JOHOR BAHRU – Otak otak, laksa Johor and telur pindang have been gazetted as heritage foods of Johor.

Telur pindang comprises eggs boiled with herbs and spices. The dish is popular at wedding feasts.

Laksa Johor, meanwhile, comprises thick yellow noodles drenched in a thick gravy. 

Mr K. Raven Kumar, chairman of the state tourism, environment, heritage and culture committee, said the Johor government, through Yayasan Warisan Johor, is going through a list of foods to pick more dishes to represent the state.

Among the significant dishes in the Malaysian southern state are mee rebus, kacang pool (broad bean stew), lontong kering (dry lontong) and briyani gam (briyani rice cooked with marinated meat).

“The delicacy we pick must meet several criteria. The dishes must be unique and originally from Johor. This is important so that when people taste the food, they immediately associate it with the state,” Mr Raven Kumar said when contacted.

Last week, Selangor announced its plan to gazette satay as its heritage food.

Selangor State Heritage and Malay Customs Corporation chairman Borhan Aman Shah was quoted as saying that satay, despite being widely available nationwide, is most popular in the Selangor district of Kajang.

On another matter, Mr Raven Kumar said the state government will hold discussions with the relevant ministries and airlines on increasing the number of international routes at Senai International Airport.

“Based on the data, Johor receives a high number of foreign tourists from China, India, Japan and South Korea, among others.

“Our tourism industry is improving and we want it to do better. This is why we want to increase the air routes,” he added.

Mr Raven Kumar said that currently, Senai airport has flights to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Bangkok in Thailand, Jakarta and Surabaya in Indonesia, and Guangzhou in China.

“We are looking at opening more routes to China and India,” he added. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK