{"id":663257,"date":"2026-11-01T03:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T03:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/663257\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T03:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T03:16:09","slug":"im-sweating-can-i-get-some-tissues-on-stage-behind-the-scenes-at-darwins-international-laksa-festival-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/663257\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019m sweating \u2026 can I get some tissues on stage?\u2019 Behind the scenes at Darwin\u2019s international laksa festival | Food"},"content":{"rendered":"

The people of Darwin<\/a> take their laksa seriously.<\/p>\n

They slurp spicy, coconut-enriched curry soup noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They stalk their favourite stalls and sellers at legendary markets such as Mindil beach, Parap and Rapid Creek. And they bring their own containers \u2013 round, red and made in Australia by D\u00e9cor \u2013 when buying takeaway.<\/p>\n

But, most impressive of all, Darwinians take their laksa so seriously that every October Australia\u2019s northern-most capital hosts the Darwin International Laksa festival<\/a>, a month-long celebration of multiculturalism and the Top End\u2019s unofficial official spirit dish.<\/p>\n

Classic laksa flavours prepared backstage ahead of the cook-off to decide the Golden Bowl in Darwin.<\/p>\n

The inaugural festival in 2019 saw 33 venues serve laksa specials for the month. This year\u2019s festival lineup included 50 different laksa plus 175 laksa-inspired creations, ranging from prawn toast and laksa toasties to cocktails and cold foam coffees.<\/p>\n

Vendors compete for the Golden Bowl: the prize awarded for the festival\u2019s best laksa, as chosen by a panel of judges that visit venues anonymously.<\/p>\n

Last year broke with tradition by having the three highest-ranked restaurants make laksas on stage to determine the 2025 winner.<\/p>\n

Laksa festival judges Junda Khoo (left) and Luke Nguyen taste test the three finalists.<\/p>\n

This year flipped the script again, with the appointment of high-profile Australian chefs Luke Nguyen and Junda Khoo \u2013 of Vietnamese and Malaysian heritage respectively \u2013 as guest judges to offer an outsiders\u2019 perspectives.<\/p>\n

Local Samantha Bennett, the executive chef of The Leea hotel, was the judging panel\u2019s third member.<\/p>\n

The wining laksa being prepared.<\/p>\n

Despite Nguyen and Khoo\u2019s star power, the focus of the 500-person crowd watching the cook-off on Saturday were the local finalists.<\/p>\n

Much of this focus was on Jules Mou, the Singaporean-born owner of Kopi Stop that won the Golden Bowl award in 2025. Kopi Stop\u2019s unctuous, mildly spiced laksa also won the public-voted people\u2019s choice award, while the laksa cookies at its sister venue, Makan Stop, took home the people\u2019s choice laksa inspired-by prize.<\/p>\n

This strong showing was the first triple-crown in the festival\u2019s history. Safe to say, Mou and her kitchen offsider Kelvin Soo were favourites.<\/p>\n

Like Mou, Cheata Ouch of Angkor Takeaway was also a top-three finisher in 2025, so she comes to this year\u2019s finale better prepared, if not better rested.<\/p>\n

Sydney chef and Golden Bowl judge Luke Nguyen backstage.<\/p>\n

Ouch and partner Ollie Howe were running a stall at the festival and cooking right up to the cook-off that started at 6pm. As her cafe\u2019s name suggests, Ouch was born in Siem Reap and makes her laksa with kroeung: a lighter, more fragrant Khmer spice paste than typically richer south-east laksa bases.<\/p>\n

The third finalist was Tully Leitch from the prosaically named Pho Rapid Creek. The towering New South Welshman is a first-time restaurateur \u2013 he and his partner, Linh Do, ditched careers in healthcare and nursing to take over the cafe. He was chuffed to be a finalist.<\/p>\n

Finalist Tully Leitch from Pho Rapid Creek.<\/p>\n

Leitch\u2019s \u201cuntraditional\u201d laksa riffs on a recipe from his dad, Kelvin, who also grows the lemongrass, basil, makrut, sawtooth coriander and other ingredients for his son\u2019s laksa paste. Like many of the festival-goers crowding the Darwin waterfront precinct, Tully is rocking some laksa-themed attired, specifically a purple shirt from fellow Rapid Creek small business King King Creative.<\/p>\n

The 20-minute finale isn\u2019t long enough to fry off laksa paste and make a broth from scratch, so finalists assemble bowls for the blind tasting using preprepared stock, toppings and locally made Kongs wheat noodles.<\/p>\n

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Crocodile dumpling laksa plated up for the crowd.<\/p>\n

Comedian and laksa enthusiast Amy Hetherington \u2013 thrilled that her local Pho Rapid Creek is in the running \u2013 entertains the attentive audience.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more tell than show with proceedings lacking the chaos and smoke of TV cooking competitions. The lack of any last-minute rush prompts Hetherington to describe the civilised finish as \u201cthe least Darwin cook-off ever\u201d.<\/p>\n

Vegan Adonis Marie prays over a mud crab before he cuts it up on stage with Luke Nguyen.<\/p>\n

After cooking, the finalists leave the stage to be replaced by the judges, who get to work picking a winner. It\u2019s hot and muggy: a classic Darwin \u201cbuildup\u201d day.<\/p>\n

That much heat, chilli and pressure would affect anyone. By the time he gets to his second bowl, Khoo is really feeling it. \u201cI\u2019m sweating profusely,\u201d he mutters over his headset mic. \u201cCan I get some tissues on stage, please?\u201d<\/p>\n

As the judges share observations with the audience, the finalists watch: anxious, then happy, and finally full of doubt. \u201cI\u2019m so nervous,\u201d Ouch says.<\/p>\n

The nerves are even more frayed as the judges return to the stage after comparing notes.<\/p>\n

Kopi Stop, impressively, pull off the people\u2019s choice laksa and laksa inspired-by double-act again. Then, it\u2019s time for the big one. Nguyen tells the crowd that it was a unanimous decision with all the judges\u2019 scoresheets putting the same bowl at No 1 on account of its seasoning and body unlike most laksa.<\/p>\n

Angkor Takeaway chef Cheata Ouch (right) and her partner, Ollie Howe, with the Golden Bowl at the Darwin International Laksa festival.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s barely finished pronouncing the first syllable of \u201cAngkor Takeaway\u201d when we hear a scream. The outburst is quickly followed by a leaping Ouch, hands clasped over her mouth, doing a human pogo stick impression.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tasted all the time, dedication and passion you put in your food,\u201d Nguyen says. \u201cWe really felt that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guardian Australia travelled as a guest of Tourism and Events NT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The people of Darwin take their laksa seriously. They slurp spicy, coconut-enriched curry soup noodles for breakfast, lunch…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46],"class_list":["post-663257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}