To get the blog rolling, what other iconic food in Kuching other than the famous Sarawak Laksa? It is not to be confused with the curry like Singaporean Laksa or the one full of ginger flower and tamarind in the Penang Laksa. NO, the sarawak laksa, is of elite class of its own and no other laksa have pulled me away from it. It is truly a laksa fir for a King. I can hear the great white maharajahs scratching at their graves for this popular local favourite.
Why Kuching ? Though you can get Sarawak Laksa from any other towns in the state or West Malaysia, it cannot compare to the real ones from the Cat City. Trust me, it taste different; from the sauce to the preparation.
What is the Sarawakian Laksa ? It is a bowl of spicy aromatic sambal curry made of different spices which has the essence of prawn and chicken stock, thickened with coconut cream, oodles of al dente rice vermicelli, topped with garnishes of egg, chicken strips, fresh prawns, microherbs and bean sprouts. Evolution of the Sarawak Laksa has introduced more garnishes like abalone, meatballs, tofu, roasted pork and duck. One thing doesn't change at all, the broth sambal paste.
The origins of the sambal paste was created by the canteen operator of St.Joseph Kuching, the birthplace of the Sarawak Laksa. I had the opportunity to see the house where the paste was made because i was friends with the creator of Sarawak Laksa. Handmilled spices and slow roasting over charcoal fire, no wonder the Sarawak Laksa taste so good because of the love that goes into it. Unfortunately many has copied their paste and last i heard, the real inventors has stopped their operations. Ever since they stopped, lots of laksa paste quality have dropped in their taste and flavours. Many swear by their favourite stalls but only one comes to mind with the same consistency throughout the years, The Golden Arch laksa . Mind you, there are two laksa stalls in this precinct but the one you have to go to is at the back corner of the cafe with the "nyonya sambal laksa paste" sign board. They truly serve the best creamy Sarawak Laksa with huge prawns.
The BEST laksa in Kuching
In Search of perfection, i decided to cook my own laksa as well. This is my recipe with a storebought Sarawak Laksa paste. Ensure that the origins of the paste is from Kuching and not other states from Malaysia as that will ensure the best flavour . For the amounts of prawns and chicken needed, 500gm of laksa paste would need roughly a kilo of Banana prawns, and 500-800gm of chicken breast. That would serve an estimate of 6-8 people
1. Boil the prawns (with shells) into a pot of water of your desired amount. Remove prawns when cooked(hint: they turn red). Overcooking would results in rubbery prawns.
2. Boil chicken (preferably breast meat) into the same pot of water. This is to saturate the broth with more flavours.
3. Deshell prawns and devein them. Shred the cooked chicken breast. Any bones and prawn shells is then placed back into the boiliing pot. Again, the juices from the shells and chicken bones will enhance the broth. Simmer for about 15 minutes. The broth should smell sweet from the natural chicken and prawn stock.
4. Remove bones and shells. Depending on the amount of water, add the laksa sambal paste to the right spicy amount. Simmer another 15 minutes.
5. Sieve the broth to remove sediments from the sambal or unwated shells/bones.
6. Return the sieved broth to boil and add coconut milk to the right colour and taste. It shouldn't be too dark red brown or too orange in colour. Season with chicken stock and salt to add more flavour. Leave it to simmer till the coconut milk "pecah lemak" or into an oily mixture
7. Add a knob of Gula Melaka (palm sugar) to the broth. This will help to finish the tone of the soup with an underlying very slight sweet flavour which is easily mistaken for monosodium glutamate (MSG) .
MEANWHILE:
1. Blanch the bean sprouts and pre-soaked rice vermicelli to your liking.
2. Fry and egg or two . Slice it up for presentation.
3. If you're an egg lover, boil an egg or two.
4. Chop daun ketumbar or chinese parsley (there are many types of parsley and you do not want to use italian parsley here) . Some people make not like to eat parsley, so this can be optional.
5. Slice some lime NOT lemon
6. Leftover laksa sambal as a side dish for those who wants extra spicy kick.
ASSEMBLAGE:
1. Bee hoon or Rice Vermicelli
2. Add chicken and taugeh
3. Prawns
4. Eggs
5. Parsley
6. Add spicy soup
In Search of perfection, i decided to cook my own laksa as well. This is my recipe with a storebought Sarawak Laksa paste. Ensure that the origins of the paste is from Kuching and not other states from Malaysia as that will ensure the best flavour . For the amounts of prawns and chicken needed, 500gm of laksa paste would need roughly a kilo of Banana prawns, and 500-800gm of chicken breast. That would serve an estimate of 6-8 people
1. Boil the prawns (with shells) into a pot of water of your desired amount. Remove prawns when cooked(hint: they turn red). Overcooking would results in rubbery prawns.
2. Boil chicken (preferably breast meat) into the same pot of water. This is to saturate the broth with more flavours.
3. Deshell prawns and devein them. Shred the cooked chicken breast. Any bones and prawn shells is then placed back into the boiliing pot. Again, the juices from the shells and chicken bones will enhance the broth. Simmer for about 15 minutes. The broth should smell sweet from the natural chicken and prawn stock.
4. Remove bones and shells. Depending on the amount of water, add the laksa sambal paste to the right spicy amount. Simmer another 15 minutes.
5. Sieve the broth to remove sediments from the sambal or unwated shells/bones.
6. Return the sieved broth to boil and add coconut milk to the right colour and taste. It shouldn't be too dark red brown or too orange in colour. Season with chicken stock and salt to add more flavour. Leave it to simmer till the coconut milk "pecah lemak" or into an oily mixture
7. Add a knob of Gula Melaka (palm sugar) to the broth. This will help to finish the tone of the soup with an underlying very slight sweet flavour which is easily mistaken for monosodium glutamate (MSG) .
MEANWHILE:
1. Blanch the bean sprouts and pre-soaked rice vermicelli to your liking.
2. Fry and egg or two . Slice it up for presentation.
3. If you're an egg lover, boil an egg or two.
4. Chop daun ketumbar or chinese parsley (there are many types of parsley and you do not want to use italian parsley here) . Some people make not like to eat parsley, so this can be optional.
5. Slice some lime NOT lemon
6. Leftover laksa sambal as a side dish for those who wants extra spicy kick.
ASSEMBLAGE:
1. Bee hoon or Rice Vermicelli
2. Add chicken and taugeh
3. Prawns
4. Eggs
5. Parsley
6. Add spicy soup
My Assembled Sarawak Laksa . Enjoy!
Anders!!!
ReplyDeleteno way golden arch is good. thats not even sarawak laksa. its curry laksa =.= there are way too many places that are on top of golden arch seriously haha!!
Hi Cindy,
DeleteThe moderators of Food For Thrones believe otherwise and we understand that many others would have opposing views, likes and dislikes. We think Golden Arch is the best because of the consistency that they have while many others have watered down their stock or change their sambals. In other words, the good ones like Chang Choon, Fat Cat, Foody Goody and etc used to taste great.
If you would like to recommend us any great laksa out there we would gladly try them and give our review. Thank you for your support! :)
I think lovers of S'wak Laksa are divided into two camps, one side love the traditional creamy full of santan type (Chong Choon, G.Arch etc) while the other camp likes the not so creamy but spicier type (Foody Goody). Another good Laksa stall not mentioned is at Top 10, Jln Urat Mata (behind the new Shell station).
ReplyDeleteI just wrote a blog about food in Kuching and said in part ... "A local radio station reporter introduces me to ‘the best laksa in China Street.’ We walk under Harmony Arch on Jalan Carpenter where, directly opposite the Sang Ti Miao temple, is an unpretentious but very busy Chinese hawker food hall. She is right! The laksa served there was wonderful and for the rest of my 8 weeks in East Malaysia it became the standard I used to compare various dishes of Sarawak Laksa."
ReplyDeletesee the rest on my blog www.kiwitravelwriter.com