Malaysian and Singaporean · Main · Served at Daun Pisang (#4)
Curry laksa
Laksa lemak
My family spent a lot of time in Malaysia when I was a kid, and we'd have laksa even on scorching hot days. This is my version.
Use galangal, not ginger. Once the coconut milk is in, keep the broth below a boil, and cook the vermicelli in its own pot, never in the broth.
Make the shrimp stock if you can manage it. It's better than plain chicken stock.
- Yield
- 4 bowls
Ingredients
Serves
Rempah
- 8–10Kashmiri dried red chilies, soaked 20 min, deseeded. Start at 8
- 8 (~150g)shallots
- 4–6garlic cloves
- 1"galangal
- 1"fresh turmeric (or 1 tsp ground)
- 2 stalkslemongrass, bottom 4", sliced
- 4candlenuts or macadamia
- 2 tspThai kapi (pure shrimp paste), or 1 tbsp bottled shrimp paste in soya bean oil
- 2–3 tbspdried shrimp, soaked
- 1 tbspcoriander seeds, toasted and ground
- 1 tspcumin seeds, toasted and ground
- 1/3–½ cupneutral oil
Broth
- 4 cupsshrimp stock, or chicken stock
- 1 can (13.5 oz)full-fat coconut milk
- 1 tsppalm sugar
- Fish sauce, salt
- ¾–1 tsptamarind concentrate in 1 tsp warm water
- 8tofu puffs (tau pok), halved and scalded
Toppings
- 8–12 ozdried rice vermicelli (2–3 oz a bowl)
- 8–12large shrimp, peeled (2–3 a bowl)
- 1 smallfish cake (2–3 slices a bowl)
- 2 cups (~1/3 lb)bean sprouts (½ cup a bowl)
- 2hard-boiled eggs, optional (½ a bowl)
Garnish
- 4 tbspfried shallots
- Sliced Fresno chili
- 4lime wedges
- A handfuldaun kesum / Vietnamese mint
- Sambal on the side
Method
- Blend the rempah completely smooth.
- Fry it in the oil on medium-low for 15 to 25 minutes, until pecah minyak. Don't rush it.
- Add the stock and simmer 20 minutes.
- Season with fish sauce, palm sugar, salt, and tamarind.
- Scald the tofu puffs in boiling water to degrease them, then add them.
- Add the coconut milk and stir. Never a hard boil.
- Season it boldly, because the toppings dilute it. Keep it on the lowest heat.
- Soak the vermicelli in cold water for 30 minutes.
- If the broth separates, whisk it.
- Poach the shrimp in the broth 2 to 3 minutes and hold them.
- Set up a separate blanching pot for the noodles and sprouts.
- For each bowl, blanch a portion of vermicelli 30 to 60 seconds and drain it into the bowl.
- Add bean sprouts, 2 to 3 tofu puff halves, fish cake, and shrimp.
- Ladle hot broth over.
- Top with fried shallots, chili, lime, and daun kesum, and serve sambal on the side.
Notes
- The paste and stock keep three days in the fridge. Add the coconut milk when you reheat.
- Kapi is Thai shrimp paste, pure fermented shrimp with no oil, and the closest thing to the belacan most laksa shops use. Block belacan works the same way. The jarred paste in soybean oil is milder, so use more of it. Whichever you use, it cooks through in the long fry, so there's no need to toast it.
- Most shops also use a mix of yellow egg noodles and rice vermicelli. I use just vermicelli. Add yellow noodles if you can get them.
What I use
- Block shrimp paste (belacan): Malaysian belacan (opens in a new tab) (what most laksa shops use)
- Noodle soup bowls: Dyware 38 oz, set of 4 (opens in a new tab)
Some of these are affiliate links. If you buy through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
