A bowl of hot, spicy noodle soup is tempting Darwin locals from the comfort of their beds as early as 5am at the weekends.
The breakfast laksa has become a ritual in the city, with many bringing their own reusable bowls to carry the delicacy home or to a nearby bench.
Parap Village Market, in the inner suburbs of Darwin, erupts on Saturday mornings with a sea of vendors hawking everything from tropical flowers, rambutans, mangos and Thai massages in the shaded alleyways.
Hidden among the throng of stalls is Mary, who has been satisfying the insatiable craving of Darwin locals hunting down the perfect bowl of laksa for more than two decades.
"I get here about three o'clock in the morning and stay here till about three o'clock in the afternoon," she tells SBS News.
Mary has been serving laksa for over two decades at the Parap markets. Source: Aneeta Bhole
Armed with a large metal spoon, Mary pauses the interview to serve a desperate customer eager to get his hands on the golden broth boiling in the corner of her laksa stand.
"I think people come back to me because of the taste and the unique and friendly service," she says.
From 5am, customers start dropping in on Mary and later there is a long line snaking around the corner.
Serving laksa to the masses isn't Mary's full-time job, but a passion project she takes part in each weekend.
People line up each weekend from about 5am to get their hands on a steaming bowl of laksa. Source: Aneeta Bhole
"We migrated from China about 30 years ago and then I found out that people love laksa, and so I invented [my own recipe] and I'm still going after 20 years," she says.
Laksa traditionally consists of wheat noodles or rice vermicelli with meat or fish in a spicy soup.
"My laksa has lots of bits and pieces, which I can't tell you ... it's a secret remember. It depends on what you like, we got all different varieties, about 10 different products," Mary says.
"When you make something that someone loves you want to continue to do that ... I enjoy what I'm doing ... from young to old they all love laksa."
Sebastian Dela Pena has been coming to Mary's stall since he was three.
The now 14-year-old said he often eats about six laksas a weekend, earning him the nickname 'laksa boy'.
"It's a very special part of my life it makes me very happy every weekend. It's the one thing I look forward to," he says.
"If I was stranded on an island and I could somehow get an infinite supply of laksa I would be happy for life."
Sebastian's aunt Margie Dizon is a psychologist and migration agent and says there is a "fascination for the taste and smell of laksa".
Sebastian Dela Pena and his aunt Margie Dizon enjoying laksa at Parap markets. Source: Aneeta Bhole
"It becomes part of our Saturday and Sunday and the whole week is complete with a laksa."
"Laska for breakfast seems like a crazy idea but it's like the thread that pulls everyone together."
Ms Dizon says the soup has become more than a culinary emblem in the Top End.
Laksa lovers in Darwin say its the broth that keeps people coming back each week. Source: Aneeta Bhole
"It's belonging, it's being able to walk into a place that is part of your home and say hello to people that you know, week in and week out. You may not know their names but you don't have to," she says.
"It's a special feeling of 'I belong here and I'm comfortable and I'm safe' ... its laksa magic."
Gary Schut has lived in Darwin for 25 years, 17 of which he's been eating laksas from Mary's stall.
Mr Schut says it's not hard to see why laksa has become the adopted delicacy of Darwin, which is a close neighbour to south-east Asia and a melting pot of cultures.
"We're an incredibly ethnically diverse community," he said.
Margie Dizon says laksa is like the thread that unites the community each weekend. Source: Aneeta Bhole
"I think we have something like 100 different nationalities and laksa is the one thing that ties us all together."
"I think that anybody regardless of their background can relate to this meal."
More than 30 per cent of Darwin's population was born overseas and a recent study from Charles Darwin University (CDU) found food to be one of the biggest motivators to help migrants feel comfortable in their new homes.
"Migration motivators are things that help people settle into a new place and in the Northern Territory food was one of those things," CDU research associate Fiona Shalley says.
"If you put yourself in the migrants' situation, it's a huge risk economically, emotionally, they want a feeling of welcome and food does this.
Researcher Fiona Shalley says studies show food to be a source of comfort for people moving to the multicultural city. Source: Aneeta Bhole
"Laksa is like that, it's a comfort food and it's interesting because Darwin people seek it out, it's a singular love of the population."
In November, Darwin celebrated the meal in an inaugural International Laksa Festival, bringing almost 40 laksa vendors together.
Festival organiser Anya Lorimer says the dish inspired ingredients from sausages to ice cream and she wasn't surprised to see thousands of people at the event.
Jimmy Shu was a judge at the inaugural laksa festival in Darwin. Source: Aneeta Bhole
Darwin restauranteur and laksa festival judge Jimmy Shu says everyone in town has their favourites but it's the broth that makes the dish.
"A combination of prawn skins, chicken bones to make the stock, and also the dried shrimps, blended, all that comes together in a symphony that just sings on your palate."
"I grew up eating bacon and eggs but after trying laksa I thought 'this is so filling it's got all the flavours and it's very satisfying'."
