Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Laksa Soup Easy Dinner

Happy New Year!

I have (again) resolved to return to my recipes. I use these as a reference and it saves me searching through my notes, cookbooks, magazine and newspaper clippings, apps, saved files and photos of recipes. What I am really saying is that's it's in my best interest too, but it's nice to share with a few friends what I love to eat.

In the spirit of that, here is my easy Laksa recipe, that I learned from a Malaysian friend nearly 20 years ago. It's a great midweek dinner and a reasonably healthy one. You can change that up by using real coconut milk if you'd prefer. This will serve 3 or 4 adults depending how hungry you are.

Please note that this recipe uses lots of ingredients from our Asian grocer- a great place to explore full of yummy ingredients and their veggies are usually fresher than fresh. The lady at our local shop on Palmerston street was also kind enough to share her fashion shopping tips with me today!

Take 2 tablespoons of laksa paste-use your thermomix to make it or buy a jar of paste. I usually buy the local Perth brand 'Hogans' it's better than I've been able to make! Sauté the paste in a large saucepan with a few tablespoons of chicken stock for a minute to soften and disperse the paste then add 1 cup of chicken stock, 1 chicken breast cubed, 1 cup raw shelled prawns, 8 fish balls cut in half and some Malay style fried tofu cut into bite sized squares. Bring to just simmering while stirring though. It won't look soupy just yet but drop to a very low heat while you get the next step ready.

Finely dice some Choi Sum or your favorite crispy green veg and tip into a sink or deep bowl of cold water to separate the grit out. Scoop out with a sieve to drain the water then add to the simmering mix, stir through and then pop the lid on and turn the heat off for now.


Next cover Hokkein noodles in a large bowl with boiling water. While these soften and separate, rinse 4 large handfuls of fresh bean shoots in a sieve under cold running water.


Back to the saucepan, add a large can of carnation coconut flavoured evaporated milk (sub in coconut milk if you want the full cream version) and turn the heat on to bring to just under a boil. Drain Hokkein noodles and portion in large soup bowls according to appetite. Top each bowl with a handful of bean shoots- be generous these melt when you pour on the hot soup.


Just before the soup reaches the boil, ladle evenly into the bowls over the noodles. If you like boiled eggs add some quartered up too. Top with fried shallots, and serve with soup spoons, chopsticks for the chunky pieces and a cold drink to cool the spices. Yum!