Bambangan

Name

Bambangan

Other names

Mawang; embang (Sarawak); alim (Kenyah, Kalimantan)

Scientific name

Mangifera pajang Kosterm., endemic to Borneo

What it is

A wild mango of Borneo with thick skin and resinous, sour-sweet flesh.

Knowledge from

Grown in Dayak orchards across Borneo.

How it is used

The ripe flesh is eaten after thick peeling; the dried skin goes into sambal. In Sarawak the young shoots are sold as a vegetable.

In the French Borneo kitchen

Mawang with kasam in the main at the Kuching Finale, presented by Chef Laura Sim Bara.

Season and place

Occurs wild, though rarely, in lowland dipterocarp forest, and is common in cultivation in Dayak orchards and villages; a large variety is found mainly in the upper Rajang, Kapit Division. In Sarawak it reaches markets after the main fruit season; in Sabah it fruits from July to September.

Conservation status

Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List (2024 assessment).

Codex Alimentarius

No Codex standard

Medicinal knowledge

Held privately by the community

Consent

Given, recorded by CHASS, 30 October 2026

Still to be confirmed: who shared it with Serumpun.

• PROSEA
• Mangifera pajang
• PROSEA (Bompard), Mangifera pajang, via Pl@ntUse
• The Borneo Post, Exploring the wealth of wild fruits available locally, 2017
• Hills, R. & de Kok, R., Mangifera pajang, IUCN Red List 2024 (doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-1.RLTS.T31394A202138171.en), as served by GBIF

Added to the Codex on 1 November 2026. Sources last checked on 1 November 2026.

Anyone may cook with this knowledge, commercially too, provided the community it comes from is credited by name. To correct or withdraw this entry, write to the Custodian at connect@chefjameswon.com.

Serumpun Sarawak (2026) ‘Bambangan’, The Serumpun Codex, ed. James Won. Available at: https://www.chefjameswon.com/serumpun/codex/bambangan/ (sources checked 1 November 2026).

Quote any entry with this citation, and name the community whose knowledge it is.