Laksa is a noodle soup hailing from the Peranakan culture. Thick wheat or vermicelli rice noodles in a light coconut broth, with chicken, prawns, or fish. The lemongrass lends all the sensory notes, and the spices, the depth. I made a vegan recipe, without fish sauce. The addition of soy sauce added the wee bit of umami.
4cupsCoconut milkdivided, 3 cups thin + 1 cup thick
2tbspBrown sugar
2tbspSoy sauce
Salt to taste
Vegtables and Noodles
2cupsChopped vegetablesI used baby corn, zucchini, carrot, pumpkin, broccoli, and yellow squash
2ouncesNoodles
¼tspSalt
Garnishes
4tbspChilli Oil
½cup Mung bean sprouts
1CupCoriander leaves
1LemonCut into wedges
Instructions
This recipe would use both lemongrass stalk and the leaves to add more flavour.
For the soup
Remove the leaves from the lemongrass and wash thoroughly. Heat 2 cups of water, add the lemongrass leaves and boil on medium-high heat for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the paste for the curry. Remove the thick, hard layers of the lemongrass stalk and chop the soft part.
Add the chopped onion, ginger, garlic, lemongrass stalk, cumin seeds, and red chilies into a blender. Pulse till smooth paste forms.
Heat oil in a pan, add the paste and fry on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the turmeric powder and coriander powder and cook for another 5 minutes.
Add the lemongrass water with the leaves, 3 cups coconut milk, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil.
Cover and continue to slow cook on medium-low flame for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and fish out and remove the lemongrass leaves from the soup.
Mix in the soy sauce and last cup of coconut milk. Season with salt.
Prepping the veggies and noodles
Heat 1 tbsp oil and add the vegetables. Stir fry for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water, cover, and cook for around 10 minutes until the vegetables are done.
Bring a pot to boil and cook the noodles as per the instructions. Toss with salt.
Build your soup
Add the soup to a bowl, add in some noodles and veggies. Top each bowl with 1 tbsp of chili oil, lots of coriander leaves, lemon wedges, and sprouts (I didn’t have any, so I did without ’em) Mix it all together before digging in.
Notes
Please note the Nutritional Value is approximate and would change as per the ingredients and produce you use.