Sarawak Laksa

About This Recipe

Sarawak laksa is the dish Anthony Bourdain famously called 'breakfast of the gods'. It comes from Kuching, the capital of Sarawak on Malaysian Borneo, and is utterly distinct from its better-known curry laksa or asam laksa cousins. The broth is a complex paste of dried shrimp, lemongrass, galangal, candlenuts, and sambal belacan, simmered with prawn stock and coconut milk into a smoky, savoury, lightly spicy soup — never as creamy or yellow as curry laksa. The bowl is built with rice vermicelli, poached prawns, shredded chicken, beansprouts, omelette ribbons, fresh cilantro, and a generous spoonful of extra sambal stirred in by the eater. A wedge of calamansi lime finishes the bowl. It is one of Southeast Asia's most balanced soups — savoury, sour, fragrant, hot, fresh.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 500 glarge head-on shrimp
• 2 Lwater
• 1 smallchicken breast
• 30 gdried shrimp, soaked in hot water 15 minutes
• 6shallots
• 5 clovesgarlic
• 3 stalkslemongrass, white parts only
• 1 thumbgalangal
• 1 thumbfresh turmeric (or 1 tsp ground)
• 6dried red chilies, soaked and seeded
• 4candlenuts (or macadamias)
• 1 tbspbelacan (Malaysian shrimp paste), dry-toasted
• 2 tbsptamarind paste
• 1 tbsppalm sugar
• 400 mlcoconut milk
• 5 tbspneutral oil
• 400 grice vermicelli (bee hoon), soaked until soft
• 3eggs, beaten and made into thin omelettes, then sliced into ribbons
• 200 gbeansprouts, blanched 10 seconds
• 1 bunchfresh cilantro
• 6calamansi limes (or regular limes), halved
• extra sambal belacan to serve

Instructions

1. 1

   Make prawn stock

   Peel the shrimp, reserving heads and shells. In a wide pot, dry-fry the heads and shells over high heat, crushing them, until deep orange — about 5 minutes. Add water and simmer 30 minutes. Strain; you should have about 1.5 L.

2. 2

   Poach chicken

   Simmer the chicken breast in the strained stock for 15 minutes until just cooked. Lift out, cool, then shred.

3. 3

   Make rempah (spice paste)

   Drain the soaked dried shrimp. Blend with shallots, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, soaked chilies, candlenuts, and toasted belacan into a smooth, slightly wet paste, adding splashes of water as needed.

4. 4

   Fry the paste

   Heat oil in a wide pot. Add rempah and cook on medium-low, stirring constantly, for 15–20 minutes until the oil rises clearly to the top and the paste is fragrant, deep brick-red, and slightly jammy.

5. 5

   Build the soup

   Pour the prawn stock into the fried paste. Add tamarind and palm sugar. Simmer 20 minutes. Taste and adjust — laksa should be savoury, slightly sweet, gently sour, with a low warmth, not a burn.

6. 6

   Finish with coconut

   Stir in coconut milk and warm through; do not boil hard or it may split. Adjust salt.

7. 7

   Poach the prawns

   Slide peeled prawns into the gently simmering broth. Cook 2 minutes until just opaque. Pull them out and reserve.

8. 8

   Assemble bowls

   Place softened vermicelli in each warm bowl. Top with shredded chicken, prawns, beansprouts, omelette ribbons, and cilantro. Ladle the hot broth over.

9. 9

   Serve

   Serve at once with a halved calamansi and a small dollop of extra sambal belacan on the rim of each bowl. The eater squeezes lime, stirs in the sambal, and adjusts the bowl to taste.

Variations

• •

  Use rice vermicelli with a side of rice cakes for a heartier version.

• •

  Vegetarian: replace prawn stock with kombu-shiitake stock and skip the belacan; substitute fermented black bean paste.

• •

  Add chinkiang vinegar for a Sino-Sarawak twist.

Storage

Refrigerate broth and toppings separately up to 3 days. Reassemble bowls fresh; never let the noodles sit in the broth.

Frequently Asked Questions