JOHOR
- Vievrillyncia Jakimin
- Dec 13, 2023
- 1 min read
Muafakat Johor!
1. Laksa Johor
Photo: Adobe stock
The backstory of this spicy noodle soup is interesting as it roots back in Italy. It was believed that the former ruler of Johor, Sultan Sir Abu Bakar was visiting Europe when he fell in love with spaghetti during his pitstop in Italy, 1885. Once he returned to his land, he instruct his cook to make a spaghetti and they end up with a yummy combo of traditional laksa gravy served together with spaghetti, that later called Laksa Johor.
This dish is basically spaghetti combined with traditional Malay Laksa broth. It might seem to be a simple dish but this delicacy is seldomly found in resturant as it is a laborious dish. It is due to the making of Laksa broth as it consists of ground fish paste, herbs, chillies, spices and a mix of fresh vegetables. With all the right ingredients, we will end up with an interesting blend of sweet, tangy, spicy and savoury flavours!
Here is a full step by step on how to make this East-West food fusion!
2. Kacang Pool
Photo: mStar https://www.mstar.com.my/lokal/semasa/2017/10/20/kacang-pool
Kacang Pool is a stewed spice beans completed by savoury meat or egg. It is also inspired from another country in the Middle Eastern, which is Foul Mudammas. Foul Mudammas is a stewed broad or fava beans that served as breakfast with some pitas. In contrary, Kacang Pool is more of a lunch or dinner dish. The story of how it end up in Johor is almost similar to Laksa Johor's. From Sultan Sir Abu Bakar's visit in Port Said, he fell in love with Foul Mudammas and bring the recipe to Johor.
Kacang Pool must have these three main spices; Coriander Seeds, Fennel Seeds and Cumin. These spices are dry toasted, then stewed for about 20 to 30 minutes and then added with water to rehydrate it. These steps is important to really bring the flavours out.
Don't just imagine the taste and the texture, Make it and Taste it!
3 . Mee Bandung
Photo: ResepiCheNom
https://resepichenom.com/resepi/mee-bandung-sempoi/show
Sharing the same name with Bandung City in Indonesia, you might think it originates from Indonesia and brought by Sultan Sir Abu Bakar from one of his visits there. If you guessed that, then you are wrong. Despite from having this name, this wet noodle is actually originate in Muar, one of the city in Johor.
This dish is a mix of yellow noodle and thick, spicy-sweet sauce which then added with prawns, slivers of beef, poached eggs and sprinkling of dices scallions and crunchy dried onions. The sauce will blew your mind with it's bold umami taste. This is all thanks to the sauce. The sauce is made of garlics, shallots, dried chilli paste, yellow onions, beef, prawn stock and pounded dried shrimp.
Someone is hungry, here is a tutorial video of Mee Bandung, Happy Cooking!
Resource
1. Laksa Johor
Johor Traditional Food – Malay Food Heritage. (n.d.). https://flagship.iium.edu.my/malay-food-heritage/traditional-food/johor-traditional-food/
Cheema, S. (2021, September 3). Get to know the unique history behind Malaysia’s 120-year-old Laksa Johor. Mashable SEA. https://sea.mashable.com/culture/17366/get-to-know-the-unique-history-behind-malaysias-120-year-old-laksa-johor
The Royal Laksa Johor. (2013, November 26). Makansutra. https://makansutra.com/the-royal-laksa-johor/
2. Kacang pool
Peggy Loh. Johor’s Kacang Pool Haji. (2015). My Johor Stories. https://ppunlimited.blogspot.com/2015/04/johors-kacang-pool-haji.html
AbangNara. (2019, November 21). Kacang Pool Berasal Dari Mesir? Ini Sejarah Hidangan Popular Johor Yang Sebenarnya. Beautifulnara -Terkini Dan Sensasi | Beautifulnara -Terkini Dan Sensasi, Gosip, Berita, Informasi & Video Viral Selebriti Malaysia Tempatan. https://beautifulnara.com/kacang-pool-berasal-dari-mesir-ini-sejarah-hidangan-popular-johor-yang-sebenarnya/#google_vignette
(2023). Nomadette.com. https://nomadette.com/baked-beans-kacang-pool/
3 .Mee bandung
No, Mee Bandung Is Not From Bandung. (n.d.). Www.airasia.com. Retrieved December 13, 2023, from https://explore.airasia.com/assets/bltdae67401cfddc586/no-mee-bandung-is-not-from-bandung
