𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐬𝐚 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐫 - 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐫 , 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐚

Laksa Johor is the state's favourite dish and is served during festive occasions such as Hari Raya. Those out of the state would recognise it most as the laksa made with spaghetti noodles – even though most Malaysians only became familiar with dried pasta when spaghetti Bolognese became popular here in the 1980s.

While the noodles in laksa Johor were once made out of home-spun rice flour (laksa beras), in most modern incarnations, it is typically composed of spaghetti – reputedly a result of 19th century Johor ruler Sultan Abu Bakar’s predilection for the pasta – which gave way to this popular iteration of the dish.

The spaghetti is layered with a rich, thick gravy (kuah laksa) made up of fresh fish like ikan parang (wolf herring) dried shrimps, coconut milk and curry powder as well as aromatics like ginger, lemongrass, garlic and onions.

The meal is topped with a range of greens and garnishes in the ilk of cucumber, bean sprouts, mint leaves, Thai basil, sambal belacan and lime. Curiously, the laksa is meant to be eaten using only hands as implements.