Sarawak Laksa in Singapore: What It Is and Where to Try It
Sarawak laksa is the Kuching version of laksa: a broth built on prawn stock and sambal belacan with a coconut finish, over rice vermicelli with shredded chicken, prawns and omelette strips, lime and coriander on top. It is a different animal from both curry laksa and Katong laksa. In Singapore, the place serving it as a proper restaurant dish is KANTIN at Jewel Changi Airport, where it costs $24.
How it differs from the laksa you know
Katong laksa is thick, coconut-rich and eaten with a spoon. Curry laksa is a curry in bowl form.
Sarawak laksa sits somewhere sharper: the base is a spice paste with belacan, aromatics and only a restrained pour of coconut milk, so it hits sour and umami before it hits creamy. Anthony Bourdain famously called laksa in Kuching breakfast of the gods, and Sarawakians treat their version as its own dish, not a variant.
The tell is the colour, a deep rust rather than orange cream, and the sambal on the side you stir in yourself.
Where to eat it in Singapore
Sarawak laksa appearances in Singapore have mostly been hawker pop-ups and short-lived stalls.
The stable, sit-down version is at KANTIN on level five of Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore's only Bornean restaurant, where it anchors the menu at $24. Theirs comes loaded with prawns, and the broth gets ladled over at the table.
If you prefer it dry, the same kitchen does a Superdry Laksa at $20, the toss-and-eat version, which sounds like heresy and works.
Make it a proper Sarawak meal
Order the laksa with the gula apong chicken satay, three sticks for $14, glazed in nipah palm sugar. Wash it down with a Sarawak Teh C Special, the three-layer pull with gula apong at the bottom, or the $12 coconut shake if it is a hot day, which it is.
KANTIN is at #05-206/207 Jewel, open 11am to 10pm, and you can book free on Eventful Tables with seatings up to 9:30pm.
Good to know
· Stir the sambal in a bit at a time. The broth is balanced already, and you can always add more.
· Weekday afternoons are the quiet window at Jewel. Weekend evenings the walkways crawl.
· Pair it with the satay, the palm sugar glaze against the belacan broth is the whole point of the trip.
FAQs
What is Sarawak laksa?
A laksa from Kuching, Sarawak, on Malaysian Borneo. The broth is made from a belacan-based spice paste and prawn stock with a light coconut finish, served over vermicelli with chicken, prawns, omelette strips, lime and coriander.
Where can I eat Sarawak laksa in Singapore?
KANTIN at Jewel Changi Airport, #05-206/207, serves it daily for $24. It is Singapore's only Bornean restaurant.
Is Sarawak laksa spicy?
Mildly, as served. The heat lives in the sambal on the side, so you control it.
Is Sarawak laksa halal in Singapore?
KANTIN's kitchen is not halal and not halal certified, worth knowing before you plan a halal group meal around it.
