laksa noodles

Singapore Laksa

After a brief hiatus since my last post, I thought it is about time to share some new recipes that I have been working on.

 

Here’s my favourite laksa recipe of all time. Tedious to make, but guaranteed satisfaction for all of you Laksa lovers.

 

The ingredients are commonly found in NTUC or Cold Storage, so ingredient list building shouldn’t be a problem. Perhaps some of you experts out there might question “why no belachan?”, well I decided not to use belachan because good quality dried shrimp is good enough, but you may consider that if you like.

 

Ingredients:

 

Vermicelli aka Laksa Bee Hoon – 500 grams

Medium Grey Prawns – 250 grams

Fish Cake – 1 large piece

Bean Sprouts – 1 handful

Dried Tau Pok – 10 pieces

Blood Cockles – 200 grams

Laksa Leaves – 1 sprig

Dried Shrimps – 1 cup

Cooking Oil – 100 ml

Water – 750ml

Coconut Milk – 250 ml

Salt

Sugar

 

Pound into Paste:

Shallots (or Onions) – 2/3 Bulbs

Garlic – 4 pieces

Turmeric (Yellow Ginger) – 1 inch

Galangal (Blue Ginger) – 1 inch

Young Ginger – 1 inch

Candlenuts – 4 pieces

Dried Chillis – 10 pieces (soak in water first)

Method:

1. Blanch prawns in 750 ml of water till 90% cooked. I gauge this cooking process by looking at the prawns and if they curl into a “C” shape. “C” means cooked, but if however, the prawns turn into an “O” shape, then that means the prawns is now over-cooked. Just a little tip for all of us servant-less cooks.

2. Once prawns are cooked, set them aside.

3. Add Laksa leaves into the broth, and bring to a boil. You can also shred the Laksa leaves to sprinkle over your noodles for that extra flavour. 

4. Then turn the fire to a low simmer for about 15 minutes.

5. Heat 100 ml of oil in a wok.

6. Add in dried shrimp (pounded) into pounded condiments (paste) and fry for 5-7 minutes over a big fire until fragrant.

7. Pour the cooked ingredients into the pot of prawn stock. Again, bring to a boil.

8. Add in the coconut milk to thicken the broth. Add salt and sugar to taste.

9. Add in the Tau Pok (sliced diagonally) to cook until soft if you like, before serving.

Serving Suggestion:

1. Present cockles, bean sprouts, fish cakes (sliced) and tau pok (cooked) in a bowl of Bee Hoon Noodles before ladling the Laksa broth over the ingredients.

2. Sprinkle Shredded Laksa leaves for extra flavour.

Bon Appetit!