Laksa

Ingredients for the paste

1 stalk lemongrass, white part only

3 cm piece of ginger or galangal

1 red onion or 2 shallots

2 cloves of garlic

 2 tsp shrimp paste

½ tsp paprika

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground turmeric or 3 tsp fresh turmeric

3-4 coriander roots (when I use coriander I chop the roots off and about 4 cm stalk and keep in the freezer)

1-2 red chilies- use the amount to your taste and this will depend on how hot the chillies are!

Put all this in a food processor and blitz, add some oil to form a smooth paste.

**As an option-a garnish of bean sprouts, chili, lime wedges and coriander leaves.

Plus you will need some fish sauce and palm sugar to balance the flavors. You can also use rapadura, brown sugar or coconut sugar

Method

For the laksa- take the vegetables of your choice, I have used, broccolini, baby corn, bok choy and small button mushrooms that you can leave whole.

Use prawns or tofu, chicken, salmon or whatever protein source you choose- about 80g or so per person, you can use whatever amount you want. Chop the chicken small so it cooks quickly, tofu can just be heated through at the end when you serve it. If using salmon use about 2 cm chunks as it cooks quickly.

I also made carrot noodles using a spirooli- you can also use a vegetable peeler. You can also use cooked vermicelli noodles.

This will be enough for 4 serves or if you like the strong flavour you can use this for 2 serves.

Take your paste and fry off in a large pot for 1 minutes until fragrant. Then add your stock and coconut cream.

For each serve add 250 ml chicken or fish stock and ¼ cup of coconut cream, so for 2 serves you want 500 ml stock and ½ cup of coconut cream.

Then add your vegetables and your meat/prawns and let them simmer for 4-5 minutes until the meat and vegetables are cooked, taste and add some palm sugar and fish sauce, and then taste again to make sure its ok.(start with 1tsp of each and see how you go)

Add the carrot noodles right at the end along with your bokchoy as these cook quickly (and tofu if using), if using vermicelli noodles, place the heated, cooked noodles in your bowls. Then serve up your meat and veg and ladle in the liquid left in the pot into your bowls. Garnish with bean sprouts, chili and coriander leaves, plus a wedge of lime.

For the kids take approx. 2-3 tsp of the paste and put in a small pot, fry off and add 1 tbsp of coconut cream and about 150 ml stock (per child) and add the meat and veg in to simmer.