eG Foodblog: Laksa - Wild man of Borneo

[stovetop]

steve

[Laksa]

Would you mind posting the list of ingredients for Laksa so we could go shopping early and cook along?

JerzyMade, are you anywhere near Kuching, Sarawak? This is the packet of commercially packed laksa paste we're gonna use, widely available everywhere good laksa paste is sold in Sarawak. (I have already confessed to being lazy and having a fondness for taking shortcuts)

We're always glad to find laksa paste in the "goodies box" we receive from Malaysia every year. Actually, this Double Red Swallow brand paste isn't too bad. Have had good results with it before.

If on the off chance that you're not in Sarawak, I'm gonna google for a recipe of a suitable substitute you can use.

Edited August 22, 2004 by Laksa (log)

[Laksa]

Okay, found it. Recipe for laksa if you choose to make your own paste:

http://www.soupsong.com/rlaksa.html

So laksa means ten thousand? I learn something new everyday. So-called because that's the number of ingredients you need to get! Not really, but it's gonna feel like ten thousand if you make your own paste.

I'm not sure if I believe everything the author of that webpage writes. The difference between Sarawak Laksa and other styles like Penang Laksa or Curry Laksa is primarily in the soup or paste, I feel, not just in the condiments or "toppings" used. Penang Assam Laksa gets a lot more sourness from tamarind, and Curry Laksa is more "curry like".

[helenjp]

Char Kway Teow, neato! I gave my Japanese university students a recipe with anecdotes as a reading assignment a month or so back. As the noodles have just started to become readily available in Japan (and as the alternate choice was the history of manmade compound materials...), they were pretty enthusiastic.

Laksa will be on our menu very soon - I have some chicken pieces and half a can of coconut milk calling out to each other in the fridge at this very moment.

Ms. Congeeniality et al, thanks for the bitter melon suggestions. Son2 is home from school trip and his appetite for bitter melon is unabated.

We had ong choy today too...in a kind of thin rice-noodle soup for lunch.

And as for the raw fish, this is a topic which fascinates me...in New Zealand, we eat a Samoan version where white-fleshed fish is sliced and rinsed many times in lukewarm salty water, then dressed with onion and coconut cream, and sometimes other vegetables as well. Marinated raw fish dishes, leaf-wrapped foods, and earth ovens seem to be a big link between Southeast Asian and Pacific food preparation...presumably a common inheritance from Lapita peoples, but who knows for sure? Can you tell me whether raw fish dishes are part of West Malaysian cooking too?

[Laksa]

Reading a topic recently about searching for Nyonya kuih in NYC on eGullet brought forth in me strong cravings for these Malaysian cakes, cravings that had laid dormant for a number of years.

I was even contemplating making them myself. However, pressed for time on our shopping trip to NYC Chinatown last night, we weren't able to find the pandan extract that the kuih salat recipe asks for.

Surely there must somewhere in this city I can get kuih-muih. Would our waitress at Penang know? Why hadn't I thought of asking her before? My stab in the dark paid off. (Warning: be prepared for more mixed metaphors) She happened to be from Malaysia, knew what I was asking, and directed me to Sanur Restaurant at 18 Doyers St.

As soon as we were done with dinner, we set off in search of Sanur. She actually told me the restaurant was on Bayard St, but after walking the length of Bayard and not finding it, I grew desperate and started a radial search of the entire freakin' area.

By the time we found the place, the owner was already padlocking the front door. I started pleading with him. "We drove two hours from Poughkeepsie for kuih", I said with a teary voice. "Please please please do you have some kuih you could sell us? Please!!"

I began to inspect the cleanliness of the NY Chinatown pavement, making preparations to go down on my knees, when he looked at me, non-plussed, and said "sure".

"Go on in", he said, but he continued the close the padlocks!. I looked at him, feeling confused and increasingly panicky. Bloody hell, what mind games/power games is this guy playing with me? He has sensed my weakness, and he's taking every advantage of it for his own perverse pleasure.

"Why don't you go on down?"

"Oh!" I thought as I looked around to where he was gesturing. I felt quite the fool.

Okay, let me illustrate. This is the metal security grate he was padlocking in front of what I thought was the restaurant:

Next to this grate, there's a side entrance that was wide open, through which a staircase led down to the basement restaurant:

And inside, laid out on a table, kuih glorious kuih!

I started pointing and gesturing madly. "Two of that, and two of that, and that and that and that. You have more in the fridge? Let me see what you have. Bring them out, bring them out!"

Four boxfuls later...

"Why, that wily restaurateur!!" It is quite evident to me now that all that padlocking and delay tactics were a ploy to get me to overbuy. Very sneaky.

This is what we're having for brunch today:

Starting with the red round one in the foreground and going counter-clockwise we have:

Ang Ku Kuih - with a sweet bean paste filling

Kuih Bugis - with a grated coconut filling sweetend with gula melaka

Kuih Ubi Kayu - my favorite, made with cassava

Looks like Kuih Talam, but made with a shaky hand

Pulut Melaka? - another favorite, glutinous rice cooked in gula melaka or palm sugar

Sago Pandan - made with sago with pandan (screwpine leaves) flavor.

Kueh Lapis - multilayer rainbow, groovy!

I don't know the name of this last one, kinda like Kuih Bugis but with a sweet peanut filling. Let's call it Kuih Sanur.

[Mayhaw Man]

What a wonderful blog! The photos pop and the descriptions are even better. As I know zero about most of the foods that you are describing, this has been a great learning experience for me and I am sure for others as well.

Great Job

[Ms Congeeniality]

Can you tell me whether raw fish dishes are part of West Malaysian cooking too?

West Malaysians have a raw fish dish called yee sang. It's actually a Chinese dish eaten by the Cantonese during Chinese New Year. Slivers of raw fish are tossed with shredded vegetables in this dish.

Umai is a distinctly Sarawakian dish which is part of the Melanau people's cuisine. Melanaus were traditionally fishermen who lived in the coastal towns of Sarawak, but are now mostly urbanized. Because of their past, they are also known as Sea Dayak.

On the other hand, the ground oven is a cooking method used by the Iban (pronounced ee-bun) people. Iban are also known as Land Dayak because they traditionally lived inland on Borneo. Iban and Melanau are two subgroups within the Dayak ethnic group, and are culturally different.

Some background on eating Umai... It is traditionally had with sago pearls. Sago, which comes from sago palm, is known locally as sagu. Because Melanaus also cultivate sago palms, sago used to be the primary staple starch in the Melanau diet. Rice was cultivated inland and was therefore harder to get from coastal towns.

To prepare sago pearls, raw sago is cooked with coconut milk, formed into dough, and pellets are shaped out of it. It is toasted and eaten by tossing a handful into one's mouth, accompanied by spicy dishes, such as umai or sambal. Umai & sago pearls are also handy food that can be prepared easily by fishermen on a boat.

To call umai a raw fish salad is perhaps a misnomer. It is not "raw" like sushi & sashimi, as the citrus juice would cook it, although pregnant women should still avoid this dish. It is interesting to see the color transforms from translucent to opaque. The citrus juice also serves to remove traces of raw fish smell, and is therefore important to discard.

"Cooked" umai fish does not taste raw, but has a firmer texture of raw fish. It is definitely no longer raw, because I have kept it in the fridge for a week and it still tasted good. Would preserved, cured, pickled be a more suitable term than cooked?

It sounds like the white-fleshed fish prepared using lukewarm salty water might share many characteristics with the umai fish. Although I have not heard of the Lapita peoples, I have heard that native Sarawakians (eg. Melanau and Iban) share many words with a language spoken in the Philippines. The Philippines are separated by a few miles of sea with Borneo. I think there's probably a link in the past and won't be a surprised if it stretches to the people of the South Pacific.

Edited August 22, 2004 by Ms Congeeniality (log)

[Jensen]

As one who loves congee, I'm interested in learrning how to make it in the rice cooker.  Would Mrs. Laksa provide a little more detail?

Abra, when cooking congee in a rice cooker, nothing needs to be exact. The rough guideline is 7 parts water to 1 part rice.

[snippage]

Thank you so much for posting this! I haven't had congee since I moved from Vancouver five years ago. I can't wait to make some in my cooker!

[helenjp]

I forgot to mention that the Samoan "raw" fish salad also uses citrus juice which makes the flesh opaque. However, I am not 100% sure that the original dish included that step.

I have heard that native Sarawakians (eg. Melanau and Iban) share many words with a language spoken in the Philippines

Patrick Kirch's "On the Road of the Winds" is an interesting book about the spread of the prehistoric Southeast Asian Lapita peoples into the Pacific - but his ideas are still controversial. There are definitely links between southern China, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and the Pacific right out to remote Polynesia and parts of Micronesia...but who can be sure when and where the links originated?

There was prehistoric contact between Japan and Southeast Asian islands, but rice cultivation in both Borneo and Japan has had such a huge impact that it is hard to know what people ate before that. Since sweet potatoes are not native to the area, I guess yams are probably the oldest common link. Japan also uses starch from bracken-fern root, and roasted bracken-fern root was eaten in New Zealand...how about in Borneo?

[NulloModo]

This blog has been enlightening.

The only Malaysian I have ever had was a spicey squid dish at a restaurant in London a couple years back. The sauce and vegetables were very flavorful and great, but the squid was so rubbery I could barely chew it. What you have been cooking looks much better.

[Transparent]

Gasp! Kuih in NYC! I've been loitering around Chinatown for the last couple weeks searching for kuih for take-out! Where on Bayard Street is Sanur? I feel a little nervous about walking into a basement though... Is it always sold in the basement or was it just because it was closing time?

[Laksa]

Sound the alarm! It's laksa day and we're out of limau kasturi (kalamansi lime). One simply must have lime for the sambal belacan, so it's off to Bangkok Market one goes.

Shown here bagging the produce is the Thai grocer lady I've posted much about on eGullet. She's the friendliest Asian grocer I know, and loves to chat. That's why it took over half an hour to get five freakin' limes.

Ms Congee wasn't amused when I failed to show up on time to meet her at the Price Chopper seafood counter. Oh well, this seafood grocer guy wasn't going anywhere, and neither were the Florida Keys Pink shrimp he was hawking. "Buy some shrimp or this little guy sleeps with the fishes tonight," he said. How could we refuse?

Ok, we've finally gotten all the ingredients, but where has my laksa recipe disappeared to? Good thing there's a recipe printed on the back of the laksa paste label:

Looks as good as any I've seen. We used canned coconut milk in place of fresh santan. Adding the shrimp shells to the soup gives it added flavor.

Here's the final assembly of ingredients (coconut milk not shown):

This is what the laksa paste looks like out of its wrapper:

Cooking the laksa soup. The omelette looks like a smily face, doesn't it? Without the eyes. Or the mouth.

It is absolutely imperative that you filter the laksa paste broth. A fine chinois sieve works well. There is a lot of very nasty and gritty spice residue in there that you do not want in your soup. Unless you like to eat sand.

The finished product:

Don't forget the sambal belacan and lime!

The sambal belacan is made by lightly toasting belacan in a pan -- this can smell like Lucifer's gym socks in the ninth circle of hell, so make sure you have an industrial exhaust fan or two -- and then pounding it with some chillies and a little lime juice until the mixture makes a smooth paste. Squeeze more juice over the paste when you're ready to eat.

Serve the paste by stirring it into the laksa broth, smearing on the rice noodles, or as a dipping sauce.

Edited August 23, 2004 by Laksa (log)

[FL Heat]

I'm almost embarrassingly sheltered, and have never heard of many of the foods you've mentioned. . .but I hope that you & Ms Congee are pleased with the knowledge that you've convinced at least one timid soul to take a trip to her local Asian market tomorrow.

There's really no excuse for never going before, except that I didn't know what to buy, but I shall make a list from your blog and smile and be pleasant and attempt to cook something with new foodstuffs!

Diana

[Laksa]

Gasp! Kuih in NYC! I've been loitering around Chinatown for the last couple weeks searching for kuih for take-out! Where on Bayard Street is Sanur? I feel a little nervous about walking into a basement though... Is it always sold in the basement or was it just because it was closing time?

Loiter no more, my friend! Sanur is actually on Doyers St, near the T-junction with Pell St, if I recall correctly. Their phone number is 212-267-0088.

The owner is pretty friendly. He told me he has customers from all over the North East. According to him, some guy from DC phoned an order in for close to a hundred bucks worth.

The basement actually looked like the restaurant proper. There was a table of youngsters finishing off their meal when we were there. I have no idea what's upstairs -- didn't get a chance to see it.

[Laksa]

I'm almost embarrassingly sheltered, and have never heard of many of the foods you've mentioned. . .but I hope that you & Ms Congee are pleased with the knowledge that you've convinced at least one timid soul to take a trip to her local Asian market tomorrow.

There's really no excuse for never going before, except that I didn't know what to buy, but I shall make a list from your blog and smile and be pleasant and attempt to cook something with new foodstuffs!

Diana

Diana, do let me know how you make out. Some of ingredients I used this week are South East Asian in origin, so may be only available from SE Asian grocery stores. Have fun exploring! The shopkeeper may be able to suggest subsitutes or offer ideas on how to use the products he carries, so it never hurts to ask.

[SG-]

Laksa,

got to hand it to you, you eat very well!!! Thanks for the Umai pics and instructions. One question though pickled mustard in a melanau dish?? When did that enter their diet?

[Richard Kilgore]

What a terrific week, Laska. I am learning a lot. Thanks.

[FunJohnny]

Laksa: Extraordinarily good show! I'm gonna get my wife, who rarely cooks anymore, to take a look at the pix posted on this blog to see if they will inspire her to get back to the kitchen -- she'll probably just have us go out to eat at one of the Malaysian places in and around DC -- sigh

[Laksa]

Laksa, 

got to hand it to you, you eat very well!!! Thanks for the Umai pics and instructions. One question though pickled mustard in a melanau dish?? When did that enter their diet?

SG-, I have a confession to make. What you see in this blog is what Ms Congee eats. I had to finish all the leftovers before she will let me taste a drop of that laksa soup.

In all seriousness, I think we went blog-crazy and started making more food more often than what we would normally do. This week, Ms Congee is travelling for work so I am home alone. It will be a challenge for me to keep up the pace.

As for the Melanau eating pickled mustard... uhmm...hmmm

You ask the question seemingly with the assumption that we know what we're talking about! That's a dangerous mistake to make, my friend.

I am tempted to say that it entered their diet ever since Tan Ah Beng opened her restaurant in the Pantai Ria food complex in Bintulu, Sarawak, back in the 80's. That's where Ms Congee pilfered her pickled mustard Umai recipe from.

I am tempted to say that, but can't be sure that Tan Ah Beng ever had any Melanau customers.

For all I know, the Melanau people may never have tasted pickled mustard. Does that answer your question?

I don't mind a little sour vegetable in Umai though. I like Umai that has nice balance of sour, salty, hot and astringent flavors.

Edited August 23, 2004 by Laksa (log)

[JerzyMade]

OT but I just had to ask: jerzymade, would the skate you're referring to be stingray? Barbequed sambal stingray to be precise?

Great blog btw! 

Looked like it was grilled and served with a wonderfully spicy and tangy sauce on a large leaf (banana?) At that time I new only the eating side of food, so my ability to reverse-engineer the dish from memory is quite limited.

And yes, it was a stingray.

[JerzyMade]

JerzyMade, are you anywhere near Kuching, Sarawak?  This is the packet of commercially packed laksa paste we're gonna use, widely available everywhere good laksa paste is sold in Sarawak.  (I have already confessed to being lazy and having a fondness for taking shortcuts)

I'm a few thousand miles away, in Southern California, but we have a number of ethnic markets where amazing finds are possible. Most of the time I'm just not adventerous enough to buy something I don't know how to use. I wouldn't be surprised to find the laksa paste.

[Laksa]

As I promised earlier (or threatened, depending on your inclination), I bring you the anticipated battle between man and fruit.

I am going to attempt to eat the fruit that doesn't want to be eaten.

It has sharp spikes that will tear into your skin.

It smells bad. How bad? When I walk with it on the street, the hobos I meet will cross to the other side to avoid me.

That's right folks, it's the dreaded yet delicious durian.

The Chinese characters say "Golden Pillow" brand Durians. No, I am as puzzled as you are. They sell for 98c/lb. I wish I could take them all home!

Like a lot of things in life, the best way to gain entry into a durian is through the back. Use a bread knife to saw through the skin. The skin is so soft after it's been frozen and thawed that this durian has no chance! Okay, here I go, trying to rip the durian a new one.

Ah, finally the spoils of victory. (Did you really think the durian was gonna win?)

This durian comes with a warranty, as indicated on that blue ribbon medallion thingie. It was never explained to me how the warranty works. I'm guessing it's warranted against genetic engineering defects for one year, or assurance of 20 episodes of Fear Factor audience disgust, whichever comes first.

[cheeseandchocolate]

Like a lot of things in life, the best way to gain entry into a durian is through the back. 

Laksa, you make morning so much more exciting!

By the way, the "innards" of the durian look a bit foie gras-ish...what is the texture like?

[Laksa]

By the way, the "innards" of the durian look a bit foie gras-ish...what is the texture like?

I would say the texture is more like foie gras terrine than whole foie. Not only is it buttery, but sticky as well, and melts and spreads easily in your mouth. It may not be apparent in the picture, but there's a "skin" on the pulp, which has a similar texture to bean curd skin.

The taste is sweet like honey, but the nose is garlicky and minerally. If you're lucky, you can sometimes get durians with bitter, alcoholic undertones - those are the ones I like best.

[RSincere]

Oh, boy. And I thought I was courageous for trying capers.