04/01/2023
🇲🇾🇮🇩| Some various types of laksa in Malaysia and Indonesia.
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Laksa is a spicy noodle soup popular in Peranakan cuisine of Southeast Asia. Laksa consists of thick wheat noodles or rice vermicelli with chicken, prawn or fish, served in spicy soup based on either rich and spicy curry coconut milk or on sour asam (tamarind or gelugur). Laksa is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Southern Thailand.
The name comes from the Hokkien luak sua, meaning "spicy sand", which refers to the taste and texture of ground dried prawns. There are various theories about the origins of laksa. In Indonesia, the dish is believed to have been born from the Chinese coastal settlements and the mixing of cultures between Chinese merchants and the local cooking practices. Historians believe laksa is a dish that was born from actual intermarriage. In early coastal pecinan (Chinese settlement) in maritime Southeast Asia, it was only Chinese men that ventured abroad out from China to trade. When settling down in the new town, these Chinese traders and sailors set out to find local wives, and these women began incorporating local spices and coconut milk into Chinese noodle soup served to their husbands. This creates the hybrid Chinese-local (Malay or Javanese) culture called Peranakan culture. As Peranakan Chinese communities have blended their ancestors' culture with local culture, Peranakan communities in different places now demonstrate diversity according to the local flavour.
In Malaysia, the dish is believed to have been introduced by Chinese immigrants in Malacca. In Singapore, the dish (or its local "Katong" version) is believed to have been created after interaction between the Peranakans with the local Singaporeans.
Because laksa has different varieties across the region, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of the dish. Nevertheless, numbers of laksa recipes has been developed along the trade channels of Southeast Asia—where the ports of Penang, Medan, Malacca, Singapore, Palembang, and Batavia (now Jakarta) are the major stops along the historic spice route. The intensive trade links among these port cities enables exchanges of ideas to took place, including sharing recipes.
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