Of all the laksas I have tried, this is my favourite version of it. Yes, I am saying my favourite is the one I make, before you call me a narcissist, hear me out! I have tried many laksa recipes, but none of them hits the spot like this one. It is a well balanced combination of spicy, sour and savoury notes. You’ll just have to make it, to understand where I’m coming from.
I am using a store bought laksa paste for this recipe, to make my life a little easy. I have tried doing this recipe with different paste brands but my ultimate favourite so far is - Por Kwan Laksa Paste! If you can’t find it, try and look for a Singaporian style laksa paste instead.
I am making Chicken stock from scratch, because I wanted a clean chicken stock flavour and not those horrendously salty stocks you get from the supermarket shelves. If you feel lazy and don’t want to make your own stock, I would recommend finding a supermarket one with no or at least reduced salt option.
I am using two types of noodles to make this recipe a little more texturaly interesting. If you don't have Hokkien noodles, just use Vermicelli noodles.
This recipe is coconutty-creamy, yet refershing at the same time. Fresh coriander, mung bean sprouts, chilli, dried shallots and lemon squeezed on top just takes it to another level.
Recipe
- Prep Time: 20-25 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours (if making Chicken Stock from scratch)
- Serves : 2 People
Ingredients
For Chicken Stock
- 400-500g Chicken bones/frames
- 3 litre Water
- 1 Medium Onion
- 1 Medium Carrot
For Laksa
- 1tbsp Sesame or Vegetable Oil
- 4-5tbsp (120g) Laksa Paste (Brand I'm using - Por Kwan Laksa Paste)
- 1tbsp Lemongrass (finely chopped or crushed)
- 1tbsp Ginger (finely chopped or crushed)
- 1tbsp Palm/Brown Sugar
- 1tsp Soy Sauce
- 1/2tsp Fish Sauce
- 400g Coconut Milk
- 50g Vermicelli Noodles
- 100g Hokkien Noodles
- 200-250g Chicken Breast Sliced
For Garnish
- Handful Mung Bean Sprouts
- 2 Lemon wedge for each bowl
- 1tbsp Dried Shallots
- 1tsp Red Chilli (sliced)
- 1tsp Ginger (thinly sliced)
- To taste Coriander
Steps
- Start by adding chicken frames/bones, onion and carrot in a big pot. Add water and turn on the heat.
- Bring the pot to a boil and simmer gently for atleast 2 hours. You are reducing the stock to slightly less than 1/3 volume. So you should end up with approx. 750-800ml liquid.
- In the meantime, slice/crush ginger and lemongrass.
- In a separate pot, fry lemongrass and ginger for 1 minute, then add laksa paste and fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Then add palm or brown sugar, soy sauce and fish sauce and cook everything together for 5 minutes.
- Then add, coconut milk and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the coconut milk is cooked out. It will add a little sweetness to the laksa.
- Once your chicken stock is finished cooking, strain and add 500ml (2-3 cups) of it in a separate pot.
- Cook the vermicelli noodles (until soft) first in the boiling hot stock, strain add to a serving bowl.
- Then add the Hokkien noodles to the stock and cook for 2 minutes, strain and add to the serving bowl.
- Slice the chicken breast and cook in the stock. Once cooked transfer to the serving bowl.
- Then take a cup (250ml) of the strained stock you've used to cook the noodles & chicken and add it to the laksa base pot.
- Cook laksa base with added chicken stock for another 5-10 minutes on medium to high flame.
- Pour the laksa base over the noodles and chicken in your serving bowl.
- Garnish with lemon wedges, mung bean sprouts, sliced red chilli, coriander and dried shallots. Squeez the lemon over laksa and enjoy this deliciousness! :)
