KUCHING, Aug 27: The savoury sweet Mee Jawa Sarawak or Sarawak Javanese Noodles has long been present in the local food scene.
Given its name, it likely draws its culinary influence from the Javanese community which hails from Java, Indonesia, perhaps from those who migrated to Malaysia and Sarawak in the late 19th century and the late 1940s as contract labourers to work in rubber estates and reside in Kuching.
However the dish was created, Mee Jawa Sarawak found local acceptance and was integrated into local food culture.
Naturally, the dish’s incarnations have been shaped over the years by local food trends, availability of local ingredients and the peculiarity of local tastebuds.
The most common version of this flavourful noodle dish is blanched yellow egg noodles smothered with a delicious sweet potato gravy made from a concoction of selected fried spices, blended herbs and dried prawns mixed in beef or chicken stock. The sauce may also be thickened with blended sweet potato and seasoned with salt, palm sugar and tamarind paste juice.
The dish is often served with slices of fried beancurd, half a hard-boiled egg, bean sprouts, grounded peanuts, fried shallots, cut red or green chilli and cut spring onion or coriander leaves. It may also come with sticks of chicken, beef, or mutton satay and a generous helping of creamy peanut sauce, adding heft to what is already a satiating meal.
For this writer, the experience of eating Mee Jawa Sarawak would not be complete without the addition of satay and he also prefers to drizzle a little dark soy sauce together with a squeeze of lime juice over the sweet potato sauce before digging into the dish.
Among the stalls in Kuching where one can find delectable Mee Jawa Sarawak is Ohana, which is operated by the friendly husband-and-wife team of Patrick Then and Frances Lau.
Then and Lau have many years of experience in the food and beverage industry, and learned the trade from family members and friends.
“My wife and her partners used to manage a cafe before, and they have prepared many types of dishes. But I was behind the scenes as I had a 9-to-5 job. Mee Jawa was among the dishes they served in the cafe,” Then told the writer when met at his stall recently.
“She later stopped operating the cafe, and since I retired from my job, I was free and decided to get involved full-time in the food business.
“We had scaled down to a stall and narrowed the menu to a few dishes, including Mee Jawa. It is better to do selected dishes in a stall to keep the workload at a minimum. This way, we can personally serve our customers,” he disclosed.
Then explained that they included Mee Jawa on their menu as the dish appealed to a wide spectrum of customers and there are not many other stall operators in the vicinity serving the dish.
“Mee Jawa is mostly served by Muslim stalls, but food operators like us can serve this delectable dish to our customers. Preparing the noodles and ingredients is easy and not labour-intensive.
Then elaborated that his role is to prepares the ingredients and his wife will assemble the various components of the dish onto a plate before pouring hot gravy over it and serving the freshly prepared dish to the customer.
“Everything we do is a team effort to lighten everyone’s burden. We are retirees basically,” he jested.
Then revealed that he used sweet potato to make the gravy as sweet potato purée imparts a sweeter flavour and a thicker texture to the gravy.
He also disclosed that he gets his ready-made Mee Jawa paste and ingredients from a supplier at a community market.
“She (the supplier) will mix all the right proportions of the spices for me to make the paste, and I will do the rest in terms of the cooking and mixing of the puréed sweet potato later. This way, I can ensure consistency in my Mee Jawa gravy,” he explained.
At Then and Lau’s stall, a Normal Mee Jawa is priced at RM5.50, and a Special Mee Jawa which comes with chicken satay is priced at RM7.
“This Special Mee Jawa is my signature dish and is more popular than the Normal Mee Jawa. I think it is because of the fried chicken satay that goes well with the set, and it is a complete meal.
“The chicken meat is marinated overnight to enhance the taste and skewered onto a stick before it is fried. I place it with the rest of the toppings before serving the customer,” Then added.
The stall also serves Nasi Lemak (Normal and Special Sets), Fried Chicken Curry Rice, Cantonese Noodles, Fried Bee Hoon with Mani Cai and others.
Ohana is at Chong & Low Cafe at BDC Commercial Centre. It operates daily from 7am to 1pm except on Wednesdays. For any inquiries, call 019 887 0596. — DayakDaily
