Malaysian Authentic Laksa

Sorry peeps ..lately i'm too lazy to write and I find it's kinda hard to deal with myself when I have sudden mood swings and still try hard to get over them. So today's entry,  I just merely doing 'copy & paste' from an old post on tumblr that I've written 3 months ago. I'm pretty sure not everyone of the readers here have an access to my tumblr account right? so here it goes.... ;)

MALAYSIAN AUTHENTIC LAKSA

As a Malaysian I’m very proud to introduce you a different type of Laksas in my country . As a person hailed from Sarawak, ofcourse I would like to talk about our yummylicious “Laksa Sarawak” :)
LAKSA SARAWAK

looks so tempting, it tastes like heaven!

Laksa Sarawak I should say, is the most famous dish which is easily identifiable with Sarawak. To me Laksa Sarawak is our signature dish which we should put a patent before Indonesians claim it’s theirs like most cases …hahaha (please take note that Laksa Sarawak is originally from Sarawak okay!). To me it tastes like heaven and none can beat our Laksa Sarawak and those who compare Laksa Sarawak with other type of laksa in West Malaysia, do not understand what laksa sarawak is all about and how significant it means to sarawakian like me even to a tiny mistake (in preparing it) is a big NO-NO! We are actually trying hard to preserve the authenticity and the originality of our Laksa Sarawak as it is part of our culture & heritage :)

For instance, I still remember when a telecommunication company, Maxis introduced 3G advertisement and it appeared that a daughter called her mother in Sarawak asking for “Laksa Sarawak” recipe and her mom mentioned  ”Bunga Kantan (ginger buds) as one of the ingredients.

Together with another fellow sarawakian cyber friend we were quite aggressive in expressing our dissatisfaction in a famous Malaysia’s forum toward that advertisement to the extend that they didn’t do their research on Laksa Sarawak thoroughly. Well , it is not really harmful to improvise the recipe though but to me, I would like to keep it as close as its originality! (otherwise it considers as an insult to us, sarawakians…no kidding!).

Infact I would never recommend people to try laksa sarawak at the famous restaurant called “Laksa Shack” in Kuala Lumpur no matter how bad you’re craving for it just because I find it awkward that they use boiled egg instead of omellete strips!  Well to tell you the truth I , myself never try Laksa Sarawak  in that restaurant but merely by looking at the picture on their menu i know it doesn’t suit my tastebuds!

I also understand that some of non sarawakians like to put additional garnishing into their laksa sarawak such as crab meat or fish ball but we, sarawakians consider that as sinful…yes really!…lol (suka hati korang lah nak melantak apa kan…boleh pulak I nak halang…hihihi) ~ well it depends on you to put whatever you want..who am i to refrain you from doing so?…hihi
(* that’s basically a simple translation from Bahasa Malaysia to English….am i kind enough to help you save time from using google translate which i sometimes find crappy? …LOL :P) okay now better back to the topic!

To make Laksa Sarawak is actually quite easy and does not require precise cooking skill, provided you can obtain the laksa paste which is available only in Sarawak (Infact you can also make your own laksa paste from scratch but it’s really time consuming- atleast more than 15 spices and herbs are being used).
*For more details on laksa paste making , you can browse thru this blog -click here

There are many brands of a ready made laksa paste you can use such as Laksa paste - liza, Haji Manan or double red swallow - but i’d prefer ‘LIZA BRAND’  due to its good taste , paste texture and convenience packaging.  Infact, Haji Manan’s brand is not too bad and cheaper than Liza’s if i’m not mistaken.

I would say that your visit to Sarawak is not complete if you never try one of our famous delicacies such as Laksa Sarawak. There are many stalls or restaurants offer Laksa Sarawak in their menus. You can try Madam Tang’s at Spring Food Court, Chong Choon situated at Padungan Road , Mom’s Laksa situated at Jalan Istana, Laksa Tinot situated at Kampung Patinggan, Golden arch laksa Sarawak is a place somewhere near the roundabout before we go to Boulevard Shopping Mall…well just to name a few :)

Even the famous Anthony Bourdain, the well-known celebrity chef admitted that Sarawak Laksa is the best among all Laksas that he had tasted. When asked by a Malaysian reporter he said that Kuching Laksa a.k.a Sarawak Laksa apparently was his favourite breakfast! You can try out the recipe below...happy cooking :)

                                                                    Liza's Laksa Paste


LAKSA SARAWAK RECIPE
Ingredient:
For laksa gravy~
1 packet of Laksa Sarawak paste
2 litres of water (or chicken stock)
500gm of chicken parts (skinless)
1 cup of thick coconut milk
Salt to taste

For garnishing~
Rice vercimelli (blanced in slightly warm water and drained)
Bean Sprout (blanced in hot water for abt 10 second and dump in cold water)
Coriander
Lime
Omellete (slice thinly)
Chicken shreds (used back from the laksa stock making)
Prawn (skin peeled-off and deveined. Put the shell and the head back into the gravy base)
For side dip~
Shrimp paste (belacan)-grill lightly
Dry chillies
1 tbsp water
Cooking
(Pound dry chillies, saute then add in belacan. Add in a bit of water for desired consistency).
Method:
1. Boil chicken parts in water. Once cooked, take it out and cooled it down. Once cool, shred the chicken meat off the bones. Put back the bones to the gravy base.
2. The prawn’s shell and it’s head, put it to be boil together with the gravy base.
3. To prepare prawn, boil some water in separate pan. Cook for a minute, then take out and dump the prawn in icy water to stop it from further cooking. Drain and keep it in the fridge until ready to use.
4. Add laksa paste into the gravy base. Stir it often.
5. Add in the coconut milk. Set the fire to medium low and let it simmer until the oil separate.
6. Add salt to taste.
7. Garnish with the following order:
-Rice vercimelli
-Gravy
-Bean Sprout and Chicken shreds
-Omellette
-Coriander
-Prawn
8. During serving, squeeze lime over the Laksa Sarawak for extra zing :)

xoxo 

Fergie Rose