“…subtly ginger-like scent… a sweet and sour, piquant flavor with citrus-forward nuances.” Who could ask for more? What more IS there?
If you’d care to spend this afternoon in an Asian market and concocting a tangy alternative to roast chicken for dinner, consider this Malaysian favorite: Penang Laksa, a staple of the country’s home-cooking. It’s a fish and noodle dish, literally souped up with chilies and the petals of torch ginger, a stunning tropical beauty. Its petals flavor seafood dishes all over Southeast Asia.
Axel Poulsen with a flowering torch ginger at the University of Indonesia
Nov 2025
Photo: Axel Ginger
Known as bunga kantan in Malaysia, kaalaa in Thailand, torch ginger stumped the botanists.
“In the 1980s, Rosemary Margaret Smith of the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh tackled the gingers and determined this plant belonged to Etlingera, a genus first described in 1792 by Paul Dietrich Giseke. Since then, Axel Dalberg Poulsen of the National Herbarium of the Netherlands (now with Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Scotland) has dedicated his studies to these glorious plants. He has discovered there are at least 70 species, many not yet described, spread from India to the Pacific Islands.”
Apparently this gorgeous flower, which blossoms 2 to 3 feet in the air, must be tasted to be believed, since descriptions we’ve found are all over a very fuzzy palate-map: “aromatic,” “spicy” “sweet” “tangy” and vaguest of all “intriguing.” Best try it yourself. So here’s a recipe for Penang Laksa, with translations for some ingredients uncommon to Westerners taken from this handy glossary of Malay cooking terms. Londoners too lazy to cook may order Penang Laksa and other Penang specialties from the menu at this restaurant in Notting Hill.
All you cooks, read on….
Penang Laksa
(Penang is an island in northwestern Malaysia)
Ingredients
600g laksa noodles—scald in hot water and drain
(A)
l kg flaked ikan kembong (chubb mackerel) or ikan parang (wolf herring)
A pinch of salt
2000ml water
Penang Laksa
Photo: Maya Kitchenette
(B)
Spices to grind finely
6-7 fresh chilies
4-5 dried chilies
1 small piece lengkuas (galangal)
2cm fresh turmeric
20 shallots
2 cloves garlic
6 candlenuts (buah keras)
(C)
5 stalks daun kesom (polygonum)
1 bunga kantan (torch ginger flower) – cut lengthwise
5-4 stalks serai (lemon grass) – smashed
Mix and strain:
50g tamarind (assam jawa)
250ml water
4 pieces asam keping
1 tbsp Maggi Belacan powder (it’s so convenient to use this, instead of roasting a piece of belacan) then roast it
Salt and monosodium glutamate to taste
(D) Garnishing
Slice thinly:
100g pineapple
1 cucumber
2 bunga kantan (torch ginger flower)
3 red chillies
2 big onions
200g lettuce
Mint leaves
Enough sticky black prawn paste (hayko)—dissolve in a little hot water
Method
Boil fish with the water. When fish is cooked remove it from the stock and flake it. Leave water (fish stock) in the pot.
Add (B) and (C) in the fish stock and simmer until it reaches the desired consistency. Put in flaked fish meat and keep the laksa gravy over a moderate heat.
Put laksa noodles into serving bowls. Spoon the laksa gravy over and garnish with (D). Serve hot with a little prawn paste.
(Originally published: HFP February 19, 2005)
Pink torch ginger (Etlingera elatior)
Photo: Plants at Home
Update: Here’s another recipe from Maya Kitchenette.
It appears torch ginger can handle more than just hunger. This 2023 study, first published in Molecules, examined the “wound healing potential and anti-aging effects of freeze-dried torch ginger inflorescence extracts (FTIEs) from three varieties “ – red, pink and white. The scientists found “promising potential for anti-aging cosmeceuticals and wound care products” in all three colors, especially the red.
Available yet at your local natural-foods pharmacy?
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