So here we have one that’s on the 2017 Top Ten list – under two names. It was originally Straits Kitchen and they re-branded it as Straits Reborn. Literally no different in recipe – just the name. However I thought it would be good for me to do a review just so you could see. Here’s some info about laksa from Wikipedia –
Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup in the Peranakan cuisine.[1][2][3] Laksa consists of rice noodles or rice vermicelli with chicken, prawn or fish, served in spicy soup; either based on rich and spicy curry coconut milk, or based on sour asam (tamarind or gelugur). It can be found in Malaysia,[4] Singapore, Indonesia[5] and Southern Thailand.[6]
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.[7] 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.[8] In Malaysia, the dish is believed to have been introduced by Chinese immigrants in Malacca.[9] In Singapore, the dish (or its local “Katong” version) is believed to have been created after interaction between the Peranakans with the local Singaporeans.[10][11]
Curry laksa (in many places referred to simply as “laksa”) is a coconut-based curry soup.[1] The main ingredients for most versions of curry laksa include bean curd puffs, fish sticks, shrimp and cockles. Some vendors may sell chicken laksa. Laksa is commonly served with a spoonful of sambal chilli paste and garnished with Vietnamese coriander, or laksa leaf, which is known in Malay as daun kesum.
This is usually known as curry mee in Penang rather than curry laksa, due to the different kind of noodles used (yellow mee or bee hoon, as opposed to the thick white laksa noodles). Curry mee in Penang uses congealed pork blood, a delicacy to the Malaysian Chinese community.
The term “curry laksa” is more commonly used in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Laksa is quite popular in Singapore, and curry laksa or nyonya laksa can be simply served as plain laksa, with just noodles and gravy, or with additional ingredients. Singaporean curry laksa ranked in number 44th of CNN World’s 50 best foods.[13] Recently, several modern twist of curry laksa has been developed, such as laksa yong tau foo which is stuffed tofu laksa, and a premium upgrade of lobster laksa.[17]
In Indonesia, most of laksa variants are coconut milk-based soup, thus can be categorized into curry laksa. Common spices include turmeric, coriander, candlenut, lemongrass, garlic, shallot and pepper cooked in coconut milk. Widely available daun kemangi (Indonesian lemon basil leaf) is commonly used instead of daun kesum. Bihun or thin rice vermicelli is most commonly used noodle instead of thick rice noodle, and some recipe might add slices of ketupat or lontong rice cake. Bogor laksa uses ground oncom into its soup.
Now that you know more about laksa than you probably expected to ever know, let’s check out this Straits Reborn Laksa!
Nissin Straits Reborn Laksa – Singapore
Here’s the back of the package (click to enlarge). Contains crustacea. To prepare, add seasoning sachet and paste to 500ml hot water and bring to a boil. Add in noodle block and cook for 4 minutes. Finally, add laksa leaves, stir and enjoy!
The noodle block.
The sachet of sachets!
The dry base.
A coconut scented base.
The paste sachet.
Thick and smells delightful.
The garnish sachet.
Laksa leaf!
Finished (click to enlarge). Just as good as the first time so I’ll just say what I said before – wow. Okay so Nissin has really upped their noodle game on this one – great gauge and quality – nice chew too. The broth is amazingly thick. It’s got a nice coconut milk powder component and a ton of paste with nice shrimp taste. Indeed, there’s shrimp morsels all through it (by morsel I mean crumb sized bits) so make it about as rich as it can get. The laksa leaves added a little something special. Bravo – excellence! 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 8888279660055. EAN bar code 8888279660055.
