Laksa Lemak
This noodle-based soup gets a slight sweetness from coconut milk, but that flavor is much more subdued than similar Thai dishes. It's spicy, but not actually hot -- it's a very gentle heat. The main taste is the amazing array of flavors that comes from the homemade paste, which includes both ginger and galangal. I really liked this dish. And it was very simple. It's definitely going into my permanent repertoire...
I've been digging into the Curry Cuisine cookbook recently. I was going to make Chingri Malai Curry (Jumbo Shrimp in Coconut Curry Sauce from Bengal), and noticed a comment in the introduction to the recipe, that the author was very surprised by how similar it was to a Malaysian Laksa. The book had a recipe for Laksa Lemak (Laksa with Shrimp and Tofu), so I had a look... As it turns out, Laska Lemak is made with noodles, and since we had rice yesterday, and since I'll be serving rice the next day, I decided to go with this Laksa thing instead.
According to the recipe, Laksa used to mean fine rice noodles, but today the dish is made with whatever noodles you've got. It's basically a spicy soup with coconut milk, noodles, and whatever protein you can find: chicken, fish, shrimp, scallops, tofu etc. Lemak translates literally as fat, meaning rich, lavish and luscious -- I agree. Wikipedia says the word Laksa may have come from the Sanskrit word for "many" -- referring to the many ingredients in the soup, and that it is a Peranakan dish, originating from Chinese migrants to Malay and Java -- Wikipedia has a few other things to say on the subject, so follow the link if you'd like to know more... (Sorry. Yeah, I'm an unapologetic, black-belt nerd...)
Here's my recipe, which includes a few modifications that I made.
Paste:
2 large, chopped medium hot red chilies (If you like heat, use hotter ones, or more chilies -- if you can't stand heat, seed and devein them. I like hot and spicy food, and have a higher tolerance for it than most people, but I think additional heat would detract from the complex flavors, and the gentle sweetness from the coconut milk. Too little heat would would -- well, I feel kinda pretentious to say this, but if there's no heat at all, it would sort of throw it off "balance," if that makes sense? It really does need a little heat.)
2 chopped shallots
8 chopped garlic cloves
1/4 cup cashew nuts
1 1/2" chopped ginger
1 1/2" chopped galangal
2 Tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp tamarind juice
2 Tbsp peanut oil
Soup:
3 cans chicken or vegetable broth (if you don't mind losing a little richness, you can substitute about half of that for water -- the majority of the flavor comes from the paste).
1 can coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste, as you cook
8-12 oz of whatever noodles you like
1 lb peeled shrimp (or other protein)
1/4 lb mushrooms (or other vegetables)
1 hardboiled egg (per 2 persons)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
(Taste frequently throughout the cooking process, and season with salt and pepper accordingly)
Instructions:
1. Grind the paste ingredients together, into a very fine paste (I didn't grind it as much as I should have, which resulted in the occasional chunk of ginger and galangal, which I didn't like too much).
2. Fry the paste in oil for 2-3 minutes, while stirring constantly (don't overdo it, as it gets extremely fragrant) and set aside.
3. Bring the broth and coconut milk to a boil, and add pasta. Let simmer until almost done.
4. Add mushrooms, simmer for 4 minutes.
5. Add shrimp and simmer for 4 more minutes (adjust time according to what veggies and proteins you're using).
6. Serve with cilantro for garnish, and a quartered, hardboiled egg.
I made a couple of mistakes when I followed the original recipe (which I have NOT repeated in the above recipe, of course): I didn't grind the paste as much as I should have. I sautéed the mushrooms and shrimp before adding them to the soup -- this was pointless, and added nothing to the dish (plus -- extra pan to clean). Finally, I was a little freaked out by how much liquid there was and decided to reduce it by almost half before adding the pasta, mushroom and shrimp -- at which point I discovered I didn't didn't have enough soup... Duh.
Avoid those three mistakes, and you'll have a great Laksa Lemak. Highly recommended.
Oh, and it makes for some awesome leftovers... I don't normally go for leftover seafood, but this stuff is great for next day's lunch... The phrase "brown-bagging it" has such a mundane, or even pitiful ring to it. But when some poor, hapless bastard plods past your cubicle with his greasy bag of McDumpster, stopping dead in his tracks, and starts begging for a taste -- hey, maybe I'm evil -- but sometimes that can be the highlight of your day, you know?
I've been digging into the Curry Cuisine cookbook recently. I was going to make Chingri Malai Curry (Jumbo Shrimp in Coconut Curry Sauce from Bengal), and noticed a comment in the introduction to the recipe, that the author was very surprised by how similar it was to a Malaysian Laksa. The book had a recipe for Laksa Lemak (Laksa with Shrimp and Tofu), so I had a look... As it turns out, Laska Lemak is made with noodles, and since we had rice yesterday, and since I'll be serving rice the next day, I decided to go with this Laksa thing instead.
According to the recipe, Laksa used to mean fine rice noodles, but today the dish is made with whatever noodles you've got. It's basically a spicy soup with coconut milk, noodles, and whatever protein you can find: chicken, fish, shrimp, scallops, tofu etc. Lemak translates literally as fat, meaning rich, lavish and luscious -- I agree. Wikipedia says the word Laksa may have come from the Sanskrit word for "many" -- referring to the many ingredients in the soup, and that it is a Peranakan dish, originating from Chinese migrants to Malay and Java -- Wikipedia has a few other things to say on the subject, so follow the link if you'd like to know more... (Sorry. Yeah, I'm an unapologetic, black-belt nerd...)
Here's my recipe, which includes a few modifications that I made.
Paste:
2 large, chopped medium hot red chilies (If you like heat, use hotter ones, or more chilies -- if you can't stand heat, seed and devein them. I like hot and spicy food, and have a higher tolerance for it than most people, but I think additional heat would detract from the complex flavors, and the gentle sweetness from the coconut milk. Too little heat would would -- well, I feel kinda pretentious to say this, but if there's no heat at all, it would sort of throw it off "balance," if that makes sense? It really does need a little heat.)
2 chopped shallots
8 chopped garlic cloves
1/4 cup cashew nuts
1 1/2" chopped ginger
1 1/2" chopped galangal
2 Tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp tamarind juice
2 Tbsp peanut oil
Soup:
3 cans chicken or vegetable broth (if you don't mind losing a little richness, you can substitute about half of that for water -- the majority of the flavor comes from the paste).
1 can coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste, as you cook
8-12 oz of whatever noodles you like
1 lb peeled shrimp (or other protein)
1/4 lb mushrooms (or other vegetables)
1 hardboiled egg (per 2 persons)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
(Taste frequently throughout the cooking process, and season with salt and pepper accordingly)
Instructions:
1. Grind the paste ingredients together, into a very fine paste (I didn't grind it as much as I should have, which resulted in the occasional chunk of ginger and galangal, which I didn't like too much).
2. Fry the paste in oil for 2-3 minutes, while stirring constantly (don't overdo it, as it gets extremely fragrant) and set aside.
3. Bring the broth and coconut milk to a boil, and add pasta. Let simmer until almost done.
4. Add mushrooms, simmer for 4 minutes.
5. Add shrimp and simmer for 4 more minutes (adjust time according to what veggies and proteins you're using).
6. Serve with cilantro for garnish, and a quartered, hardboiled egg.
I made a couple of mistakes when I followed the original recipe (which I have NOT repeated in the above recipe, of course): I didn't grind the paste as much as I should have. I sautéed the mushrooms and shrimp before adding them to the soup -- this was pointless, and added nothing to the dish (plus -- extra pan to clean). Finally, I was a little freaked out by how much liquid there was and decided to reduce it by almost half before adding the pasta, mushroom and shrimp -- at which point I discovered I didn't didn't have enough soup... Duh.
Avoid those three mistakes, and you'll have a great Laksa Lemak. Highly recommended.
Oh, and it makes for some awesome leftovers... I don't normally go for leftover seafood, but this stuff is great for next day's lunch... The phrase "brown-bagging it" has such a mundane, or even pitiful ring to it. But when some poor, hapless bastard plods past your cubicle with his greasy bag of McDumpster, stopping dead in his tracks, and starts begging for a taste -- hey, maybe I'm evil -- but sometimes that can be the highlight of your day, you know?
