Malaysia's Curry Laksa

Malaysia’s seafood curry laksa was recently ranked as a ‘top ten must try dish before you die,’ by US based newspaper, the Huffington Post. Previously, Malaysia’s asam laksa was ranked No.7, on CNN Go’s ‘World’s 50 most delicious’ in 2011.

In view of this new recognition, Dine Malaysia received a couple of messages and comments asking “what is the difference between a seafood curry laksa and a curry laksa?” We discovered that most people think of laksa as just well, laksa. To clear up any confusion, seafood curry laksa is the same as curry laksa. The latter probably has less seafood ingredients.

Laksa is a spicy noodle soup which originated from the Peranakan culture, meaning it has a mixture of Chinese and Malay origins in it.

Technically, there are two types of laksa; curry laksa and asam laksa.

Asam Laksa

Asam laksa is best described as a sour fish soup, with noodles in it. The main ingredients used are shredded fish, thinly sliced cucumber, onions, red chillies, pineapple, lettuce, common mint and ginger buds.

The ‘asam’ in asam laksa is actually tamarind. Asam laksa has many different variants based on the different states in Malaysia, such as;

• Penang laksa – made with mackerel and lemongrass. The fish is poached and flaked.
• Perlis laksa – similar to Penang laksa. Only difference is the garnishing (catfish and eel).
• Kedah laksa – similar to Penang laksa but with a different garnishing (sliced boiled egg).
• Ipoh laksa – contains prawn paste and is sourer.
• Kuala Kangsar laksa – made of wheat flour, and looks and taste different from all the other laksa.

The differences in each of these variants are the ingredients used like different types of fish, tamarind and types of noodles. There are also other variants from Indonesia, such as; Bogor laksa, Betawi laksa, Palembang laksan, Palembang lakso, Banjar laksa

Curry Laksa

Curry laksa is a spicy coconut based noodle soup (the curry is the soup). The main ingredients consist of bean curd puffs, coconut milk, fish sticks, noodles, shrimp and cockles. The variation of the curry laksa includes;

• Laksa lemak – made with rich and spicy coconut gravy and heavily influenced by Thai laksa.
• Laksam – derived from Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah, and sometimes made with eels instead of fish.
• Katong laksa – a different type of laksa from Singapore where the noodles are cut up into smaller pieces.

If anyone has any suggestions on where we can find the best laksa, please do drop us a comment below!

First published August, 2012