Monday, April 2, 2012

Sarawak Laksa


I started making my own Sarawak Laksa when I moved to KL. I realized that, my mum can't possibly be here with me all the time and I can't find any good Sarawak Laksa here. Perhaps it's due to the fact that it's not very popular in West Malaysia when compared to Penang Asam Laksa. It's actually not that difficult, just tedious as it involves a lot of steps and hardwork.
Other than the mandatory Sarawak Sambal Laksa paste, one of the important part of the Laksa is the broth. The sweetness of the soup depends highly on how you make the broth. There are many ways to make this, but for me, I like to use chicken and fish broth boiled with a few stalks of bruised lemongrass. And when the broth is ready, I bring it to boiling point to cook the prawns and chicken breast. Remember to shred the chicken breast and remove the shells of the prawns.
When all that is done, it's time to add in the paste and if you like it a little spicier, some dried chillies. Bring it to boiling point before adding in the coconut milk. I like to add in a little bit of coconut cream and shrimp paste as well. If you like a simpler and plainer Sarawak Laksa, just take the label on the sambal laksa packaging out, and the basic methods are print at the back of it.
Remember to chop the coriander leaves for garnishing. But if you can find daun Laksa, that will be even better. Scald the large rice vermicelli as per instructions, or until it's al dente. Remember to run them under running cold water to stop the cooking process. To prevent them from sticking together, rub some cooking oil on them. Scald the bean sprouts and run them through cold water too.
Fry the eggs and slice them into strips. To make the eggs, beat a few eggs with a fork after adding salt and some fish sauce. Shred the chicken breast. Cut the Madeleine limes. Pound the shrimp paste. For the shrimp paste, I like to pound it with the dried chillies which I used to cook the soup. Remember to press the oil out from the chillies into the shrimp paste with a fork before pounding them with mortar and pestle.

Stir fry the shrimp paste until it becomes crumbly. A final touch, is to add back some of the chilli oil which has formed on top of the soup to the shrimp paste which you have just fried. In corporate them well. All that's left to do is to assemble all these in a bowl. Rice vermicelli at the bottom of the bowl. Pour in the soup. Arrange the shredded chicken breast, shelled prawns, scalded bean sprout, sliced egg, chopped coriander and Madeleine lime on top. Press the juice of the lime into your bowl of Laksa before eating. For a more fragrant Laksa, leave half a pressed Madeleine lime's skin in your bowl. There you have it. A simple bowl of Sarawak Laksa!..... Not so simple after all :P

 

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