Curry Laksa

Ingredients

Paste

• 8dried red chillies, soaked
• 6shallots
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 3cm galangal
• 2 stalkslemongrass
• 1 tspturmeric
• 4candlenuts
• 1 tbspbelacan, toasted
• 1 tbspcoriander seed, toasted

Soup

• 4 tbspoil
• 1.5 litreschicken stock
• 800 mlcoconut milk
• 2 tbspcurry powder
• 4kaffir lime leaves
• 2 tbspfish sauce
• 1 tspsugar
• salt

To serve

• 500 gfresh yellow noodles
• 200 grice vermicelli
• 200 gtofu puffs, halved
• 300 gcooked chicken, shredded
• 200 gcockles, blanched
• 200 gprawns
• bean sprouts
• sliced cucumber
• hard-boiled eggs
• mint
• sambal
• lime wedges

Directions

1. Toast the belacan wrapped in foil in a dry pan for 2 minutes, until it smells strongly. Open a window first, because the smell is pungent and it lingers.
2. Blend all the paste ingredients to a smooth purée, adding a splash of water if it needs help.
3. Fry the paste in the oil over a medium heat for a full 15 minutes, until it darkens deeply and the oil separates and pools red around the edges.
4. Fifteen minutes is the number that matters in this recipe. Everything the laksa tastes of comes from this stage, and a paste fried for five minutes gives a soup that stays raw and thin no matter what goes in afterwards.
5. Add the curry powder and fry for a minute more.
6. Add the stock and the lime leaves and simmer for 20 minutes.
7. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce and sugar and heat through without letting it boil hard, which would split it.
8. Add the tofu puffs and simmer for 5 minutes so they soak the broth up like sponges, which is exactly what they are there for.
9. Cook and drain both kinds of noodle separately, and blanch the cockles and prawns.
10. Assemble each bowl with both noodles, chicken, prawns, cockles and bean sprouts, then ladle very hot soup over the top.
11. Finish with cucumber, mint, half a hard-boiled egg and a spoonful of sambal, with lime on the side.

Technique

• It comes from the Peranakan kitchen, and the Kuala Lumpur version is the one with tofu puffs, cockles and chicken.
• Curry laksa and asam laksa are entirely different soups. This one is coconut-rich; asam laksa is sour, tamarind-based and made with mackerel.
• Both noodles together is standard rather than indecisive. The yellow noodles carry the broth and the vermicelli carries the chilli oil.

Substitutions

• Macadamias in place of candlenuts, at double the quantity.
• A good shop-bought laksa paste, fried for the same 15 minutes, which is a legitimate shortcut.
• Miso with a little anchovy paste if belacan is unavailable.

Variations

• With fried tofu and mushrooms instead of the seafood.
• Sarawak laksa, which uses a quite different paste and no coconut cream.
• With a fried chicken thigh laid on top, in the modern hawker style.

History

A noodle soup built on a rich, spicy curry broth made from coconut milk and a paste of chili, lemongrass and shrimp paste, topped with tofu puff, bean sprout, chicken or shrimp, documented across Malaysia as one of the country’s most beloved noodle dishes, reflecting a fusion of Chinese noodle-cooking tradition with Malay and Peranakan curry-making technique developed by the historic Chinese-Malay Peranakan, or Straits Chinese, community. Its rich, coconut milk-based curry broth distinguishes curry laksa clearly from the sour, tamarind-based asam laksa found in Penang, and each of Malaysia’s regions maintains its own particular laksa style within this broader shared noodle-soup tradition. Curry laksa remains one of the most widely eaten and internationally recognized dishes representing Malaysian cuisine.

Frequently asked questions

What is Curry Laksa?

Curry Laksa is a soup & stew from Malaysia: coconut curry noodle soup with tofu puffs and cockles. A noodle soup built on a rich, spicy curry broth made from coconut milk and a paste of chili, lemongrass and shrimp paste, topped with tofu puff, bean sprout, chicken or shrimp, documented across Malaysia as one of the country’s most beloved noodle dishes, reflecting a fusion of Chinese noodle-cooking tradition with Malay and Peranakan curry-making technique developed by the historic Chinese-Malay Peranakan, or Straits Chinese, community. Its rich, coconut milk-based curry broth distinguishes curry laksa clearly from the sour, tamarind-based asam laksa found in Penang, and each of Malaysia’s regions maintains its own particular laksa style within this broader shared noodle-soup tradition. Curry laksa remains one of the most widely eaten and internationally recognized dishes representing Malaysian cuisine.

How long does Curry Laksa take to make?

Curry Laksa takes 40 min of preparation and 50 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Curry Laksa?

Yes, within limits. Macadamias in place of candlenuts, at double the quantity. A good shop-bought laksa paste, fried for the same 15 minutes, which is a legitimate shortcut. Miso with a little anchovy paste if belacan is unavailable.

What is the most important thing to get right in Curry Laksa?

Both noodles together is standard rather than indecisive. The yellow noodles carry the broth and the vermicelli carries the chilli oil.