For my first complete meal in the Royal Selangor Get Your Jelly On challenge , I present you my favourite dinner, lunch or even breakfast soup: laksa lemak. You probably thought, how does one present laksa in a jelly cone – is it jellified? I considered it, but couldn’t quite visualise it… so I used the mould to give my vermicelli a fancy shape.
Rich in colour and fragrance the soup has a great depth of flavours that lingers on after every spoonful and all you want to do is dive in for another sip. I like my laksa spicy, I think it needs to be. And while I like a little extra lime juice in mine and often use wheat angel hair spaghetti instead of rice vermicelli or mee (egg noodles), I stick with the traditional fillings of prawns, tofu and sometimes hardboiled egg.
Since for me laksa lemak is a comfort food, I like to spend a little extra time in the kitchen to craft the paste from scratch, about 10 minutes extra. I find the flavours of this paste quite good and the level of spice which I like to be around 7/10 can be easily adjusted to cater for everyone. And then there is the lemak, or coconut milk, which lends the soup an exotic flavour, tones down the heat a little and makes the broth more voluminous.
My mouth is watering already, luckily I have some leftovers for breakfast!
Giveaway
Don’t forget, each comment on the Royal Selangor Get Your Jelly On challenge posts on my blog (Day 1, Day 2, etc) is your entry to win an Olympus VG-110 camera. Giveaway is open worldwide! Entries close October 30, midnight AEST. Winner will be announced on the blog on October 31.
Serves 2
Prawn and tofu laksa lemak from scratch
There are a lot if ingredients, but it’s more or less one of those throw everything together recipes. I love it because it contains no additives, preservatives or MSG often found in pre-made laksa pastes. Plus both the ingredients and flavours can be adjusted for spiciness and various allergies or dietary requirements.
For the laksa paste:
- 3cm long piece of fresh galangal, julienned
- 8 coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp dried tumeric
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1/2 long red chilli or to taste, de-seeded and chopped
- 1 tsp dried shrimp
For the laksa:
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 2 sprigs spring onion, chopped
- 2 lemongrass sticks, leaves peeled and white part only
- 6 kaffir lime leaves, julienned
- 1/4 cup coriander leaves and sprigs
- juice of 1/2 large lime (or of 1 whole small lime)
- 1/2 red long chilli, seeds removed
- 1 tbsp peanut oil for frying
To make the noodles:
- 2 cups rice vermicelli noodles, cooked
- 1/2 cup coriander (cilantro) leaves
- a few slices of a red long chilli, chopped finely
To serve:
- 10 large prawns, cooked peeled
- 1/2 cup bean sprouts
- 1 small lime, halved
- (hard boiled egg, tofu puffs or tofu)
To make paste: place coriander seeds in a medium saucepan (the same as you will use for the curry). Place saucepan over medium heat and toast for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and into a mortar and pestle. Add dried shrimps. Grind until both are powdered. Add garlic, galangal and chilli and continue grinding all of the ingredients into a smooth paste.
To make the noodles: prepare rice vermicelli according to packet instructions. Once ready, add chopped coriander and chilli to the noodles and mix.
Spray the inside of the moulds with some oil spray. Place moulds into mugs so that they are upright. Fill moulds with noodles and allow to set while you prepare the soup.
To make the laksa: heat oil in the saucepan and fry off the spring onions. Add paste, stir for 2 minutes. Add stock, kaffir lime leaves, coriander, sugar and juice of half a lime, inlcuding the skin. Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 minutes for the flavours to develop. Add coconut milk to the sauce and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Remove all lemongrass, coriander, lime, spring onions and kaffir lime leaves with a slotted spoon and discard. Return laksa to the heat just before serving.
To serve: flip the moulds into the base of wide-bottomed bowls and release the noodles. Pour piping hot laksa all around the noodles, add cooked prawns (sliced cooked egg, tofu or tofu puffs) and garnish with some fresh bean sprouts and extra coriander if you wish. Squeeze half a small lime onto the noodles, then mix it all in and enjoy!
OMG that looks delicious Martyna!! Beautiful colours. I love how you have shaped your noodles, brilliant!
Thank you Sneh
This looks fantastic. I will miss these cones when they’re gone!
I know! What will I do with myself???
I’m usually not one who tends to eat tofu, but this looks so good I might make an exception.
I’m with you, not the greatest fan but it’s great for this soup as it’s spongy and takes on all the lovely flavour which then busrts in your mouth!
Love the presentation and the creative use of this mould! I’m thinking cone-shaped rice with Hainan chicken might be a good idea too.
Oh yes!!! But shhh… we don’t want to alert the others
This looks like it’s about to become my favourite breakfast!
No additives has my vote, plus it looks delicious!
There is a lot work making a dish like this but it is all worth it when you slurp it all up. I like the little specks of green and red on the cone vermicelli.
You’re completely right Gertrude. When I was brainstorming the dish I thought the noodles would look plain so why not add the herbs to the noodles for an added dazzle
Nice one Martyna, laksa is our favourite too. Love the presentation of your dish.
Im been trying to dieting myself on the pass few week and really watch up on my calories intake..I was looking for a low fat recipe and BUMMM…you give me an idea with this..this one look yummy and delicious..easy to make..Thank you for sharing.:)
I’m loving how creative you are! Can’t wait to see what else you come up with
I love. I love laksa. The vermicelli cone is very pretty. I love how you add some green specs of coriander on it.
That looks delicious and what a great idea to use the mould that way.
Oh my! Your creations are incredible, you are a very skilled cook and have amazing imagination. Your creativity amazes me every day as do your phots. Delicious take on the Malaysain classic.
Nice one again. I love nasi lemak and I have tried laksa but I don’t think I have tried laksa lemak, and definitely not the mould version:) Creative use of the mould yet again
This is one stunning dish. I can’t wait to try it out. Definitely my kind of food. Great photos as well. I love tofu – am slightly addicted to the dish Ma Po Tofu at the moment.
This dish looks better than most of what I had even in the most expensive restaurants. I would have never thought of shaping noodles (and I think no one has). It’s an excellent idea!
Why I haven’t seen your recipe before my lunch? I have all the ingredients (of course I don’t have the cone to create this shape).
Oh my. That looks so incredibly tasty. It’s only 11 am in my part of the world, and I’m dying for lunch already! Thanks for the inspiration…
I love the presentation of this one. What a gorgeous laksa.
This dish looks like it belongs at the fanciest five star restaurant. All of your photos are so gorgeous!
What a lovely dish of laksa!
It looks like a white Christmas tree of yumminess. lol!
Wow this is a truly exceptional presentation
Can you believe I never tried laksa?? I like your recipe. good pictures too, I can see the cone mould.
Mmmmm. Those prawns looks delicious.
Very creative!
mm looks yummy, great presentation
Looks like a little white Christmas tree!
I’m not a far of tofu but if this was put in front of me at the dinner table I would definitely not turn it away
I’m not a fan of tofu but if this was put in front of me at the dinner table I would definitely not turn it away
Gorgeous way to use the tofu, the the prawns are making my mouth water!
I’ve never heard of laksa, but I love all things edible and Asian-inspired, I’ll have to give it a try!
I’ve never had — well, at least intentionally — tofu. Looks yum, prepared this way!
The end result looks like a bowl full of art (not to mention flavour!) I’ve never actually tried laksa, but I’m a big fan of prawns
I have never seen a meal like this! Looks wonderful! All those flavours must result in a very delicious meal.
Love your photography!
My mom would love this, she loves laksa. And the way you made the noodles, artistic!
Laksa is one of my favourite comfort foods too. For people with Eastern European ancestry I would’ve thought that was unusual (I’m Ukranian), but there you go! And you’ve got to go the prawns and tofu!
Looks great!
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