Noodles in a rich, spiced coconut curry broth, with tofu puffs, prawns, chicken, bean sprouts and a spoonful of sambal.
What makes it curry laksa
A rempah of dried chilli, shallot, lemongrass, galangal, candlenut and dried shrimp, fried until the oil splits.
Stock and coconut milk — rich, orange and oily at the surface.
Yellow egg noodles, rice vermicelli, or both.
Tofu puffs soaking up the broth, and sambal on the side.
Where it comes from
Laksa is a family of noodle soups found across Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, and where the name comes from is argued — some point to a Persian or Hindi word for vermicelli, others to Chinese. Curry laksa is the coconut branch, closely tied to Peranakan cooking and to the Chinese coffee shops of the Klang Valley.
In Penang the same bowl is called curry mee, and is often topped with cubes of congealed pig's blood.
How it varies
Curry mee
Penang's name for it, often with pig's blood curd and cockles.
Laksa Johor
From the south: a thick fish-and-coconut gravy, famously eaten with spaghetti.
Nyonya laksa
The Melaka Peranakan version, fragrant with laksa leaf.