To cook a dish to perfection is to get hold of the secrets of mixing and matching the herbs behind the kitchen walls.

For example, a number of bulbous and green herbs go into making the base of laksa noodle soup. On the other hand, the herbs are chopped or sliced ​​before being added to pasta and sauce for a pasta dish.

Laksa Curry Noodle Soup

For example, laksa soup uses a lot of fresh herbs to make a delicious dish that leaves you craving for more.

There are, for example, at least 8 herbs that you need to get your hands on before you can create the quintessential sweet and spicy flavor of coconut milk in laksa curry soup; these are kaffir lime leaves, shallots, garlic, lemongrass bulb, mint leaves and ginger; as well as laksa leaves to decorate.

Tamarind Laksa Noodle Soup

Also, you might be put off by an equally long list of herbs for tamarind laksa soup: poligonum leaves, ginger buds, shallots, lemongrass, fresh galangal ginger; with red onions and mint leaves to decorate.

Considering the amount of work involved with all that rinsing, slicing, and chopping of all the herbs, no sane laksa stand operator will offer both versions. A difficult task to accomplish, indeed.

Besides, I know a chef with a natural taste for herbs; He carries all the recipes in his head without missing a single ingredient!

His forte lies in an intuitive understanding of culinary herb blends, a flawless sense in combining various herbs that work well with each other, and all herbs synergistically together. Well, she certainly knows how to pack a lot of oomph into making a spectacular dish.

pasta dishes

As for the ‘Fresh Herb Pesto Pasta’ recipe from ‘Good Food’ magazine, it calls for at least 5 herbs like flat-leaf parsley, sage leaves, chives, basil and tarragon to wake up your green taste buds.

Similarly, for a Martha Stewart ‘Spring Herb Pasta’ recipe, you’ll need 5 herbs: parsley, chervil, tarragon, dill, and basil.

Another recipe from Delia’s vegetarian collection, which is, ‘Lemon Pasta with Herbs and Ground Pepper’, uses 4 herbs: Basil, Mint, Chives and Garlic.

However, one Lindsay Ostrom recipe, ‘Garlic Herb Butter Spaghetti’, has only 2 herbs: garlic and basil.

So, to make all of these pasta dishes, you’ll need either all green herbs or a mix of bulbous and green herbs. Only one strong-flavored herb, sage or basil, is included, while the remaining herbs have a medium or delicate flavor.

As in the case of the laksa noodle soup, the strong-tasting dominant herb root is ginger, while the rest is a mix of medium and mild-tasting herbs.

The point is that you need to strike a balance between the different flavors of the herbs, as in this case, it’s all about the flavor!