Curry Laksa 咖喱叻沙 - "Malaysian Monday 11"

I received quite a few requests from my friends and readers for curry laksa/laksa lemak but with all the laksa recipes out there on the internet, do we really need another laksa recipe? That was until my craving for laksa was becoming too much to bear and I decided to kill two birds with one stone at the end.... There are hundreds of different versions out there; some like the broth to be quite creamy with plenty of coconut milk but some like a thinner broth, the toppings are also differ from town to town. This recipe is based on what I grew up with, something we all looked forward to once a month. I do have a very good Katong laksa recipe which is a lot richer than this, I will be posting that during our Singapore week so stay tuned! If you are on a diet and want something lighter, check out the almost fat free asam laksa.
P.S Hay fever is killing me

serves 6

you'll need;

1 packet of Hokkien noodles

1 packet of rice vermicelli, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes and drained

bean sprouts

1/2 kg of prawns, cooked, peeled and halved lengthwise

2 chicken breasts, poached and hand shredded

1/2 block of fish cake, sliced

3 hard boiled eggs, peeled and halved

a handful of green beans, cut into manageable pieces and blanched

1 red chili, sliced

a handful of picked mint 

a handful of picked vietnamese mint

lime wedges

cooking oil

for the laksa broth;

5 cm piece of turmeric or 1 tbs of turmeric powder

5 cm knob of galangal, chopped

250 g of shallots, chopped

10 garlic cloves, chopped

20 dried chillies, removed seeds and soaked in hot water for 20 minutes

6 red chillies, chopped

6 candlenuts

50 g of dried shrimps

2 tbs of shrimp paste, toasted

1 tbs coriander powder

1 lemongrass, white part only, chopped

1.5 L of water

400 ml of coconut milk

salt to taste

* blend everything except the last 3 items into a fine paste

Prepare the laksa paste.

For the chicken and prawn stock - bring water and a pinch of salt to a boil before adding the chicken breasts. Turn the heat up and when the water returns to a simmer turn off the heat, cover and let the chicken steep in the hot water for 20 minutes. Do not attempt to open the cover before the time is up. Remove chicken and return the water to a boil, add prawns and cook for 5 minutes then remove the cooked prawns. Peel prawns and return the prawn shells and heads to the cooking liquor, simmer for 10 minutes and remove solids.

Fry laksa paste with 4 tbs of cooking oil til fragrant and oil starts to split. Reserve a few tablespoons as topping.

Add the reserved chicken and prawn stock, coconut milk and bring it to a boil. Check for seasonings.

Prepare the toppings.....

and the rest of the ingredients.

Cook noodles in batches and blanch the bean sprouts just before serving.

Pour hot laksa broth over the blanched noodles and bean sprouts, add the toppings and some of the reserved laksa paste and serve immediately.

A squeeze of lime and mix well... delicious!

Our new friends Nate and Annie from House Of Annie will be hosting the September event. They have set up a form for all submissions.