncooked and that pregnant women should avoid it, so the same thinking applies here. (Malay Mail, WebMD)

Where to try it

Hinava is, first of all, home and festival food. If you are in Sabah for Kaamatan, or get to join a Kadazan-Dusun celebration, you are in the best seat there is. (MySabah)

Outside festive days, you will need to do a little hunting, because accounts of how widely it is sold differ. The Malay Mail says some restaurants specialising in Sabah dishes carry it, and hotel restaurants sometimes do. MySabah suggests asking Tagal Tinopikon Park to prepare it, ideally a week ahead. Sabah Eats, in an undated guide, listed D'Place Kinabalu's dinner buffet and Mee Sup Pipin in Kampung Inobong among its picks, so call first to check. (Malay Mail, MySabah, Sabah Eats)

From our own guide, these are good places to start asking:

• Tanjung Ria Kitchen, Hyatt Regency Kinabalu: a Kota Kinabalu hotel buffet with Sabahan seafood on the spread, RM88 to RM188. Spreads change, so ask whether hinava is on.
• Café TATU, Shangri-La Tanjung Aru: a seafront buffet at Tanjung Aru, also strong on Sabahan seafood, RM120 to RM200. Again, ask ahead.
• Restoran Selera Kebun: up in Kundasang for the linopot that goes so well with hinava, RM15 to RM35. It is a good introduction to Borneo home cooking even on a day without raw fish.

All three are listed as Muslim-friendly in our guide, which means certification is not confirmed. If halal certification matters to you, look for a valid JAKIM certificate at the restaurant.

Sources

1. Hinava — Wikipedia
2. Hinava: Heritage Salad of Sabah — MySabah.com, 2024-12-02
3. Traditional Food that makes Sabahans drool — MySabah.com, 2016-06-07
4. Next time you are in Sabah, try its traditional cuisine — Malay Mail, 2017-01-15
5. 'A very special cuisine': Nick Kwek's culinary adventures around Sabah — Amazing Borneo, 2025-03-05
6. Raw 101: A deep dive into raw food in Southeast Asia — Tatler Asia, 2025-05-22
7. Where to find Hinava in Kota Kinabalu — Sabah Eats
8. Is it Safe to Eat Ceviche While Pregnant? — WebMD, 2025-05-01