The Johor government is set to gazette two signature dishes — namely asam pedas and laksa Johor — as heritage dishes, The Star Online reports.
State Youth, Sports, Culture and Heritage committee chairman Datuk Zulkurnain Kamisan confirmed that the state government had agreed to gazette the two dishes as they help put Johor on the food map.
Zulkurnain told the news portal that gazetting asam pedas was like patenting the hot and spicy gravy as they are many types of asam pedas in Malaysia.
“Johor’s asam pedas is different from Malacca’s but every one knows the basic ingredients which go into the dish,” he was quoted as saying.
The laksa Johor dish, meanwhile, used only spaghetti instead of laksa noodles after the late Sultan Abu Bakar visited Italy and reportedly introduced it to the royal household.
“Try replacing spaghetti with yellow noodles or other types of noodles for laksa Johor, it does not taste the same as the original laksa Johor,” he was quoted as saying.
Apart from asam pedas and laksa Johor, the state will also reportedly gazette the zapin, a traditional dance, and baju Melayu Teluk Belanga, which is a traditional men’s attire.
