LAKSA JOHOR
- Jan 1, 2017
- 3 min read
Every state in Malaysia has it's own twist on the laksa recipe. The base of laksa is white opaque & chewy noodle paired with fish gravy. It is not laksa without the noodle. In Johor (one of 14 states in Malaysia), the brown savoury, and flavourful fish gravy is paired with spaghetti instead of the traditional white noodle. Oh la la! It was said that this pairing has something to do with the former Sultan being married with a European. Whatever the history is, laksa Johor is here to stay. And here's the basic (not traditional) recipe for you try it out.
WHAT YOU NEED
CONDIMENTS
1 packet of spaghetti (boil according to the instruction with salt water)
1 cucumber (julienne)
4-5 strand of long beans (chop to smaller pieces)
2 handful of bean sprout
Wedges of lime
GRAVY
5-6 whole mackerel / sardine (clean thoroughly)
3 pieces of asam keping (tamarind peel) / 1 tbs of asam jawa (tamarind paste)
1 box of coconut milk
1 small packet of kerisik (toasted coconut paste)
3 tbs dried chili paste
2 storks of bunga kantan (torch lily)
A handful of daun kesom (asian basil)
4 tbs of fish curry powder
4 tbs vegetable oil
Salt & sugar for seasoning
BLEND INGREDIENT
3 red onion
4 cloves garlic
A thumb of galangal & ginger
3 tbs dried shrimp (soak in water before blending)
SAMBAL
4-5 tbs dried chilli paste
1/2 a thumb belacan (dried shrimp paste)
3 tbs lime juice
1/2 tbs sugar (blend all of these ingredients together and done!)
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
1. In a pot, throw the fish in and cover it with water. Boil the fish until the flesh separated from the bones with medium high heat.
2. The fish should be ready once the water in the pot starts boiling vigorously. Switch off the stove and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
3. After 10-15 minutes, separate the fillet of the fish from the bones and put the fillet in your blender. DO NOT THROW the fish stock, the fish bones and the fish heads.
4. When done separating both fillet and bone, blend the fillet with half a cup of fish stock. Blend smoothly.
5. Now, put the blend fillet into a bowl and blend the bones and fish heads with 1-2 cups of fish stock or the remaining stock.
6. Blend smoothly until you can see a cloudy, milky, grey-ish liquid. Once done, strain it and keep the water. Throw the rest of the residue. This will add rich sweetness to the gravy.
7. In the mean time, mix the curry with 1/2 a cup of water.
8. Heat the oil in a gravy pot with medium low heat. Once the oil is hot pour in the blended ingredients and let it cook for about 5-8 minutes until the colour turns slightly golden, the oil starts to separate and the smell perfumes the kitchen.
9. Next, pour in the dried chilli paste and stir it around 3 minutes. Stir it well and throw in the curry powder mix. Let it simmer around 5 minutes and continue stirring it. Make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot. If so, scrape it off.
10. Now, pour in the fish bone stock that you've blended and strained earlier. Give it a good stir. When it starts to bubble, throw in the tamarind peel / tamarind paste and the blended fish fillet. At this point, your gravy should thicken up. If it's way to thick, add a bit of water but not to much. The gravy is not suppose to be runny either.
11. Stir it for another 5 minutes and pour in the coconut milk together with the kerisik. Stir it well to make sure that there's no clump of coconut milk and kerisik. Turn the heat to low and add around 1/2 tbs sugar.
12. Lastly add in the bunga kantan and daun kesom. Cooked until bunga kantan softens. Taste your gravy and add salt accordingly. Start with 1tbs of salt and adjust from there. This gravy must be well seasoned. Meaning, the gravy should have that little kick of saltiness because that's how asian cuisine works.
13. After 10 minutes, you can switch off the heat and ready to eat. In a bowl, take a loop or two of spaghetti. Pour in the gravy and include the rest on the condiments. Don't forget the sambal. It'll give that extra kick to the flavour of the whole bowl!
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