Mandy Yin’s king prawn laksa recipe
Laksa evokes strong memories in Malaysians. I was born in Kuala Lumpur and my father is a Peranakan from Malacca, so my laksa is the spicy version I had there. It’s a mix of the Peranakan curry laksa and Assam laksa, from the north. Laksa is quite specific to Malaysia — you do get versions across Southeast Asia, but, although I'm biased, I don't think any are as good as ours. This probably owes a lot to the shrimp paste we use. It's labour-intensive to make, with a long list of ingredients that aren’t cheap, but people love it. You can find the deep-fried tofu puffs at Asian supermarkets.
Serves: 6
Takes: 1 hr 30 mins
INGREDIENTS
1.5 litres chicken stock
2 lemongrass stalks
2 x 400ml tins coconut milk
7 tbsp dark brown sugar, plus extra to taste
100g laksa leaves (or fresh coriander and mint)
3 tbsp tamarind paste
2 tbsp salt
12 deep-fried tofu puffs, halved
120g beansprouts
120g green beans, cut into 5cm lengths
24 raw king prawns, peeled and de-veined
400g cooked fresh egg noodles
For the spice paste
15 dried chillies
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
7-8cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
8 garlic cloves
3 fresh red chillies, roughly chopped
50g shrimp paste
3 tbsp ground coriander
3 tbsp chilli powder
1½ tbsp ground cumin
1½ tbsp ground turmeric
80ml vegetable oil or sunflower oil
METHOD
- To make the spice paste, soak the dried chillies in hot water for 30 mins. Drain, then add to a food processor with all the other spice paste ingredients except the oil. Blend to a smooth, fine paste.
- Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the paste and cook for 30 mins, stirring constantly, until it’s a rich, red-brown colour and the oil separates from the paste. For maximum flavour, leave the spice paste in the fridge for 24 hours.
- Pour the chicken stock into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Pound the lemongrass using a pestle and mortar to release the juices, then add to the stock along with the spice paste, coconut milk, sugar, laksa leaves, tamarind paste and salt. Simmer over a low-medium heat for 15 mins, then remove the leaves and lemongrass and adjust the sugar and salt to taste. Simmer for a further 15 mins, adding the tofu puffs for the final 10 mins.
- Meanwhile, blanch the following in a pan of boiling water one after the other: the beansprouts for 30 seconds, the green beans for 3 mins and the prawns for 90 seconds. Refresh each in cold water, then drain.
- Divide the egg noodles, beansprouts, green beans and prawns between six serving bowls. Pour over the broth, top with the halved tofu puffs and serve steaming hot.