Sunday, December 17, 2006

Sarawak Laksa

C says:

We’ve finally found a place in Singapore that sells Sarawak laksa again. I discovered this dish through my grandmother, who still makes the best one I’ve had, but since I can’t ask her to cook it all the time, it’s been an ongoing quest to find somewhere, anywhere in Singapore, that sells this. There was a stall ages ago in China Square, S will remember, but it closed down after a while.

This set the trend for all other Sarawak laksa stalls that I managed to find. I’d find one, be thrilled and have it once, and the next time I went back it would have closed down. I guess Singaporeans may be used to local or even Penang laksa, but Sarawak laksa is still unknown to almost everyone. It has a taste that I simply cannot accurately describe – it’s not sour like Penang laksa, nor rich like local laksa. It’s just… different. It’s like a curry noodle but not as rich. It’s a dish that has to be tasted to be understood.

You can imagine my delight when I realized there was a Sarawak stall in one of the food courts near my in-laws’ place. The corner stall sells only Sarawak laksa and Sarawak Kolo mee. We went on Sunday and decided to try both dishes. The Sarawak laksa really hit the spot – it was really authentic, down to the thin beehoon used, and the garnishing of taugeh, chicken, prawns and sliced omelette.

As for the Kolo mee, it was the first time I’ve tried it, which is apparently a Sarawak take on won ton mee. It’s chewy egg noodles tossed with onion and char siew oil, and served with char siew, minced pork and some vegetables. At first glance it seems a little colourless and bland, but after a mouthful I was pleasantly surprised. The noodles are delightfully springy, and it tasted very uncomplicated and clean, yet still had a subtle flavour of the char siew oil. It may not be all that healthy but it certainly tasted so.

I do hope this stall sticks around for a while. I’ve recently read that a few more Sarawak restaurants/stalls have been popping up, so I hope I can get a more regular fix of my Sarawak laksa and now, kolo mee.

A says:

C can have the Sarawak laksa since I prefer the Katong version. I’m a big fan of the kolo mee though. Simple clean taste mixes well with char siew oil. Think we’ll come back now and then since it’s near my folks’ place. Mad props to my mum for pointing this place out!

Sarawak Laksa stall
Block 130, Jurong East

3 comments:

2 Kindness said...

Hi! Just want to know if the sarawak laksa stall is still at Jurong East now? Do you still patronise it? How is the taste?

atetoomuch said...

Yes it's still there, or at least it was when we last went about a month or so ago. It's still good, though lately I've been having the kolo mee there, not the sarawak laksa.

Anonymous said...

sarawak laksa and kolo mee are just delicious. eat then u know