Smoke House Rumah Asap in Miri

You see, when my Sarawakian friend Kevin told me about this place a couple of years ago, I never did imagine how it would turn out and one fine day when I was in Miri, he took me to try this strange and unique gastronomic experience.

The catch? Well, you have to brave the humidity and heat in the hot afternoons while eating here.

And why do they call it the smokehouse? Easy – With all the cooking going on, there is a lot of smoke hence the straightforward name.

Natad Tuaw (Ngukab Terewe), the smokehouse which I tried in Permy Jaya, Miri

All kinds of parts being barbecued

Pork and every possible part of the pig is served at the local smokehouses. Occasionally you may find some game meat, but this is quite rare and also under strict control.

Yes, I kid you not, so if you are a pork lover, this is definitely one of the places you have to try and strangely, you can only find this smokehouse in Miri. So take note that this is non-halal.

This goes back to the early nineties where some local people started this business around the Pujut bus terminal and from there, it gained popularity and spread all over Miri.

I also understand that there is a number of smokehouse in Kuching areas too, but the originality of this started here in Pujut, Miri.

Preparing the meats

So, here’s how it works – When you arrive at the smokehouse, you tell the cook which part you want and they will barbecue it for you. You can also request for medium or well cooked and even chopped in what size. 

Then it was barbecued to be burnt a little where it is then served with a piece of lime and a special sambal spicy sauce. Different smokehouses have their own style of the spicy sambal sauce too.

Preparing the ordered cuts before barbecuing them

BBQ action on the grill

The finished dish, complemented with the special sambal sauce

Close up of the barbecued pork with a lime

After having a go at the barbecue pork, the sweat starts to roll down your cheeks, neck and all over and this is when the finishing part comes in – the cold bottle of beer.

And let me just say, that combination is one of the best to have in a hot and humid afternoon in Miri. Prices vary at different smokehouses here but nothing too steep. 

The locations of these places are not well documented but I will post those well-known ones here. which I have been too or recommended by locals. They are;

*There may be new ones opened or even old ones closed, so the best is to always ask a local. 

You can usually find them next to each other, sometimes five or six in a row like the ones in E Mart.

One of them which I recently visited in 2015 was MJ BBQ located in the main Miri area and they even had rice and other dishes being served to patrons.

Clearly, this goes to show the evolution of the traditional smokehouses here has now matured into semi-hawker restaurants.

MJ BBQ, one of the popular hybrid smokehouses in Miri

Cooks at MJ BBQ in Miri

Ready to eat barbecued pork at MJ BBQ

Back then, the locals would set up makeshift tents and sell the hunted wild boars for extra money. This eventually caught on and got quite popular where now farmed pigs are used.

Whispers in the air also claimed that some of them even have ‘special’ meats at times but you needed to know the owner to be invited to try these delicacies. Of course, this is highly illegal in all ways.

Most likely, they will point you in the right direction. But if you have a friend there, it would be much easier for him or her to bring you around.

One more thing is that if you are on tour around the city of Miri, try asking the local tour guide about the Miri Smoke House.