Laksa (Malaysian Spiced Coconut Noodle Soup)

About This Recipe

Laksa is the dish that most perfectly encapsulates Malaysia's multicultural culinary heritage — a meeting of Chinese noodle traditions, Malay spice-paste technique, and the coconut milk that runs through all of Southeast Asian cooking. The two great family branches are curry laksa (lemak), originating in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley, and asam laksa, the tamarind-soured fish-broth version of Penang that regularly lands on lists of the world's best dishes. Curry laksa — the version here — builds on a laboriously fried spice paste of shallots, galangal, lemongrass, dried chilies, candlenuts, and shrimp paste, then bloomed in coconut milk into a broth of deep, layered heat. Thick rice noodles are added with bean sprouts, shrimp, fish tofu, and a hardboiled egg, then finished with laksa leaf. The result is as close to a complete meal as a bowl of soup gets.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 400 gthick round rice noodles, blanched
• 300 glarge shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 200 gfish tofu or fish balls
• 150 gbean sprouts, briefly blanched
• 4hard-boiled eggs, halved
• 800 mlcoconut milk (2 cans)
• 400 mlchicken or shrimp stock
• 2 tbspneutral oil
• 8shallots, peeled
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 3 stalkslemongrass, white part only, sliced
• 4 cmfresh galangal, sliced
• 5candlenuts or macadamia nuts
• 6dried red chilies, soaked 20 minutes
• 3fresh red chilies
• 1 tspbelacan (Malaysian shrimp paste), toasted
• 1 tspturmeric powder
• 2 tspcurry powder (Malaysian style)
• 1.5 tspsalt
• 1 tspsugar
• 1 handfuldaun kesum (Vietnamese coriander / laksa leaf), for garnish
• 2 tbspsambal oelek, for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the rempah (spice paste)

   Blend shallots, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, candlenuts, soaked dried chilies, fresh chilies, and toasted belacan into a fine paste. Add a splash of water if needed.

   A high-powered blender produces the smoothest rempah.

2. 2

   Fry the rempah

   Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add rempah and fry, stirring constantly, 12-15 minutes until deeply fragrant, darkened, and the oil separates visibly on the surface.

3. 3

   Add spices and stock

   Add turmeric and curry powder, stir 1 minute. Pour in stock and bring to a boil. Simmer 10 minutes.

4. 4

   Add coconut milk

   Lower heat to medium-low. Add coconut milk, salt, and sugar. Stir well and simmer gently 10 more minutes. Do not boil hard once coconut milk is added.

5. 5

   Cook the proteins

   Add fish balls and simmer 3 minutes. Add shrimp and cook 2-3 minutes until pink and curled. Taste broth and adjust salt.

6. 6

   Assemble the bowls

   Divide blanched noodles among four large bowls. Ladle hot broth with shrimp and fish balls over top. Add bean sprouts and a halved egg.

7. 7

   Garnish and serve

   Top with daun kesum, a squeeze of lime, and sambal on the side. Serve immediately.

Variations

• •

  Asam laksa (Penang style): tamarind fish broth instead of coconut, with mackerel and torch ginger flower.

• •

  Vegetarian laksa: replace shrimp with tofu puffs and use vegetable stock; replace belacan with miso.

• •

  Sarawak laksa: a distinct version from East Malaysia using a sambal belacan and coconut milk broth.

Storage

Broth keeps refrigerated up to 3 days; noodles stored separately and blanched fresh when serving. Reheat broth gently on the stovetop.

Frequently Asked Questions