JOHOR BARU: Johor is searching for the best asam pedas in the state, and the winning dish will be gazetted a heritage dish.
State health, culture and heritage committee chairman Mohd Khuzzan Abu Bakar said there were too many versions of the hot and spicy dish, with households in the 10 districts each having their own way of preparing it.
“Other Malaysian states also have their asam pedas version, as do our neighbours Indonesia and Singapore, ’’ he said.
“We are planning to organise a cooking competition to search for the best asam pedas in Johor, ’’ Mohd Khuzzan said.
“The winning recipe will then be gazetted as a heritage dish.
Johor does not intend to claim asam pedas as being exclusive to the state or even start a food war.
“We just want others to continue to enjoy the dish, ” he added.
Common ingredients for asam pedas are dried chillies, shallots, tamarind juice, garlic, turmeric, ginger, galangal, lemongrass, belacan (shrimp paste) and daun kesom (laksa leaves).
Some also add black pepper for extra spiciness and kerisik (pounded desiccated coconuts) to thicken the gravy.
Mohd Khuzzan said while the basic ingredients were almost similar minus the galangal, Johor asam pedas or better known as kuah lada (chilli gravy) only has daun kesom in the dish.
“We do not add ladies fingers, brinjals, bunga kantan (torch light ginger flower) or sawi jeruk (pickle mustard leaves), ’’ he said.
He said the style of cooking
was also different whereby the spices have to be sautéed until fragrant before adding the fish and then tamarind juice.
“In other states, the tamarind juice will be added after the spices are cooked till fragrant, followed by the fish just as the gravy starts to boil, ’’ said Mohd Khuzzan.
He said apart from asam pedas, Johor also planned to gazette laksa Johor, nasi briyani, sambal goreng, botok-botok, nasi ambeng, lontong and mee bandung as heritage dishes.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
