Kuching Breakfast Bowl · Coconut-Sambal Broth
Sarawak Laksa
Photo: Tonbi ko / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
The late chef Anthony Bourdain called it the 'breakfast of the gods' on his TV travels, and Kuching's laksa stalls have drawn food pilgrims ever since.
Rice vermicelli is submerged in a broth built from a dense spice paste of dried shrimp, galangal, and lemongrass simmered with coconut milk and tamarind, then topped with shredded chicken, prawns, beansprouts, and thin egg strips, finished with a squeeze of lime and a dollop of sambal belacan. Kuching kopitiams serve it as the city's default breakfast.
Why it's made this way: It's native to Kuching and considered one of the most distinct laksas in Malaysia, built on a spice base found nowhere else in the country and tied specifically to Sarawak's Borneo identity.
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