Laksa Lemak
I’ve always been pretty intimidated by Asian cooking. I was lucky enough to be born and raised in Vancouver—a city with a diverse Asian population and incredible Cantonese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Cambodian, and Thai restaurants. The upside of this was that I gained an early appreciation for the nuances of these wonderful cuisines. The downside was I was so awe-struck by them, there was no way I would dare attempt them myself. A proper Vietnamese pho broth, for instance, silky with anise and beef knuckle bones, takes 10-12 hours to simmer and can’t reeeeally be done right on a small scale.
Nevertheless, captivity has emboldened (or addled) me, and this weekend I made one of my favorite things: Laksa Lemak, or Singaporean / Malaysian curried soup noodles. I make no claims to authenticity here, but the basic premise is a rich coconut curry broth topped with tofu and seafood. I didn’t have nearly the full array of ingredients, but that didn’t stop me and it shouldn’t stop you!
Laksa paste is a flavorful blend of candlenuts, galangal, dried shrimp, turmeric, and other herbs. It’s tricky to make properly and captivity made it difficult to source some of the ingredients, so I substituted with another variety of curry paste.
A quick note on noodles. Some recipes call for thicker, round rice noodles (lai fun), but the Singaporean hole-in-a-wall I always went to with my dad used a delightful combination of thin rice noodles (mei fun) and medium egg noodles. The mei fun soak up a lot of liquid and are a great vehicle for the broth, while the egg noodles add a nice, toothsome texture. I only had a pack of ramen noodles. Close enough!
Laksa Lemak
Adapted from Nyonya Cooking
3-4 shrimp per person, peeled and deveined; save the shells and heads
Egg noodles (and/or thin mei fun and/or thick lai fun)
1 cup fried tofu puffs
1 cup of fish balls, halved; or sliced fish cake
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 medium yellow onion, minced
1 cup laksa paste, or yellow curry paste
3 Thai red chilies, minced
2 tbsp grated ginger
4 cups seafood stock
2 tbsp light brown sugar
3 kaffir lime leaves
2 stalks lemongrass, or the zest of 1 lemon
2 cans coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp fish sauce
Garnish options:
Bean sprouts, blanched
Lime wedges
Fresh thai basil or cilantro
Fried shallots
Sambal
Serves 4
Prep your shrimp, toss the heads and shells in a pot with the seafood stock and heat; this step really helps punch up the flavor of the stock while you do everything else.
Use a paper towel to dry your shrimp; you’ll thank me later.
Heat one tablespoon of coconut oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Place shrimp in a single layer in the pan (be careful, if the shrimp weren’t thoroughly dried the oil may spit). Resist the urge to move these around. Sear until you see the edges start to curl and pink (less than a minute depending on size) then flip them over to their opposite side until evenly seared. Don’t let these overcook—the hot soup will finish them off. Set these aside.
In a medium pot over medium heat, add coconut oil and sauté onions until translucent. Add laksa paste and cook for a minute until it becomes aromatic.
Add chilies, ginger, stock, brown sugar, kaffir lime leaves, bring up to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.
Using the handle end of a chef’s knife, smash your lemongrass stalks until they are relatively pliable. This helps to release their aromatics. You can then tie them together in a knot, which is an easy way of keeping them in line while your soup cooks.
Add lemongrass, coconut milk, lime juice, and fish sauce to the pot; let this simmer while you cook the noodles.
Depending on what noodles you’re using, cooking methods will vary. Very thin rice noodles may only need to be flash-soaked in hot water, while thicker egg noodles may need 2-3 minutes at a boil. Choose your own adventure!
About 5 minutes before serving, add tofu puffs, fish balls, and fish cake to the soup to make sure these are heated through.
Dish noodles into bowls, pour the soup over them (evenly distributing tofu and fish balls) then arrange your shrimp and garnishes on top as you please!
Ahem. You’ll notice below that I tossed some mushrooms in for no apparent reason. This is def not traditional, but listen, there are no rules in captivity.
FEEDING AMERICA
Food banks are straining to keep up with the needs of vulnerable communities right now. Feeding America has started a COVID-19 response fund to get help to particularly at-risk areas, and their searchable nationwide database can help you find and support the food banks in your local community!