KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — Plaza Merdeka Management Sdn Bhd explained yesterday that it threw away the record-setting 600kg of Sarawak laksa because the food was already going bad.
Borneo Post quoting general manager Cheah Kheng Mun said the food was cooked on Friday morning for the Malaysia Book of Records and started to emit a foul odour later around 7pm, indicating that the coconut milk-based gravy was already spoilt.
“After the display or mock-up, we cannot simply give away (the laksa) because our advisors said the gravy, which is santan-based (coconut milk), needs to be maintained at a certain temperature,” Cheah was quoted as saying.
The Plaza Merdeka general manager spoke to reporters yesterday during the distribution of 1,500 bowls of freshly packed Sarawak laksa to shoppers.
The mall’s decision to throw away the equivalent of 1,500 bowls of Sarawak laksa was criticised by some who felt it was wrong to bin that amount of food after cooking it for the national record.
According to the local daily, the bowl measuring 1.3 metres deep and 3.1 metres wide contains the Sarawak dish whipped up from various ingredients, including 100kg of Sarawak laksa paste, 225kg of rice noodles, 90kg of prawns, 1,008 eggs, 90kg of bean sprouts, and 80kg of chicken.
Preparation for the dish took 18 hours and involved 15 cooks, the report said.
