Lore of the JUNGLE

The "breakfast of the gods is just the beginning of BELINDA JACKSON's culinary adventure into the rainforest foods of Sarawak, in Malaysian Borneo.

- BELINDA JACKSON

Mornings start gently in Kuching, in eastern Malaysia. The chill of twilight burns away quickly to leave the air thick and comforting, lulling all into a slow-moving entrance to the day ahead.

This colourful little city, with its alleyways of pastel-coloured Chinese shophouses, is gently carved in two by the Sarawak River. Old men row long, covered boats from shore to shore, ferrying neatly pressed office workers to the town centre, and it's fair to say that I'm not feeling any rush in Kuching's rush hour.

But first: a little geography lesson. Kuching is the capital of Sarawak, one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo, which is carved up between Malaysia, Indonesia and little Brunei.

The only sign of energy I spy this morning is in Kuching's breakfast cafés, where woks flash and tea brews.

While Malaysians are eating, they are planning the next meal. Or maybe a post-prandial snack. It's a pattern I've happily fallen into.

My day starts with a small bowl of Sarawak laksa at my little hotel, The Ranee, which overlooks the river in downtown Kuching. I stop to investigate a congee stand – there’s my second breakfast – on the way to what will become my third breakfast, another bowl of Sarawak laksa, this time at Choon Hui café. This neighbourhood kopitiam, with its plastic tables and chairs, is Malaysia’s foodie ground zero – it’s where the late Anthony Bourdain tasted, then hoisted Sarawak laksa up onto the world stage, declaring it “the breakfast of the gods”.

I later find Sarawak laksa on a dinner menu at Cove 55, Sawarak’s top boutique hotel, 30 minutes’ drive north of Kuching on the Santubong Peninsula, once a notorious pirate hotspot (and still notorious for its resident crocodiles).