Who would think that Langkawi’s Exotic: Kerabu Bronok could win the hearts of jury, which in one fell swoop enabled Mr. Muhammad Shah Kamal Ideris to clinch the gold medal at the World Chefs Championship Competition, Malaysia 2019 at the Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium, Alor Setar.
The World Chefs Championship Competition, Malaysia 2019 was listed in the Malaysia Book of Records (MBOR) with 2,300 participants from 20 countries around the world competing in 80 categories.
Fellow lecturer from the School of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management (STHEM), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), decided to highlight the recipe with the intention of promoting the Malay food heritage to the world.
“This is the right time to promote Bronok which is the exotic food of the people of Langkawi as the competition involves more than 20 entries from countries around the world such as Japan, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Brunei and Thailand.
“Bronok is a unique species of brownish pinkish sea urchin, fragile, it tastes rather salty. Bronok can be eaten raw and made tastier if it is made to salad but it cannot be cooked because they will turn into water,” he said.
According to him, the Bronok recipe used desiccated coconut, dried chillies, onions, shrimp paste and coconut milk, which gave it an amazing taste like none other.
He further added that Langkawi’s Exotic: Kerabu Bronok was one of the recipes found in the Kedah Iconic Food book, which was still in the process of being compiled. He also expressed hope that the unique and delicious food can be turned into a heritage or iconic food of the state of Kedah someday.
He also received a bronze medal for the category of Malay Cuisine (Traditional) Kelantan-themed Family Meal.