Let me tempt you with a bowl of luscious laksa
So what exactly is laksa? It's a coconutty broth with lemongrass and galangal and diced Vietnamese mint piled with tofu and poached seafood and chilli and sambal - and, and, anything else you want to put into it. .... all combined with fat egg noodles and skinny rice vermicelli.
Originally from Singapore, this mouthwatering meal in a bowl traveled down through Indonesia to end up as one of Australia's favourite dishes.
Take one spoonful, and you will immediately understand why.
Laksa in Four Simple Steps
These steps are for a seafood laksa
1. Prepare the seafood. Peel and devein the prawns. Set aside.2. Place rice noodles in a bowl and cover with boiling water, leave to soak for 10 minutes. Then drain the noodles in a colander, rinse them in cold water and set aside.
3. Next, to make the paste, place all the paste ingredients, plus a tablespoon of water, into a blender or the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth. Add oil to a pan and, when warm, add the prepared paste and cook over a medium heat for 2 minutes. Add coconut milk and stir, then leave to simmer gently for 10 minutes.
4. When the coconut milk mixture is ready, add the noodles, any ingredients such as cucumber, beansprouts etc and juice of one lime. Add salt to taste, bring back to a simmer, add the prawns and cook for 3-5 minutes until the prawns have turned pink.
Ladle the laksa into deep bowls for serving. Add some shredded mint and basil leaves.
Recipe : Laksa Paste
* Pinch of Sea Salt
* 2 tablespoons Ginger (Chopped)
* 4 Cloves
* 1 teaspoon Turmeric (Chopped)
* 1 Stalk Of Lemongrass (Bottom 1/3 Only - Chopped)
* 10 Dried Chilli's (Or 3 Birdsey Chillies)
* 6 Candle Nuts (Or Macadamia)
* ½ teaspoon Shrimp Paste
* 1 bunch Coriander Root (And Stems)
* 10 Vietnamese Mint Leaves* 1 teaspoon Coriander Seed
* 1 teaspoon Fennel Seed
* 4 Cardamom Pods
* 1 teaspoon Cumin Seed
* 4 Cloves Garlic
* .
* ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
Method
1. Blend all ingredients in a blender and cover with some oil and refrigerate for up to a month or pound each ingredient in a mortar and pestle starting with the onion and the salt (the salt helps to break down the onion with its texture) then adding each one once you have pounded the previous ingredient.
Laksa, Australian style
Recipe : Simple Laksa
* 250g rice vermicelli* 20ml (1 tbs) peanut oil
* 1/4 cup good-quality laksa paste*
* 750ml (3 cups) fish or vegetable stock
* 400ml coconut milk
* 750g green prawns, de-veined, shelled, tails on
* 250g scallops
* 100g deep-fried tofu*, quartered
* 100g bean sprouts, trimmed
* 1/2 cup each fresh coriander, Vietnamese mint* and Thai basil* leaves, plus extra to serve
* 1 small red chilli, seeds removed, cut into thin strips
* 2 tbs chopped peanuts, to serve
* Fried Asian shallots*, to garnish
Method
1. Place the vermicelli in a bowl, cover with boiling water and leave for 10 minutes to soak. Drain and set aside.
2. Place oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the laksa paste and stir-fry for 1 minute. Stir in the stock, bring to the boil, then add the coconut milk and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the green prawns, scallops and deep-fried tofu and cook for 2 minutes before adding 1 teaspoon of salt.
3. Divide the noodles between serving bowls, top with the bean sprouts and the fresh herbs. Pour the laksa soup over the noodles, dividing the seafood equally among the bowls. Garnish with slices of chilli, peanuts, shallots and the extra fresh herbs.
Notes & tips
* * Ingredients should be available from Asian supermarkets. If the Vietnamese mint and Thai basil are unavailable, substitute with extra fresh coriander.
A taste of Indonesia
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Indonesian food is one of the most vibrant and colourful cuisines in the world, full of intense flavour and varied textures. It's as diverse as the Indonesian culture, with culinary influences from Chinese, European, Middle Eastern, and Indian source...
Laksa Penang
Prawn versus Shrimp
In Britain the term "shrimp" is the more general of the two, and is the only term used for Crangonidae and most smaller species. "Prawn" is the more special of the two names, being used solely for Palaemondiae and larger forms, never for the very small ones.
In North America the name "prawn" is almost entirely replaced by the word "shrimp" and used for even the largest species, which may be called "jumbo shrimp".
In Australia we eat 'prawns'- we boil them, steam them, poach them or throw them on the BBQ - and those 'shrimp' things are very tiny creatures usually found in a can, or made up into a paste.
Shrimp Paste
The tiny shrimp fished in southeast Asia are made into blacang, a fermented shrimp paste used as seasoning.
Side Dishes
Laksa is a meal in itself but, if you need more dishes for dinner, steamed rice is the perfect accompaniment.
There are a number of excellent sauces to flavour the rice if you prefer a fuller taste. Try these sauces with rice or over steamed vegetables.
Recipe : Sambal Ulek
Sambal Ulek : Basic sambal
20 red Chillies
2 teaspoons Salt
Method
Wash Chillies and chop. Mix with salt and rub into a coarse paste in mortar or in blender. Put into sterilised jar.
This sambal is perfect for cooking and as a base for other sambals. You can keep it refrigerated for up to two months.
Sambal Ulek online
Tuong Ot Sambal Oelek Chili Paste
Amazon Price: $3.99 (as of 12/23/2009) 
Recipe : Babi Panggang Sauce
Ingredients:
60 Gr. Dark Brown Sugar2 teaspoons Ketjap Manis
60 ml. White Vinegar
60 ml. Chicken Stock
2 tablespoons Tomato paste
3 teaspoons Corn flour
2 cm. Fresh Ginger (shredded)
1 Small Onion (diced)
1 teaspoon Sambal Ulek or
1 fresh Chilli Pepper
2 tablespoons Oil
Preparation:
Soften the diced onion in the oil. Mix remaining ingredients and add to the onions. Slowly boil for 5 min. until sauce thickens. If needed sauce can be thinned down with water or pineapple juice.
Spice up your Kitchen
Recipe : Katjang Sauce
Peanut Sauce
This sauce is a very good accompaniment with sate, fried rice, steamed vegetables and any other dish you fancy.
1 small Onion
3 tablespoons peanut butter
30 gr Dark Brown Sugar
20 ml Ketjap Manis
1 teaspoon Coriander
½ teaspoon Cumin
1 stalk Lemon grass (crushed)
1 tablespoon Lemon juice
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 teaspoon Sambal Ulek
Coconut Milk
Method
Finely dice a small onion. Put the oil in a small saucepan and soften the onion, add all other ingredients except coconut milk.
Slowly heat on low flame adding milk as required to make it into a smooth sauce. Keep the heat low.
Remove Lemongrass before serving.
Singaporean, Malaysian & Indonesian Cuisine
A one-page spread picture accompanies each recipe, very helpful for anyone not familiar with some of the ingredients, or with the final outcome.
Singaporean, Malaysian & Indonesian Cuisine
Amazon Price: $10.85 (as of 12/23/2009)
A glossary of ingredients, seasonings, spices and herbs is followed by recipes for stocks, condiments, pickled salads, sambal chilli sauces and assorted spice pastes. These spice pastes (used in many of the recipes) are what gives this cuisine its fragrant, rich and savoury flavours.
A 'must have' for those who want a taste of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia .. with easy instructions for any level of cook
Wine and Dine Collection : Epicure
The Epicure Group is a superb collection of recipes, wine guides and eatery reviews from the talented lensmasters at Squidoo.
Don't miss Epicure whatever you do!
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I love Food : Lensography of the Kitchen
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I seem to have a lot of lenses on food. Probably because I enjoy it so much. Once I cooked all the time for my growing children and grow they did .. they grew so big that they all left. Now they can cook for themselves, and I can cook just for the...
Leave a Message for the Cook......
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Reply
- wahlee wahlee Jun 7, 2009 @ 4:12 am
- What a great subject for a lens,well done,or just right.
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Reply
- JziE JziE Apr 6, 2009 @ 2:26 am
- actually, laksa is more famous in Malaysia rather than Singapore or Indonesia. You can get the best laksa in the state of Penang in Malaysia. The same thing goes for sambal also. But U can find sambal everywhere in Malaysia
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Reply
- ElizabethJeanAllen ElizabethJeanAllen Mar 6, 2009 @ 7:23 pm
- yummy dishes.
Thanks for sharing.
Lizzy
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Reply
- Jimmie Jimmie Feb 18, 2009 @ 5:25 am
- Oh my word! The intro had my mouth watering, and we just finished dinner, so I'm not hungry! YUM!
You're officially blessed! And welcome to the group!
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Reply
- stargazer00 stargazer00 Feb 10, 2009 @ 5:45 pm
- Welcome to the Hungry Squidz Choice Group. Please stop by the group and grab the blue ribbon for your lens!
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Reply
- stargazer00 stargazer00 Feb 9, 2009 @ 12:17 pm
- This sounds simply wonderful! I would love for you to submit this recipe lens to Hungry Squidz Choice Group.
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Reply
- flighty02 flighty02 Jan 13, 2009 @ 2:47 am
- Great lens, and I love laksa! I actually made it with fresh salmon the other evening, it made a nice change. Thanks for adding your lens to The Cooks Cafe group
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Reply
- KimGiancaterino KimGiancaterino Jan 12, 2009 @ 10:28 pm
- I'm allergic to seafood, but your lens is great. Thanks for adding it to Culinary Favorites From A to Z.
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Reply
- ChristiannaGarrett-Martin ChristiannaGarrett-Martin Nov 4, 2008 @ 7:49 pm
- I does look delicious! A meal in a bowl. A great Lens.
Christianna
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Reply
- lakeerieartists lakeerieartists Nov 3, 2008 @ 9:10 pm
- Not for me. But I loved the lens.
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10% of my income goes to continue the work of Fred Hollows in treating avoidable blindness and improving indigenous health.Photo : Khim Rath, who can now see after a successful cataract operation, Kampong Chhnang province, Cambodia.
Blindness is a significant public health issue in Cambodia. Over 160,000 people are blind and an additional 20,000 become blind each year. The main cause of blindness is cataract, which can be treated by a simple 15 minute operation at an average cost of $25 (AUD$35).
Thanks for calling in ...
Thanks very much for dropping by this lens. You're more than welcome to leave a note in the guest book above and, if you're a member of Squidoo, you can also rate this lens :)It's all much appreciated, Susanna
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About Susanna Duffy
My Bio
G'day from Melbourne, Australia where I write about King Arthur, Mythology, Legendary Beasts, Ancient Rome, Books, Fairy Creatures, Australiana and Adventures in my Kitchen. I'm also a Charity Mentor and an Honorary Squidoo Angel 
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