Pretty close…

One can get to eat Kuching laksa, otherwise known as Sarawak laksa, most anywhere in the country and even overseas. I heard that they were selling it in Auckland, New Zealand for NZD15.00 a bowl! *faints* Of course, whether it is anything like the real thing is another question altogether.

Here in Sibu, there is no problem going for a bowl but as far as I know, there is only one here that is like the good ones in Kuching. There are some nice ones, some very popular even, but somehow, in my opinion, they are not quite the same, very nice but different.

When my girl was still in the school in the jungle, during that time when she had to abstain from anything not gluten-free, I bought her two packets of this…

They had it in big packs of five before but it looks like they now have it individually though I would not say I liked their choice of colours or design. Surely they could employ somebody to design something a lot more attractive than that. She had not cooked them to eat by the time she got her transfer to a school in town so we took them home.

Inside the pack, you will find the bihun and three sachets – one containing the seasoning, another the coconut cream in powder form and the third one, the sambal laksa…

I cooked a packet sometime ago, throwing everything into the pot once the water started boiling and it came out as one gooey mess, not a sight to behold even though it tasted all right. That was why when I cooked the second pack the other morning, I boiled the bihun first and drained it well before putting it in a bowl…

I also fried an omelette and cut it into very thin strips to add to it.

Next, I boiled some prawns and once cooked, I fished them out to go into the bowl…

There is shredded chicken too in the real thing but it was my no-meat Friday and we did not have any taugeh (bean sprouts) in the fridge at that point in time.

I kept the water in which I had boiled the prawns to use as stock and I put in the contents of the three sachets. Once ready, I poured the broth/soup into the bowl…

…and garnished it with chopped daun sup (Chinese parsley) from my garden.  There is no need to sieve the broth but at the bottom, there will be a bit of the residue of the sambal.  What I did was I poured it slowly and carefully and once I had almost reached the bottom where the residue was, I just poured that away.

I would say that it was nice…

…nicer than those at some of the shops here but the broth was a tad too salty for me. Perhaps, I should have used half of the seasoning or add more water and use my own bihun for another bowl.

I can’t remember how much I paid for them now and I would not say it was a must-buy and a must-eat but I guess if one is too lazy to go out to the shops or living some place where one cannot get to eat this easily or the ones available suck big time, then this is a pretty close substitute.