Behold! This Coconut Tom Yam Big Prawn Noodle is the latest innovation from Glory Cafe in Sarikei and it’s not just served inside a coconut, it’s cooked with *coconut juice*! I’ve been eating their famous tom yam spin on big prawn noodles since 2008 and it’s worth the hour’s drive from Sibu. It used to retail for RM 14 and was subsequently raised until the current price at RM 33 per bowl (or coconut, rather).
The first time I went, I was so taken by their take on the big prawn noodles that I wrote a glowing review. Strange thing was, the owners actually took notice and printed out my blog post and pasted it on their stall. Thus, the next time I went, they actually served me a complimentary bowl of their tom yam big prawn noodles for the early exposure!
I drove down to Sarikei to show my better half and my dad what this storm in a teacup bowl is all about over the weekend. We just had lunch and wasn’t sure what time Glory Cafe closes so it’s a good thing Joyce got us the number and I called ahead. It used to be cheaper than the notoriously priced RM 35 big prawn noodles in Sibu so people in the know started coming here but it’s now almost the same price.
The Coconut Tom Yam Big Prawn Noodles here tastes a lot better though! They still serve the old version in a bowl instead of inside a coconut but the new coconut variant is better. The updated recipe is actually very sweet and I asked what the difference was – it turns out that they actually use coconut juice instead of water to make the tom yam soup for the big prawn noodles!
There are two different options for prawns/shrimp – RM 25 for a coconut bowl of big white prawn (Litopenaeus vannamei) and RM 33 for the larger giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii). The latter is actually cheaper in Sarikei coz it’s closer to the source and it’s what people here call da tou xia (大头虾) or big head prawn. We went for the latter since it tastes a lot better and it’s the traditional prawn to go into big prawn noodles.
It’s absolutely delicious! My dad was still full so me and my dear shared a coconut bowl of the tom yam big prawn noodles. There’s actually not a lot since the volume inside of a coconut is rather small (the husk makes up a large mass of the actual coconut) but it’s the perfect serving for one.
There’s one large big head prawn inside split into four and about a fistful of noodles but it tastes soooo good – the broth is spicy and savory and sour and sweet at the same time, this really hits all the notes. I wished we ordered a coconut bowl each but that would be too much since we just ate lunch.
We also ordered coconuts for drinks (RM 3.50 each) and my dear tried their new homemade coconut pudding (RM 6). The coconut pudding is very popular – almost every table ordered it, and we wanted to check it out too. It’s made in-house with coconut milk and coconut juice and it’s not the same thing as the coconut jelly that we have in KL and Thailand. It’s sweet and the perfect counter-balance for the tom yam big prawn noodles.
The tao geh nio gave me a strange look when I paid the bill and she said I looked familiar and I told her about how I used to make the hour long drive down just to eat their noodles and wrote the original review they printed out six years ago. Haha. This is a relatively new dish – it was just launched last year so if you haven’t been back in a while, I would highly recommend Glory Cafe’s Coconut Tom Yam Big Prawn Noodles.
It’s definitely worth the time to drive down but keep in mind that they’re very full during weekends and the last order is before 4 pm.
Nice. The prawns must be in season, the price has gone down by RM2.00. Have tried, not going for that ever again…not at those prices. 🙁
Yeah, I finally found out the exact species of what we call da tou xia too! 🙂
It took a lot of research before it was confirmed by a Department of Fisheries official that my dad knows and in fact there’s 28 species of prawns being reared/caught in Sarawak but the two major ones are Macrobrachium rosenbergii (big head prawn) and Litopenaeus vannamei (this one is mostly for export as apparently locals here don’t like it but it’s prized in the US and Australia).
It’s all quite interesting, I must write about it in detail someday, what I thought was two different species (and at one point I thought they were langoustines) are actually just different stages of maturation which is why some have orange claws and some blue claws.
I’ve always liked Glory Cafe’s asam tom yam big prawn noodles and this new recipe inside a coconut and made with coconut juice is very good (and new too – according to the owner, it was introduced late last year) – the ones in the coconut tastes different from the ones in a bowl.
i LOOOVE tom yam!
i know sarikei is famous for its gigantic pineapple statue..didn’t know there’s tom yam too!
You’ll love this then! 🙂
This place is very famous, was the first one to write about it (to the best of my knowledge – don’t know about Chinese language food forums) and I know they printed out my blog post and put it there coz they said a lot of people came after me and were blogging about it too.
It’s a small community, Sarikei.
I love it dear…Thanks for driving us to the little town for this yummylicious tom yam noodles. I also love the coconut pudding, a very refreshing dessert. I remember to bring it back your house but forgotten to eat and glad you remember to finish it.
I’m glad you liked the road trip dear! 🙂
I did say that I was going to bring you to Glory Cafe in Sarikei back when my mom was still alive (the previous time you came to Sibu with me, not the time you came for my mom’s funeral) and we went to Min Kwong Cafe for the expensive RM 35 fish and big prawn noodles.
Oh ya, the coconut pudding, they are promoting it so well that every table has one!
It’s homemade so I’m surprised it didn’t spoil after three days – didn’t remember to eat the leftover until I saw it in the fridge one night.
My dad also enjoyed the road trip very much – so funny the last photo, I think he was annoyed coz the Indonesian waitress asked him to move closer so he had to lift up his chair for the photo. Haha!
You and your dear having same smile lah.
Hey…we have this Tom Yam in coconut dish too. Saw before in Teluk Gong. But the prawns not as big
Yeah, it was a nice trip we made together with my dad! 🙂
Oh that’s great! I’m a huge fan of big prawn noodles, I will go and try it in Teluk Gong. I wonder what kind of prawns they use in Peninsula Malaysia, it might not be the same.
I guess it could be Litopenaeus vannamei (what we call big white prawn and it’s reared/caught mostly for export outside Sarawak coz it’s not popular here but there are some sold here too, it’s just not as coveted) which *DOESN’T* have claws – the ones in the picture is more famous in Sarawak and a Department of Fisheries guy told me about it. Macrobrachium rosenbergii can have no claws, orange claws or blue claws depending on maturity.
That’s the big head prawn that we Sarawakians like and use in our noodles – you can also eat the meat from the antenna/claws coz it’s the size of a pencil, that’s how large it is!
Woohoo …look at the big prawn!! And in a coconut shell ? I am sure it will enhanced the taste of the tom yum. Anyway it doesn’t come cheap though at Rm33. Looks So Yummy !!
Yeah, it’s a big prawn with big claws the size of a pencil! 🙂
You can eat the meat from the claws too, at one point I thought these are langoustines but it’s not (although to my surprise we do have langoustines too, it’s just not that many compared to these two major species that we rear/catch). Yeah, it’s the prawns that makes it expensive, this is a high demand species.
It’s not just served in a coconut shell, this new recipe uses coconut juice instead of water so it’s very sweet. They literally replace the water with coconut juice.
Ok, now you got me going nuts… COCONUT! The prawns are pretty expensive but really gotta try it out first to justify.
Haha! Nice one Gavin! 🙂
Yeah, the big head prawn is an expensive species coz it’s coveted locally in Sarawak. It’s a freshwater species called Macrobrachium rosenbergii – I took great pains to find out the actual scientific name coz I was puzzling over what it was for a long time and now I am certain coz I talked to a Department of Fisheries guy in Sarawak (even he had to refer to a study).
I highly recommend trying the ones in the coconut, it uses coconut juice instead of water when they cook it and that makes the broth sweet.
OMG ITS RM33 now????? I remember my last time there is still RM 28. *faint*
But this is really gooooooooooooooooooooooooood
I think the ones in the bowls may be slightly cheaper! 🙂
The coconut tom yam big prawn noodles is a recent recipe – they invented it late last year, using coconut juice in place of water when they cook so the soup is sweeter and tastes of coconut water.
They still serve the older version (without using coconut juice) that’s served in a bowl though, I just wanted to try the new one coz I’ve eaten the old recipe a lot of times.
Yeah, it’s really good eh? I think it’s the best big prawn noodles around Sibu (including Sarikei and Jakar).
RM33 a bowl, not cheap, BUT I would try it if I have the chance, since it’s so popular there.. And wow, the shop owner actually noticed your blog, printed and pasted it in the shop? Terror la you, haha..The coconut pudding looks really really refreshing, I’m salivating over the pudding (and not the noodles, pffftt, haha)..
Yeah, it’s the one prawn inside that makes it expensive! 🙂
It’s a coveted species around here called “big head prawn” and it’s Macrobrachium rosenbergii – they use the biggest mature adults which has long “antenna” that ends with claws.
The claws are so big that it’s about the size of a pencil and you can pick the flesh off the inside easily. You can see it clearly here:
http://www.sixthseal.com/images/autumn/antenna.jpg
which was taken from this post:
http://sixthseal.com/2008/09/sarikei-road-trip-with-autumn/
coz it’s in a clear bowl while this is in a coconut. I prefer the new coconut recipe though coz it’s not just put in a coconut for decoration, they actually use the coconut juice from inside the coconut to replace water while cooking.
Yeah, they asked me where I was from and why I was taking so many photos the first time I went (were really friendly and curious) so I told them about my blog and they actually went in and printed out the original review I wrote about them 6 years ago and pasted it on their stall.
I remember another place in Kuching that did it too, but I can’t find it, am having some problems with old posts so I had to link castitas.com (my backup site) for the coconut jelly link in this post but I know there was another place that put up my blog post:
http://sixthseal.com/2013/01/secret-of-louisiana-wine-dine-crawfish-dinner/
…but that was temporary for a dinner event. Haha!
The coconut pudding is awesome, they promote it heavily and although it might sound expensive at RM 6, it’s really worth it coz they make it in-house (homemade) and there’s a lot inside the coconut. It’s very tasty too, almost every table ordered one due to the heavy upsell (they even have a large banner outside their shop).
That looks great!
Yup, it’s delicious! 🙂
The big prawn noodles here is my favorite among all the places I’ve been to in and around Sibu.
I think paying RM33 for the tom yam big prawn noodles in a coconut is really worth it. Sounds very delicious!
Yup, it’s worth it if you like eating big prawn noodles! 🙂
I love eating them! There’s only one prawn inside though but it’s a VERY BIG prawn and it even has claws. I went with my better half to another place that serves it in the local Foochow style in Sibu last year when she was here:
http://sixthseal.com/2013/10/the-infamous-rm-35-bowl-of-noodles-in-sibu/
…and I told her I thought it was langoustines but it’s not, I finally finished my mission to get the right name for it – Macrobrachium rosenbergii!
This is a new recipe – last time they used a clear bowl and they just introduced the coconut tom yam big prawn noodles late last year.
Yeah, it’s really delicious coz they don’t just use in an empty coconut for decoration, they actually use the *coconut juice* from INSIDE the coconut to REPLACE water while cooking and that makes all the difference.
So nice of the owner on giving you complimentary meal. They should, business must be good after your post. ^^
The original coconut prawns noodle is from Sarikei. I managed to taste one in Sibu at RM30.
http://kuchingnite.blogspot.com/2014/07/big-head-prawn-out-from-my-coconut.html?m=1
Must give the Sarikei one a try if I go on road trip next round. My hubby said it was good. He always go there once a month to visit his branch there.
Nice! I didn’t know a place in Sibu is doing the same thing too! 🙂
Well, I’ll love to try this even though it’s not the original. I want to see how it stacks up against the original in Glory Cafe in Sarikei. I told my better half that I’ll bring her to Sarikei when we were at Min Kwong RM 35 big prawn noodle (Foochow style) last year when she came so I took this chance to drive down with my dad too.
Oh, I know, someone in Facebook also told me about this place! He said there’s a big prawn noodle in Lorong 31, Ding Lik Kwong! So this is the place he was talking about – same one you went to. Okay, I shall try it next time!
Yup, I agree with your husband, the Glory Cafe version is very good! I’ve eaten it since 2008, first the original one (cooked with water and served in a bowl) and then this newer version which replaces the water with coconut juice so it’s sweeter. It’s currently my favorite one, but I’ll be sure to visit this place in Sibu too. Thanks Rose!
Hi! Would you know the phone number of glory cafe? Thinking of visiting sarikei tomorrow. Thanks!!