My tribute to Laksa Thursday

Winter is here in Sydney, and that means it’s time for Laksa Thursdays to return. My favorite soup day of the week.

For my American friends who may have yet to try this delicious spicy soup, do not worry. There is still time. I had my first bowl of laksa almost three years ago when I moved to Sydney.

The way it was explained to me was a spicy curry soup with cococnut milk. I sorta wrinkled up my nose to that description. I had thought of coconut as only a sweet food, not something savory that should be paired with spice.

Luckily, I still went for my very first Laksa Thursday at “Oodles Noodles,” fomerally known as “Doodles Noodles,” north of the bridge. I feel in love. I remember thinking, how did I grow up all my life not knowing about this delicious soup?

Probably even better than the actual Laksa was the tradition we started to build around it. We went to the same shop every Thursday for lunch. At first it would only be me and maybe one or two other colleages.

At the start, I would jokingly refer to it as “Laksa Thursdays” but I also many other food tribute days throughout the week, such as “Bagel Tuesdays.” However, Laksa Thursday was the one that stuck. I think by the time I left my agency, almost everyone on our team had been for at least one Laksa Thursday with us.

We sometimes would invite other friends who worked nearby to our Thursday lunches. We would Instagram and Tweet about our lunches, asking new people to join us and sharing the Laksa love.

It never grew to be a major event. I think the biggest Laksa Thursday group we probably ever had was about 12 or so people around the table, but I liked that about it.

When I left my job north of the bridge, I also left behind many members of my Laksa Thursday crew. I still liked getting new people together, and would sometimes host a Laksa Thursday: dinner edition after work.

I learned how to make my own Laksa, tried new places, and started a Facebook group with some friends called the Laksa Thursday Club.

So despite the fact that it’s been awhile since we got together for an official #LaksaThursday lunch, Laksa Thursday lives on. Now that the cold weather is back. I feel ready to bring back my favorite weekly food tradition.

Love you Laksa Thursday.