laksa lust
Often, when I’m traveling that horrendous thirty hours from Pittsburgh to Australia, I day dream about laksa. This Malaysian soup is worth the trip and I eat it whenever I can.
Ingredients
Spice paste 4- 5 shallots, chopped 6 -7 garlic cloves, chopped Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled & chopped 1 fresh red chilli (more if you want more kick!) 1 heaped tablespoon dried prawnsBroth 12 green prawns 4 tablespoons vegetable oil 180 ml (9 tablespoons) laksa paste 1 litre (4 cups) chicken stock 1 can coconut cream Fish balls Fried tofu puffs 1 teaspoon sugar Fish sauce Salt to taste Juice of one lime
Finishing touches Rice vermicelli noodles Egg noodles Shredded cooked chicken meat (or seafood if you like) Bean sprouts Spring onions, chopped Red chilli, sliced Coriander leaves Deep fried shallots Fresh lime wedges
Preparation Process in blender, shallots, garlic, ginger, chillies, dried prawns and water until it forms a smooth paste. Set aside.
Shell prawns and reserve meat. Heat oil in a large pot and fry prawns shells for about 1 minute until they turn red then remove from pan. Add spice paste to prawn flavoured oil and fry for a minute before adding the laksa paste. Fry until fragrant, about 2 minutes and pour in the stock.
Bring to the boil and then add coconut cream. It’s always good to allow time to simmer for the flavours to come out. Add fish balls and fried tofu. Add sugar, fish sauce and salt to taste. Squeeze in the lime.
Blanch rice and egg noodles in boiling water and transfer some of each to serving bowls. Poach reserved prawn meat in same water. Pour over the broth and top with chicken, prawns and bean sprouts. Garnish with the spring onions, chilli, coriander and fried shallots. Squeeze in the lime before eating.
Eat. Yum.
