Sup Gamat is another unique dish found in Langkawi Island, Kedah. Gamat is a marine life found in the waters of Langkawi. Gamat is also very famous in traditional Malay medicine because of its unique properties, such as healing internal wounds, treating heart disease, and used as a massage oil. However, the availability of gamat is dwindling, with a rising focused on its use for other commercial areas, such as manufacturing balms and massage oils. Consequently, its appeal as a culinary dish has decreased. Gamat is delicious when cooked as a soup, providing a comforting warmth with each sip. The gamat’s flesh is also soft and chewy and tastes like squid. The longer the gamat is boiled, the softer the texture will be. Before cooking, gamat needs to be soaked first until it expands. Then its flesh is removed before boiling it for 30 to 60 minutes. Afterwards, the flesh is thinly and finely cut so that it is easy to chew before being cooked with spices and other ingredients. To prepare this dish, fenugreek mixed with slices of red onion, garlic and ginger will be stir-fried before being added to the gamat stew, along with other ingredients.
Langkawi
Langkawi is an archipelago district within the state of Kedah. This island is rich in natural beauty and ancient legends. It has established itself as one of Malaysia’s most popular tourist destinations. These islands have an intriguing heritage of myths and legends, including tales of giants and the mythical Garuda bird, heroes and celestial princesses, as well as wars and love stories. The myth that is often associated with Langkawi is the ‘Legend of Mahsuri’, a woman with white blood. In the past, Langkawi Island also once served as an ancient Royal Port of Kedah.
District Heritage Food:
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Sup Gamat
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Kerabu Beronok
Sup Gamat
Kerabu Beronok
Kerabu Beronok is an exceptional food from marine life that can only be found on Langkawi Island, Kedah. Nevertheless, some also say that Kerabu Beronok is very popular in southern Thailand. Beronok is said to be the same species as sea urchin, and it is also known as sea potato, giant leech, or sea cucumber. There are two types of beronok: beach beronok and beronok that lives in the sea. Kerabu Beronok is an exotic food of Langkawi Island, back in the day, it was served at feasts and festivals. Beronok is a susceptible animal that should not be exposed to heat. If exposed to heat, it will melt and turn into salt water. It also cannot last long after being prepared and needs to be eaten immediately or stored in the refrigerator after mixing with other ingredients. Dishes made with beronok can only be enjoyed in Langkawi and either eaten raw or made into kerabu with young mangoes, cashew sprouts, young papaya and other ingredients. The texture of beronok is slightly different between a young and an old beronok. The young beronok is quite crunchy, salty, soft, and slightly chewy, while the old berenok is hard and sticky. The colour is also different; the young beronok is grey, while the old beronok is brownish. The fishermen often release old beronok back into the sea and only catch the young beronok to sell or cook.
Recipe
Sup Gamat
Ingredients
- Gamat sea cucumber – 2 pieces (boiled and sliced finely)
- Cooked Gamat sea cucumber water – 1 cup
- Lemongrass – 2 stalks (pounded coarsely)
- Cinnamon and star anise – 2 pieces each
- Cardamom – 3 pieces
- Soup Spices in a sachet – 1 piece
- Ginger root – 2-inch (sliced finely)
- Shallots – 3 bulbs (sliced finely)
- Garlic – 3 bulbs (sliced finely)
- Vermicelli suhun – 1 tie
- Green parsley leaves – 2 stems (sliced finely)
- Salt to taste
Directions
- Soak the gamat overnight and remove the stomach contents before cleaning them with water.
- Boil the gamat until soft and save the water to make soup.
- The gamat, which is already soft, is sliced into thin slices.
- Then, stir-fry slices of ginger, red and white onions, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, soup spices in a sachet, and lemongrass into the pot.
- Then, add the gamat broth, vermicelli suhun and the thinly sliced gamat to the stir-fry.
- In a separate pot, saute the red onion, garlic and ginger until golden brown. This stir-fry is called ground stir-fry.
- Then, mix the ground stir-fry into the pot containing the soup earlier and put slices of parsley into the pot.
- Season the soup with salt, and it is ready to be eaten.
Recipe
Kerabu Beronok
Ingredients
- Beronok sea cucumber – 1 cup (sliced finely)
- Gajus leaves – 1 tie stem (sliced finely)
- Cemumar leaves – 1 tie stem (sliced finely)
- Selom leaves – 1 tie stem (sliced finely)
- Small sour mango – 2 pieces (sliced finely)
- Shallots – 5 bulbs (sliced finely)
- Holland onions – 1 bulb (sliced finely)
- Toasted coconut paste – 3 tablespoons
- Lemongrass – 1 stalk (sliced finely)
- Ginger root – 1-inch (sliced finely)
- Dried chillies paste – 3 tablespoons
- Red chillies – 2 sprigs (pounded)
- Bird’s eye chillies – 6 sprigs (pounded)
- Black pepper powder – 1 teaspoon
- Lime juice – ½ cup
- Toasted grated coconut – ½ cup
- Toasted rice – 2 tablespoons (blended)
- Salt to taste
- Dried shrimp – 1-inch (toasted and pounded)
- Sugar to taste
Directions
- Prepare the ingredients that need to be cut, sliced, peeled and ground except for the beronok sea cucumber. Separate the ingredients.
- Wash and clean thoroughly before cutting the beronok sea cucumber in half. Clean away all of the mud in the body.
- Slice it thinly to make it easy to eat.ewash it with lime juice. Make sure there is no more mud sticking.
- Combine all the ingredients that have been cut, mixed, sliced and ground into one container. Mix the ingredients until well combined.
- Then, put the thinly sliced beronok into the bowl until all the ingredients are incorporated.
- Season with salt, lime juice and sugar so that the salty, sweet and sour taste can be tasted to the liking.
- Kerabu beronok is ready to serve.
- Make sure this kerabu is eaten within 4 hours after preparation. If not eaten, put it in the refrigerator so the kerabu can be stored longer.
