Cover image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
We recently had the chance to visit Pulau Mabul, a small, tucked-away island off the coast of Semporna, Sabah
While it may not share the spotlight with nearby Sipadan, Mabul Island's pristine, crystal-clear waters have earned it a quiet but loyal following among diving enthusiasts.
It boasts of a stunning coral reef and diverse marine life surrounding the island, and is famous especially among international tourists as a dream diving spot.
Unbeknownst to many tourists, however, is that the rich coral reef is also a crucial source of food and income for the local communities on the island, especially the indigenous Bajau Laut
Image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
Image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
The Bajau community, also known as sea gypsies, live in boats and stilt water villages around the island and have fishing as their main source of income.
During our stay at Mabul Paradise Lodge, a homey dive centre on the island, we had the opportunity to experience buying fresh catch at affordable prices from the fishermen themselves at the front dock of the lodge facing the sea.
The fishermen would come by their boats in the evenings and bring their daily haul such as crabs, lobsters, mantis shrimps, clams, and a variety of fish.
Because the seafood came directly from the fishermen, it's safe to say we enjoyed some really good bargains.
Here's all the seafood we bought and how much it cost:
1. Flower crabs – RM7 per piece
While flower crabs are not as fleshy as mud crabs, when deep fried and tossed in salted egg buttermilk sauce, you can still find substantial meat by easily cracking through the shell.
The fisherman kindly allowed us to choose all female crabs, which had plenty of tasty roe.
Image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
Image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
2. Sea conches and clams – RM10 per basin
This was a steal! While we were initially hesitant to try this shellfish, the guesthouse's kitchen convinced us otherwise with their addictive siput goreng cili, and we bought more the next day.
Image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
Image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
3. Sea urchin – RM50 for 12
Maybe not for the faint-hearted (or faint stomachs), but we ate these raw! The kitchen cut and cleaned them up, and we enjoyed them with chopsticks, a bit of soy sauce, and some wasabi.
While the local sea urchins aren't as sweet or plump as the ones you'd find in Japan, they were still incredibly fresh — and unbelievably cheap at around RM4 per piece.
Image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
Image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
4. Abalone – RM25 for six
We couldn't believe the fishermen had wild abalone in their haul. Though the local variety is smaller than what you'd usually find in restaurants, it was still delicious — and a perfect addition to our seafood hot pot feast.
Image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
Image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
5. Flounder – RM20 for two (and one small fish for free!)
During this island getaway, I ended up trying so many new types of seafood — and flounder quickly became one of my favourite fish to eat. This flatfish is known for its tender flesh, and it was absolutely delicious when the kitchen fried it and served it with goreng tiga rasa sauce.
Image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
Image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
6. Mantis shrimp – RM20 per piece
As live mantis prawns usually fetch premium prices in West Malaysia, we were not surprised to see another tour group cheerfully buying trays of them here at this price!
They even mentioned scoring lobsters for roughly RM50 apiece.
Image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
7. Fish – RM5 per kg
I'm no expert on fish, but I do know that RM5 for this much is a total steal. We happily ate fish every day while we were on the island!
Image via May Vin Ang/SAYS
