Rural health is like a big steaming bowl of noodle soup

I went to Darwin for Rural Medicine Australia 2024, I stayed for the laksa-inspired pasta.

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Two and a half days in Darwin technically is enough time to make the most of a rural health conference and eat 10 different dishes at the Darwin International Laksa Festival, this intrepid Back Page respondent is glad to report.  

In order to write this article, my editor demanded I find a way to link Rural Medicine Australia (the joint annual ACRRM-RDAA conference held in Darwin last week) with the coconut-based southeast Asian soup.  

I hypothesise that – much like rural medicine – laksa takes on regional flavours and variations.  

It adapts to what’s on offer: no coconut milk? You can still make laksa. No thick rice noodles? You can still make laksa. No fried tofu puff? It’s all still laksa.  

Rural generalists, meanwhile, are often termed the “Swiss Army knife” of doctors for their ability to provide whatever it is that the community needs over both primary and secondary care settings.  

They’re legendary for being able to make use of what’s on offer to save lives in an emergency. 

Not that different from noodle soup after all.  

Without further ado, here’s the best, worst and most mediocre dishes of the Darwin International Laksa Festival (or as many as I can write before deadline).  

Laksa-inspired dish #1: Laksa-inspired cheesecake 

As a fan of weird, I had high hopes for the laksa-inspired cheesecake on offer at my night 1 dinner stop.  

Unfortunately, it was far more tame than expected: simply a regular citrussy cheesecake covered in coconut milk.  

It did, however, have cooked vermicelli noodles between the gelatine topping and cheesecake layer.  

This was an adventure, texture-wise, but not as unhinged as I would have liked.  

It was just fine.  

While eating my cheesecake I pondered the fact that just 11% of Royal Australasian College of Physicians registrars work outside of Modified Monash Model 1 regions, despite 30% of Australians living outside of major cities.  

Laksa-inspired dish #2: Laksagne  

I will not lie to you, this was not to my liking.  

Kudos to the restaurant for keeping things on theme – the noodles were similar to dumpling wrappers, and it was definitely filled with chicken.  

Unfortunately, it just didn’t work. 

I feel like a creamier coconut sauce would have saved this. 

Reflecting on the wrongness of this meal, I was reminded of the fact that the government spends about $850 less per person per annum on healthcare for rural Australians.  

Laksa dish #3: Laksa macaroni cheese 

This was my pick of the lot!  

The creamy coconut sauce worked so well, and it had a wicked spicy kick at the end.  

The cheese on top was crispy and crunchy. 

I would eat buckets of this stuff.  

On the topic of things that work really well, rural generalism now represents 40% of all general practice-aligned graduating students. Now that is food for thought!  

Laksa dish #4: Laksa waffles 

I was highly sceptical of these going in, but something about them stuck with me.  

I’d describe the flavour as a tantalising balance of sweet and salty, with the laksa-flavoured custard filling offset by the crunchy, dough-flavoured dough of the waffle itself.  

My only criticism is that they were too small, and the eating experience was over far too quickly.  

As unlikely as it sounds, these were great. 

Another group of people left wanting more, it appears, is medical students.  

Around 360 registrars have commenced rural generalist training with ACRRM this year, and the rural college has been so oversubscribed that it is hoping to double its allotted training places in 2025.  

Sadly, I don’t have the time or wordcount to give full reviews of the other laksa-inspired dishes I partook in – but rest assured, they included several different types of actual laksa, more than one laksa-inspired cocktail and some laksa-flavoured souffle pancakes.  

Send souper-duper story tips to penny@medicalrepublic.com.au.