Laksa Good

My first taste of the Singaporean laksa was at Jurong Bird Park. When we came in it was about lunch time so we went directly to the Hawk Cafe.

I was intrigued by the laksa on the menu so I ordered one. Good choice! Leni, our host and guide, made a thumbs up sign.

Laksa is a spicy noodle soup popular in Malaysia and Singapore and its origin can be traced back to the Chinese and Malays combining noodles and Asian spices. It has two varieties, the coconut milk-based and the tamarind-based. I usually go for the coconut-based varieties.

Since my first spoonful, laksa became my favorite Singaporean dish so that wherever I went during my Singapore trip, I would order one to see if there was one peculiar flavor for each restaurant.

Now that my Singapore trip has become a memory, my craving for laksa has become more of a want rather than a need.

I ordered a large bowl of that soup at Spice Fusion in SM City Cebu because they do not have individual servings. Despite its watery blandness I devoured the whole bowl.

My foodie friends told me to buy the best instant laksa in the market today- the Prima Taste Singapore Laksa La Mian. Indeed, their laksa is very near to the fresh laksa I have tasted in Singapore. The distinctive smell of the paste would bring me to outdoor restaurants in the streets of Singapore. The fusion of chili, dried shrimps, curry and other Asian spices kicking me in every dollop of this creamy soup. Incidentally, lamian in the Visayan language means delicious!

The Singapore Laksa La Mian I prepared

Another friend, Moni gave me Teh Tarik (milk tea) from Malaysia. Now that is a good complement to my laksa.

You can now call me Captain Hook.

Salmonella that is safe to eat

Yesterday, Nestle Philippines released a half page ad in a leading newspaper stating that they are recalling their Maggi Instant Noodles due to traces of salmonella in their chicken and beef flavors. They justified that only a certain batch (lot codes 11020598A1 and 11030598A1) has traces of salmonella in the seasoning but as a safety precaution, they are recalling those flavors.

This only strengthen my abhorrence with instant noodles and the way businessmen promote them as healthy food.

But strangely, they also put in their ad that MAGGI NOODLES IS STILL SAFE TO EAT DESPITE THE SALMONELLA TRACE as long as the correct way to cook them would be observed. Duh! Damn these businessmen!

I am not a food technology expert nor a medical professional but a product known to have salmonella should not be eaten when there are traces of it, aren't they? 

And meanwhile the Food and Drug Administration only acknowledged the recall.

Would a food expert explain to me this weird situation?

YOU SHOULD KNOW-
Salmonella is a bacteria that can be transmitted from water, soil, animal feces, raw eggs, and raw meat. Salmonella infections may affect a person's intestines, typically causing high grade fever, abdominal pain and vomiting.

Because of hunger, yes, most Filipinos would eat them anyway.

Eating garbage

I woke up to the smell of puke. That sour, metallic, drunk puke I smell when Father was having a drunken fit the night before. I thought I was only dreaming but I was wide awake with the smell enveloping me. I gagged.

It was my former housemate who came in last night to use my computer. He was cooking instant noodles.

I told him to open all windows and doors and turn the fans on and stop cooking instant noodles!

I abhor instant noodles. It is not only the smell. They promise you of instant gratification more than the garbage they printed on each of the Nutrition Facts on the packaging. You don’t have to go to the BFAD to know. People in the provinces know. And they are not nutritionists. A snap of kalamunggay, or a string of beans would give more protein and energy more than they promised.

I wonder why the Department of Education opted to feed children with that crap. Even if they scrapped the project after persistent clamor from the public to explain why they will spend millions for trash, still that government entity was guilty of proliferating instant noodles as good nutrition. Tsk tsk tsk. What a pity. 

Maybe they should consult Ms Vicki Wallace of the Bohol Bee Farm on the elements of good nutrition. She knows better.

More can be read here- 

• Instant noodles do not pack a lot of nutrition. 
• Noodles and Education