LOCAL SHARING - MY SPICY MEMORY BY HELENA HENRY

The first few months after I left Miri in 1992 for my studies in the Pearl of the Orient (Pulau Pinang), I was really homesick. In Penang, I had a kind Malay family as my foster family. All the family members were very warm, and they did all they could to ease my homesickness.

I still remember vividly how my foster mother taught me to cook one of their famous dishes, Penang Laksa. One of the main ingredients (I should say crucial) for Penang Laksa are the chillies. In West Malaysia they refer to it as “ Cabai Melaka”. It contributes a hot and spicy taste to the laksa gravy (“Kuah”). Back in Miri I had never eaten spicy food. The first time I tasted the Penang Laksa, I had tears in my eyes. Surprisingly, I find it delicious.

Back to the story, my foster mother asked me to prepare all the necessary ingredients which include onions, shallots and chillies. After chopping the chillies, I rounded them all up with my bare hands and put them aside. My foster mother looked at me incredulously but didn’t say anything.

I continued to prepare the gravy by extracting the fish essence (putting the fish with its bones still intact) into the blender and then cooked it with some water tarmarine juice and other spices. Garnishing included the “bunga kantan”, mint leaves and chopped big onions. I was pretty satisfied with the end result and my foster family also congratulated me for my successful first attempt in cooking Penang Laksa.

That night I couldn’t sleep soundly, not because of the excitement but because my hands were “burning”. The sensation of the heat was unbearable. Everyone laughed at me. My foster mother said I should not have “grabbed the chopped chillies (“Cabai Melaka with my bare hands. I guess I had under-estimated the power of West Malaysian chillies.

The next time if my friends ask me to cook laksa for them, I will opt for the Laksa Sarawak instead.

Instant Laksa

With the instant laksa paste, you only need to need to prepare the following : -

• Noodles (Mee Hoon)
• Taugeh
• Fresh Prawns
• Coconut Milk