Curry laksa. Malaysian Curry and Prawn Soup Recipe

For 4 € 5.6 /pers. 304 kcal/100g

Many of you may not be familiar with laksa, but this dish is one of the most popular in the cuisines of Singapore and Malaysia. Broadly speaking, laksa is a fish and seafood recipe based on rice noodle soup with coconut milk.  

Broadly speaking, we have to clarify that there are two types of laksa: the curry laksa , which is the one that resonates the most internationally; and the assam laksa , which is characterized by the flavor that tamarind gives it, along with touches of cucumber, mint or pineapple. The last dish is a little less for all palates and, furthermore, our favorite is the curry laksa, which is why it is the recipe that we bring you today. In some ways, today’s dish is similar to some better-known recipes such as curry prawns with basmati rice or spaghetti with vegetables and curried prawns , but laksa has, by far, its own personality.

To prepare a good curry laksa, we will need an ingredient that can be difficult to find in stores: red curry paste . The easiest thing is to go to establishments where they sell Asian products to buy it, but if you can’t find it, don’t worry: it has an easy solution. In this same recipe we are going to tell you how to prepare it.

If you want to take a culinary trip from home, you have found the perfect recipe: curry laksa brings you the perfect opportunity to bring exotic flavors to your tables that you will wish you had tried before. With this description of the dish, are you going to resist trying to prepare it?

Preparation of the red curry paste (if we want to prepare it at home)

Don’t worry, making red curry paste is very simple. We only have to carry out these two steps and in 10 minutes we will have it ready:

1. Depending on the spiciness we want in our final recipe, we add the chilies with or without seeds to the mortar. We also add the onion, garlic, a finger of ginger, grains of rice, lemongrass (this ingredient can be difficult to find, if you can’t find it, you can do without it) and a pinch of salt. When we have everything, we crush until we achieve a homogeneous mixture. If you want to save time, you can use a shredder.
2. Add lemon zest, cumin powder and coriander seeds to the mixture. We mix well until we achieve a paste consistency. If you want, to facilitate the mixing, you can add a splash of olive oil to the curry, but be cautious with the quantities.

Preparation of curry laksa

Once we have our red curry paste ready , we can start with the curry laksa . As you will see, it is quite simple, we will tell you:

1. The first thing we have to do to make our curry laksa is prepare a frying pan with oil by heating it over medium heat. While the oil is heating, chop the ginger and garlic into very fine slices (if you don’t really like the presence of these flavors, you can crush it). We sauté and, if we want an extra serving of spice , we can add a little chopped chili.
2. When the garlic has begun to brown, we add our red curry paste to the pot and lower the heat.
3. We add half a glass of water per person to the pot, a little soy sauce and a pinch of the sugar that you use at home. We continue with our pot over low heat to prevent it from burning, but allowing it to cook.
4. Now we will add coconut milk and fish broth to our pot, add the rice noodles, respecting the cooking times indicated by the manufacturer. The last thing we should do is add the prawns and a few pieces of white fish (you can replace it with tofu). You have to remember that they cook in a very short time, so calculate well with the cooking time of the pasta so that you don’t overdo it.
5. Once this last step is done, we just have to serve it in a bowl (or whatever container we decide) and enjoy our curry laksa. Optionally you can put a boiled egg on top of the soup.

Asian food is , many times, a world that is talked about a lot but with which little is done. There is life beyond traditional noodles , teriyaki chicken , or spring rolls .

Of course, all of these recipes are great, but in delicious recipes we urge you to go one step further, to dare to prepare a susiyaki , a Vietnamese hot pot or today’s curry laksa from time to time. Why not dare with new flavors?