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==Origin== Laksa is a dish of [[Peranakan Chinese]] origin, with a variety of ingredients and preparation processes that vary greatly by region.<ref name="Nugroho-Laksa">{{Cite journal |last=Nugroho |first=Akbar Haryo |date=February 2023 |title=Acculturation of Peranakan Culture in the Diversity of Laksa Menu in Southeast Asia |journal=International Review of Humanities Studies, University of Indonesia |url=https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1042&context=irhs |access-date=27 December 2023 |archive-date=27 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227132651/https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1042&context=irhs |url-status=live }}</ref> Because laksa has different varieties across the region, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of the dish. Nevertheless, a number of laksa recipes have been developed along the trade channels of Southeast Asia—where the ports of [[Singapore]], [[Penang]], [[Medan]], [[Malacca]], [[Palembang]], and [[Jakarta|Batavia]] (now [[Jakarta]]) are the major stops along the historic [[Spice trade|spice route]]. The intensive trade links among these port cities enable exchanges of ideas to take place, including sharing recipes.<ref name="Banerji"/> There are various theories about the origins of laksa. One goes back to the 15th-century [[Ming dynasty|Ming Chinese]] [[Ming treasure voyages|naval expeditions]] led by [[Zheng He]], whose armada navigated [[Maritime Southeast Asia]].<ref name="NatGeo-Laksa"/> [[Overseas Chinese]] migrants had settled in various parts of Maritime Southeast Asia, long before Zheng He's expedition. However, it was after this that the number of Chinese migrants and traders significantly increased. These Chinese men intermarried into the local populations, and together they formed mixed-race communities called the [[Peranakan Chinese]] or Straits Chinese.<ref name="NatGeo-Laksa"/> In Malaysia, the earliest variant of laksa is believed to have been introduced by the Peranakan Chinese in [[Malacca]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://asiancorrespondent.com/2012/10/laksa-discovering-malaysias-signature-dish/|title=Laksa: Discovering Malaysia's signature dish|author=Lara Dunston|date=24 October 2012|work=Asian Correspondent|access-date=11 January 2016|archive-date=2 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002115941/http://asiancorrespondent.com/2012/10/laksa-discovering-malaysias-signature-dish/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The name laksa is derived from the word spicy ({{linktext|辣}}) and grainy or sandy ({{linktext|沙}}) in the [[Min Chinese]] dialect, which denotes the spicy taste and the grainy texture (either from grinding onion, granules of fish or meat, or curdled coconut milk) of laksa, since the Peranakan Malay is a creole language that is heavily influenced by a dialect of [[Hokkien]]. An early mention of "laksa" in the English language can be found in a [[Royal Geographical Society]] journal from 1846.<ref>[https://www.oed.com/dictionary/laksa_n?tl=true "Laksa"] entry at [[Oxford English Dictionary]]. Retrieved 7 April 2025</ref> In Singapore, the dish is believed to have been created after interaction between the Peranakan Chinese with local Singaporean Malays.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_884_2004-12-27.html |title=Laksa Origins|publisher=[[National Library Board]]}}</ref><ref name="Banerji"/> Another theory is that the word ''laksa'' is theorised to come from an ancient [[Persian language|Persian]] word for "noodles".<ref name="NatGeo-Laksa">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2019/02/deconstructing-laksa-fusion-dish-malaysia-and-singapore|title=Deconstructing laksa, the fusion dish of Singapore and Malaysia|last=@NatGeoUK|date=9 February 2019|website=Deconstructing laksa, the fusion dish of Malaysia and Singapore {{!}} National Geographic|access-date=18 June 2019}}</ref> According to [[Denys Lombard]] in the book {{lang|fr|Le carrefour Javanais. Essai d'histoire globale II}} (The Javanese Crossroads: Towards a Global History, 2005), one of the earliest record of the word ''laksa'' to describe noodles was found in the Javanese Biluluk inscription dated from 1391 of [[Majapahit]] era that mentions the word ''hanglaksa''. ''Hanglaksa'' in [[Kawi language|Kawi]] means "vermicelli maker".<ref name="Mi Nusantara-Kompas.id">{{Cite web|date=2021-12-01|title=Sluuurps.. Nikmatnya Mi Nusantara|author=Melati Mewangi|url=https://interaktif.kompas.id/baca/sluuurps-nikmatnya-mi-nusantara/|access-date=2021-12-06|website=Tutur Visual - Kompas.id|language=id|archive-date=2 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102163222/https://interaktif.kompas.id/baca/sluuurps-nikmatnya-mi-nusantara/|url-status=live}}</ref> In [[Sanskrit]], ''laksa'' means "one hundred thousand", referring to numerous strands of the vermicelli. The term ''laksa'', or ''lakhshah'', is also believed to have come from Persian or [[Hindi]], which refer to a kind of vermicelli.<ref name="Mi Nusantara-Kompas.id"/> In traditional [[Sundanese people|Sundanese]] community of [[Baduy people|Baduy]] in [[Banten|Banten province]], there is a harvest ceremony involving the making of laksa, called ''ngalaksa'' ceremony. ''Ngalaksa'' is a Sundanese traditional harvest thanksgiving ceremony, in which a traditional noodle-like laksa dish made of [[rice flour]] is prepared and consumed communally.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Suryana|first=Mansyur|title=Warga Baduy di Lebak Banten gelar tradisi "ngalaksa" |url=https://jambi.antaranews.com/berita/344502/warga-baduy-di-lebak-banten-gelar-tradisi-ngalaksa |date=28 April 2019|access-date=2025-01-12 |website=ANTARA News Jambi|language=id}}</ref> In [[Old Sundanese language|old Sundanese]] language the term ''laksa'' also means "noodle", which is the same meaning as in Javanese Kawi counterpart. In Indonesia, the dish is believed to have been born from the mixing of the cultures and cooking practices of local people and Chinese immigrants.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/11/23/039dapur-naga039-a-peek-039peranakan039-cuisine.html|title='Dapur Naga': A peek into 'peranakan' cuisine|author=Prodita Sabarini quoting [[Myra Sidharta]]|date=24 October 2012|work=[[The Jakarta Post]]|access-date=12 January 2016|archive-date=12 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112034513/http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/11/23/039dapur-naga039-a-peek-039peranakan039-cuisine.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Historians believe laksa is a dish that was born from actual [[Interethnic marriage|intermarriage]].<ref name="Banerji">{{cite news | title = How Intermarriage Created One of the World's Most Delicious Foods | author = Urvija Banerji | date = 8 January 2016 | work = Atlas Obscura | url = http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-intermarriage-created-one-of-the-worlds-most-delicious-foods | access-date = 12 January 2016 | archive-date = 11 January 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160111164606/http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-intermarriage-created-one-of-the-worlds-most-delicious-foods | url-status = live }}</ref> In early coastal ''pecinan'' (Chinese settlement) in maritime Southeast Asia, it was only Chinese men that ventured abroad out from China to trade. When settling down in the new town, these Chinese traders and sailors set out to find local wives, and these women began incorporating local spices and coconut milk into Chinese noodle soup served to their husbands. This creates the hybrid Chinese-local (Malay or Javanese) culture called Peranakan culture.<ref name="Banerji"/><ref name="Sejarah laksa">{{cite web|url=https://www.kompas.com/food/read/2021/05/23/134722875/sejarah-laksa-berawal-dari-pernikahan-peranakan-di-asia-tenggara?page=all|title=Sejarah Laksa, Berawal dari Pernikahan Peranakan di Asia Tenggara|date=23 May 2020|work=kompas|language=id|access-date=7 January 2022|archive-date=7 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107041545/https://www.kompas.com/food/read/2021/05/23/134722875/sejarah-laksa-berawal-dari-pernikahan-peranakan-di-asia-tenggara?page=all|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name="JP-Tangerang">{{cite news| title = Weekly 5: Delicacies of Tangerang 'peranakan'| work = [[The Jakarta Post]]| date = 13 February 2015| author = Corry Elyda| url = http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/13/weekly-5-delicacies-tangerang-peranakan.html| access-date = 30 May 2016| archive-date = 26 October 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211026160425/https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/13/weekly-5-delicacies-tangerang-peranakan.html| url-status = live}}</ref>
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