Sarawak Laksa is a Sarawak gastronomic
experience originated in Kuching after the World War II.
A bowl of Sarawak Laksa is
essentially rice vermicelli, shredded omelet, cooked prawns, and shredded chicken,
with sambal and lime served on the side.
According to the local, it all began
from a Chinese Teochew named Goh Lik Teck when he first selling a noodle dish
along Kuching’s Carpenter Street in 1945.
A good Sarawak Laksa comes from a
good laksa soup. And the soup is a
combination of sambal belacan, shallots, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, chilies,
and a host of spices.
In the 1960s, an entrepreneur Tan Yong
Him produced a laksa paste under the swallow brand (cap layan-layang). The
first customers were the students of St. Joseph's Primary School in Kuching,
whom would later bring their childhood food all around the world.
Tan Yong Him’s business is now
managed by his third son, Tan Boon Kiat.
Barrett Tan, another of Tan Yong Him’s
son, came out with his own label of Sarawak Laksa : Barrett’s using his father’s
recipe. Barretts’s laksa comes with a
bantam rooster as the brand.