#Eatsomethingnice 14 - Sabah's famous beef stew (Ngiu Chap)

proudly a part of #Saysomethingnice

image credit: blogger Royce, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

No trip to Sabah is complete without sampling its famous Beef stew delicacy known locally in the Hakka language as Ngiu Chap. It is a noodle dish made of beef slices, beef balls and innards which have been slow-cooked with white radish and various Chinese herbs and spices.

This tender, juicy and flavorful dish is served with a choice of rice vermicelli, yellow noodles or flat noodles. You can also have it in the wet form, where the noodles and meat are entirely drenched in soup, or the dry version, where the noodles and soup are served separately.

This Kota Kinabalu favorite with a home cooked style and flavorful broth is not overly greasy yet still powerfully beefy.  It tastes like the beef has been simmered for hours with radish, onions and the other aromatic herbs.  One of our favorite things about the clear soup is the handful of fresh herbs (in this case cilantro and green onions) garnishing the dish.

Though it is basically a beef soup, the main stars of the dish are the thumb-sized tender chunks of beef and the clear flavorful broth. The rice vermicelli is slightly different from the normal version as it is thicker but surprisingly very smooth. The meat is soft and springy to the bite. We can clearly see how Ngiu Chap rates highly as a comfort food among the crowd in Sabah on a wet rainy night.

Be sure to try the extra-hot chili sauce to complement your meal. Made from bird’s eye chili (cili padi), it’s so good that the coffee shops have now bottled it to sell to those who want to bring the fiery experience back home with them.

The beefy taste of Ngiu Chap may be a little too ethnic for Westerners who aren’t particularly adventurous with their food. High sodium and MSG levels in certain coffee shops may also be a health concern for some.

Although similar beef noodle stews are also available in Kuala Lumpur at locations in Lebuh Ampang, Jalan Silang, Petaling Street, Jalan Alor, Hartamas and Taman Tun, Sabahans rightfully claim that their home state’s version is still the best.