Sunday 21 October 2007

Laksa Johor - Johor's Finest Food



We would definitely have Laksa Johor every Eid in JB, we would have it at my grandma's house, and then at my Mak Ngah's (aunt's) house, and if we're lucky, my other aunt from KL would send us the gravy. hers was our favourite. thanks to an anonymous comment in my previous blog entry Seri Muka, asking me to make laksa johor, we managed to get ourselves into preparing and eating this tedious yet delicious and fine dish. i have to be honest here, it was mum and dad who actually made them. credits all should go to them (and my aunt in kl who shared her recipe with mum on the phone a day before Eid.)


Unlike other laksas from other states, Laksa Johor is rarely found in stalls. this dish needs lots of helping hands. you really need more than 1 person to help you out, otherwise you'll be stuck in the kitchen from morning till night. i suppose the more people helping the merrier, especially during the festive season.



We try to make it as traditional as we can, we try to make every bit of it as "Johor" as we can, from shaping the sphagetti, cutting the cucumber to dicing the salted redish to extremely fine and tiny.



Thankfully we found all the ingredients needed - plenty of fish, prawns, salted fish, dried shimps, desicated coconut, coconut milk, dried chillies, chilli powder, curry powder, galangal, lemongrass, onions and garlic, sphaghetti, and for garnishing - cucumber, red chillies and shrimp paste for the sambal, phew leaf (daun kesum), beansprouts, salted redish and lime (couldnt find limau kasturi) it was a complete and wholesome dish!



I have lots of photos to share on this signature Johorian dish - too many in fact. one with Hardy eating, and one with my sister Fifi eating but i will spare them the embarassment. it is our favourite malay dish, so just imagine us eating it full heartedly, heads all down concentrating on what's on the plate, and after every mouthfull we would go"Mmmmm...."



It was all worth the wait, worth the effort, worth waiting for, and worthy to be one of Malays fine dishes. We had the best raya!!


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

mama mia! mmg laksa johor's the best dishes of them all. and best, makan johorian style, minus fork n spoon, eat with hands! sedappppp! so u got both laksas this raya huh...utara n selatan. hehehe. yaya

Lady Gargle said...

Yummy yums! But I'm more of a laksa penang kinda gal but I should try laksa johor lah :)

ZazaHardy said...

yaya: you should have seen us 3 (me, fifi and hardy) makan laksa johor. buruk! haha.. it is indeed the best laksa of all! and yes, its nice to have a both utara laksa and selatan laksa on raya! ;)

frankie: you should definitely give laksa johor a try! but make sure you try the good ones, coz kalau try yang tak betul nya, for sure you wouldnt want to try it again!

Mat Gebu said...

Laksa Johor...Fuhh!!! nak siapkan semua bahan2 dan kuah dia berpeluh kan zaza...tapi bila makan sambil cerita2..gelak2...gurau2..semua penat jadi hilang...Lagi satu u perasan tak zaza, laksa Johor, kalau kuah dia tak habis kita boleh magic kan dia jadi 'serunding ikan'....tabik kat u zaza..!!!!

drNO said...

i just love laksa johor. tp my hubby x suka. so each time I made some, it's only me eating it. x syiok la mkn sorg2.
anyway, I love all kind of laksa- hantu laksa..:):):)

ZazaHardy said...

mat g: kita tak tau kuah laksa tu boleh buat serunding ikan! thank youuuuu so much for telling me!

drno: i know what you mean, makan sorang memang tak syiok! some people might not like laksa johor coz it's too fishy. i've tried laksa johor, laksa penang, laksam (kelantan), laksa asam.. havent tried sarawak's kedah's... ada lagi ke?

mommy@lif said...

drooling!! how to slice cucumber macam tu? and cud you please please share your johor-style laksa recipe?

zaza, looks like your raya dishes were even better than some of us!

Ajzie said...

Laksa Johorrr.. yummy memang sedapppp..

Anonymous said...

Dear Zaza,
TQ so much for taking into consideration of my comments in your previous post. I knew you definitely can do it!! and in fact u did much better than i am. Wish u cud share the recipe with all of us here..

ZazaHardy said...

mommy@lif: you cut the cucumber to 3, cut all the skin and then you slice them thinly, following the shape of the cucumber, going round and round and round!! (that should be a challenge!)

i will write on the recipe on a special blog entry on it k? if you could bear with me. but the thing is, i dont know the exact ingredients, so if you dont mind...

ajzie: raya makan apa k.ajzie?

anonymous: thank you so much for mentioning! if not for you, we wouldnt consider making it! i honestly really dont mind sharing the recipe, if you dont mind that i dont have the exact measurements and quantities! will do a special write up on this soon k? so if you can please bear with me? i'd really appreciate it!

Vkay Lani said...

Hai Zaza, Just happened to stumble on your blog. What a pleasant surprise! Just as I was thinking of your mum, then you appear. Dapat juga aunty tengaok anak Zaza ya. How's mum n dad. I am trying to get in touch with your mum. Pls give me her ctc no.(I've been trying to ctc her umpteen times but cannot get thru. Send my regards to Fifiand email me fifi's family photo and yours too. Mana lah tahu, terseradong nanti , tak kenal pula. My email is fjelani@gmail.com...Love Aunty Kepol

Anonymous said...

we plan to make laksa johor for this coming Aidil Adha, tapi dah lama tak buat, so ni baru browse net nak cari resepi.
nak tau camne nak shape spaghetti cam dlm photo u tu

Anonymous said...

hi zaza
caya la....ni baru kata laksa johor jati but i think u should try with basil(daun selasih) not kesum...cuba la lg sedap

Unknown said...

Hi, Zaza. I was looking for Laksa Johor recipe online and chanced upon your blog. May I know how you shaped the spaghetti the way they're presented in the picture?

ZazaHardy said...

guys, thanks for popping by. it is so difficult to describe how to shape the spaghetti. but you gotta make sure that they are in a pot with luke warm water. it helps. you gotta pull the pasta with one hand and then your other hand will help to support it (the middle) and twist it. make sure that your plates are ready to serve! (gosh, told you it was hard!) good luck! hope it helps!

p.s: it takes A LOT of practice! my grandmother can do it real fast, and so can my mum! mine is still messy!! need to cook more laksa!