Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

Laksa usually refers to a Chinese-Malay and SE Asian spiced soup containing thick rice noodles with meat, vegetables, or seafood. There are many variations: in the type of noodle (a Sarawak laksa is made with thin vermicelli and a Johor laksa uses wheaten spaghetti); the flavour (many laksas are made with coconut milk); the seasonings (Penang uses tamarind, Johor is more akin to a curry flavour); and the main ingredient (mackerel in Penang, chicken and prawns in Sarawak). Laksa leaf, which is the herb rau ram, is often added as a final seasoning.