Facibus Reviews

This is another in my “slackest” possible faux cuisine series

Laksa (a curry noodle soup) is a favourite of a lot of techy folks here in Canberra. There are two main types of laksa that I’ve been able to identify through research over the years:

• Laksa Lemak: contains curry paste, coconut milk and laksa plant (AKA Vietnamese Mint) as well as some kind of meat and/or vegetables, and
• Penang Laksa: basically Laksa Lemak without the coconut milk, usually contains fish.

I’ve eaten both sorts here in Australia as well as in Malaysia and Thailand. Being on a health kick currently, Helen and I prefer the Penang Laksa - contains more good stuff (the fish) and less fattening stuff (the coconut milk).

Real Penang Laksa involves a whole (sans guts) fish - usually mackerel - being boiled into a state of disintegration then further pounded/shredded into a paste (bones sometimes included - they get soft enough if cooked for long enough).

My slack version is to brown some chopped spring onions in curry paste (something mild like Massuman works well), throw in a couple of tins of sardines, then add some chopped Asian greens (like sam bok or bok choi). Add water, cooked noodles, some basil, and serve.