Laksa is the main dish of the Peranakans, descendants of Chinese immigrants who settled in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. As you might expect, Peranakan cuisine has roots in both Chinese and Malay/Indonesian cuisine and has mixed ingredients, spices and techniques used by all of these cultures. Laksa is a prime example of this culinary combination that originated in Chinese coastal settlements in Malaysia.
One popular theory about its exact origin is that Malaysian spices and coconut milk were included in recipes for Chinese noodle soups. The rich, warm noodle soup then spread to the Singaporean and Indonesian Peranakan communities, where it is hugely popular today.
There are different varieties of laks, but what they all have in common is their soup base, which is made with either coconut milk or asami (tamarind), or sometimes both. Noodles are added to this base. Either thick rice noodles or egg noodles are used, but thin noodles can also be used. Ingredients vary by region, but typically include chicken, shrimp, or fish.
Three popular variations of Lax:
Asam Laksa - This tamarind-based laksa is served with minced fish and vegetables such as lettuce, cucumbers and onions. You can also add mint and ginger. Usually shrimp and shrimp paste are also added.
Curry Laksa - This version starts with a coconut milk base, with chili and sambal paste added for color. Toppings are usually fried tofu, fish balls, and shrimp, although chicken is also often used as a protein. The dish is garnished with coriander.
Sarahuak laksa - This soup has a base that includes both coconut milk and tamarind, but does not include curry spices, and its toppings are more protein-based, including egg omelet strips, chicken, and shrimp.
Laksa October 6th, 2008
Each state in Malaysia has its own signature dish. Someone is famous for sate, somewhere they make the best in the country. But the famous laksa soup is so loved by everyone that almost every state has its own version. Cafes and restaurants that specialize in laksa often see displays of several large clay pots, each containing a different variety of laksa. The plates next to the pots correspond to the names of the states: Laksa Penang, Laksa Sarawak, Laksa Johor and so on.
Laksa is a spicy thick fish soup, a specialty of Nyonya cuisine, a fusion of Malay and Chinese cultures. All types of laksa can be divided into two categories: curry laksa with coconut milk and sour assam laksa.
curry laxa
Curry laksa is prepared by adding coconut milk to curry-based fish soup. In cooking, pieces of bean curd tofu, shrimp and chicken are also used. The soup is usually seasoned with a spoonful of hot chili shrimp paste and garnished with Vietnamese coriander leaves. Noodles are put here either yellow mi, or .
Laxa Katong, where the noodles are cut into small pieces so that the whole soup can be eaten with a spoon without the help of chopsticks:
Laxa Sarawak, which, although it is a type of curry laksa, for some reason does not contain curry at all. And it is prepared on the basis of shrimp paste, tamarind, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and coconut milk. Laksa Sarawak is topped with julienned omelet, chicken, shrimp, fresh coriander and sprinkled with lime juice drops.
This is what the base looks like:
And here is Sarawak, already filled with laksa:
Assam laksa
Assam laksa is a spicy and sour fish noodle soup. Assam in Malay means nothing more than tamarind, which is used in cooking and gives the soup its characteristic sourness.
The main ingredients of the soup are fish, usually mackerel, finely chopped cucumbers, onions, hot red chili, pineapple, herbs, mint and ginger root.
And it turns out this broth:
Noodles for laksa are taken special thick. That's what it's called - laksa noodles. But sometimes assam laksu is cooked with thin rice vermicelli mi hun.
And, in the end, the soup is seasoned with a paste of crushed Belachan shrimp.
Again, these are general provisions. And there are many options:
Laxa Penang- the most popular variety of assam laksa. Characteristic ingredients for Penang are lemongrass and kalang, which are added during the cooking process. The soup is seasoned with mint, pineapple slices, onion rings and sprinkled with chopped ginger flower.
Laksa Johor prepared in the state of Johor and based on coconut milk. Its characteristic ingredients are sprouted mung bean shoots, mint leaves and pickled white radish. It is interesting that for Johor laksa they do not take noodles, but real Italian spaghetti. Moreover, spaghetti is traditionally prepared and served separately from the soup itself.
Laksa Ipo from the city of Ipo an order of magnitude sourer than the rest of their relatives.
Laxa Perlis similar, in general, to the classic Penang laksa, but usually decorated with slices of boiled eggs.
Laksu Kelantan can be recognized by an almost white and thick base.
For those who, while in Malaysia, decide to try it, I wish you bon appetit. And for experimental culinary experts - the recipe for Penang assam laksa in the next post ...
November 27th, 2017
In Singapore, I was impressed by several dishes. First of all, of course, "chicken rice" - rice with chicken, which is served there everywhere, with or without reason. But this is not too exotic, but the spicy soup with noodles and laksa coconut milk I have not come across anywhere else. It has a certain similarity, on the one hand, with Thai soups, but unlike them, chicken broth is used, and on the other, with Japanese ramen. But still, the dish is very original, and having received wishes from friends to figure out something exotic, oriental, moderately spicy, and even a variant of ramen, as well as lagman, it turned out that laksa meets almost all the requirements)
Like many Southeast Asian dishes, laksa is prepared according to the constructor principle - the individual parts are assembled together before serving.
The recipe that I propose is slightly adapted to Russian realities - it is rather difficult to find Malay curry paste, but Thai one is quietly sold. Be careful with her - very sharp! By the way, you can replace it with Hot & Sour soup pasta and even Tom Yum pasta. The main thing is that the color is red, and the ingredients are more or less suitable everywhere.
You will need for the broth:
Chicken leg, 1 pc.
Water, 500 ml
Lemongrass, 2 stems, white part only
Ginger, 2-3 cm
Garlic, 3-4 cloves
leeks, a little
Salt to taste
Other:
Thai red curry paste, 1 tsp. spoon - 1 tbsp. spoon, to taste
Chinese egg noodles, boiled and drained, 1 serving
Boiled egg, 1 pc.
Shrimps, 3-4 pcs.
Coconut milk, 1/2 cup
Lime for serving, optional
Green onions for serving, optional
Cook the broth - chicken, water, ginger, garlic, leek, lemongrass. Ginger and garlic can not be peeled, only crushed. Cut lemongrass into rings. Salt to taste. Cook until the chicken is tender.
Strain the broth, cut the chicken into edible pieces and boil the egg noodles.
Add curry paste to broth and stir. Bring to a boil.
Now coconut milk, being careful not to curdle. Shrimp there, and cook for a couple of minutes.
It remains to collect - lay out the noodles, chicken, boiled egg. You can add green onions and/or a lime wedge. And you can not add.
Bon appetit!
For the first time I tried lax in the St. Petersburg cafe "Two Sticks" 5-6 years ago. At that time, this chain of cafes with Asian cuisine was just beginning to enter the Moscow market, the quality of the dishes was excellent. For two years, our small girl group of lovers of spicy Asian cuisine regularly arranged gatherings at Two Sticks, we came there for laksa. Since then, a lot of these cafes have appeared in Moscow, the quality of food and service has dropped significantly and has not risen. Laksa is still on the menu of this establishment, but now it is liquid spicy water with a small amount of rice noodles and one miserable shrimp, except for the sharpness, it has no other flavor of Two Sticks laksa. It's a pity...
Later, I ordered laksa in all Asian cafes in other countries if I saw this soup on the menu. I was especially captivated by laksa in Hong Kong and Singapore, its various types. It’s a pity that I haven’t had time to visit Malaysia itself, the homeland of laksas. At the moment, I have probably tried the most delicious laksa in a cafe at Universal Studios in Singapore. It was a huge portion of thick, rich soup, the shrimp were not spared, and all for some very ridiculous money.
My approach to cooking, especially new dishes, is, oddly enough, very similar to makeup. To repeat the makeup I liked, I don’t need to watch a video tutorial or step-by-step pictures, it’s enough to see the finished version. I can easily repeat it, for this, most likely, I will need other cosmetics, the application sequence may also be completely different, but I will be satisfied with the result. To prepare a dish I like, I need to know its taste, to see how it looks like in finished form, to roughly understand what ingredients are used. A couple of trial preparations will help determine the optimal amount of the right ingredients, their ideal combination. Most likely, I will not try to repeat the dish I like exactly the same. I will add something of my own, but I will keep the authenticity of taste, aroma, texture, the main components.
Main Ingredients
First of all, you will need Laksa pasta. You can, of course, try to mix it yourself using curry paste, shrimp paste, red chili, lemongrass, galangal, shallots, salt and sugar. But why complicate things when you can just buy ready-made Laksa pasta? I tried several types of ready-made pasta and I liked Asian Home Gourmet Singapore Laksa spice paste the most. It is ideal for me in terms of spiciness and the ratio of other components, I don’t use any more spices when making soup, just this paste is enough for me. I bought the paste of this manufacturer in Thailand, Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong. When I ran out of Asian stock, I found it on eBay.
The second obligatory item is noodles. I tried laksa with rice, wheat, egg noodles. The most common option is with rice, but I myself prefer to use thick Asian wheat. In my opinion, the big minus of rice is that it itself is not saturated with spices, the sauce does not linger on it. I recommend not to save on noodles. Now in Moscow stores, including Asian stores, there are Asian types of noodles worth less than 60 rubles. You shouldn't buy this one. I don’t know who and where makes it, but it’s something terrible, it will spoil any dish.
The third point must go seafood and/or hen. I most often came across variants of laksa with shrimp, less often shrimp + chicken or just chicken. I love the combination of chicken and shrimp. Less often I cook only with chicken, or shrimp + squid.
To these three I add “my own”, the fourth mandatory component is fried tofu pieces. I use a special tofu for frying, the usual soft tofu options in this case will not work.
All necessary ingredients
Yesterday I used these ingredients to make Laksa:
Pasta Laksa
- ramen noodles
- chicken fillet
- shrimps
- shiitake mushrooms
- tofu for frying
- coconut milk
- Coconut oil
- chicken bouillon
- egg
- greenery
I usually boil laksu in chicken or shrimp broth. But I prefer to use the chicken itself not boiled, but fried. But, of course, if desired, all components can only be cooked. I prefer the option when the chicken, mushrooms and tofu are pre-fried. For more authenticity and flavor, you can use coconut oil for frying.
I have never seen mushrooms in lax. But I myself tried to add shiitake or oyster mushrooms, I liked it. Now I buy frozen shiitake mushrooms, it turns out more profitable than dried or fresh, and they last longer.
Separately, I fry the tofu, cut into large pieces, until golden brown on both sides. Then chicken + mushrooms, I add a little salt to the chicken, towards the end I add a little Lax pasta and water, and the carcass. I boil noodles. I heat up the chicken broth. I boil a chicken egg.
In an almost boiling broth, I throw fried mushrooms and chicken, tofu, add Laksa pasta. I mix thoroughly. Cook without letting it boil for 3-5 minutes. For 3-4 small portions, I use one pack of pasta (60g), for a large pot - 2 packs.
Then I add noodles, shrimp and 200-300 ml of coconut milk. After a couple of minutes, turn off the stove, mix thoroughly again and let it brew for 5-10 minutes under the lid.
I serve it on the table in a deep plate with a spoon and chopsticks. I put half an egg and greens on top. Most often I use cilantro or a mixture of cilantro and mint.
My husband says that the most delicious laksa in Moscow is at our place. It's nice of course, but in the end he prefers to eat the laksa made by me at home, and not go to some new Asian restaurant =/ So decide for yourself whether you need to cook a delicious laksa yourself =)))
A slightly spicy and spicy soup with rice noodles, common in the countries of Oceania and Southeast Asia - laksa, it is as common as red in Ukraine. Most often, this first course is prepared with various seafood, fish, shellfish. Although options with chicken are found quite often and everywhere. Recipes inherent in different regions can differ significantly from each other.
Deliciously spicy and sour, fish and noodle soup is one of the ten most delicious dishes in the world according to CNN. Laksa is attributed to the so-called Peranakan cuisine. Historically, this was the name given to people from mainland China who settled in the insular part of Asia several hundred years ago. But, nevertheless, this first dish has become an integral part of Singaporean, Indonesian and Malay cuisine.
The origin of the name is not known for certain. According to various opinions, the name of the noodles from which the soup is cooked, seasoning from dry shrimp can be the source of the term laksa - these words are consonant. The basis of the dish is coconut milk and a spicy paste made up of many ingredients. By the way, the composition of the paste, although complex, but almost all components are available even with us. However, ready-made spicy pasta dressing for laksa soup is sold in many supermarkets.
Several types of laksa are divided, distinguishing them, to a greater extent, by the composition of spices and seasonings. Usually, outside of Asia, the easiest way to get as close to authentic recipes as possible is the Singaporean version of curry laksa or asam laksa - a less popular option, but no less tasty. It is a hot and spicy coconut milk soup, often with chicken or fish, flavored with herbs.
A simple pasta seasoning for laksa soup, often contains hot peppers, dry onions and chopped dried shrimp, soybean oil, salt and sugar, garlic, lemongrass or sorghum, and the rather sour-tasting vegetable fruit tamarind.
Of the ingredients available to us, it is worth including vegetable broth and coconut milk in the soup, if desired, chicken fillet, mushrooms, fresh cucumbers and cilantro, mint. You will need fairly thick and firm rice noodles. Lime juice can be used to give the lax a sour taste, since it is rather problematic to buy the “authentic” sour components of asam or tamarind. The soup is often served with half a boiled egg.
Lax. Step by step recipe
Ingredients (serves 4)
- Spicy paste for laksa (commercially available) 1 sachet
- Chicken fillet 1 pc
- Coconut milk 400 ml
- large shrimp 12 pcs
- Rice noodles 250 gr
- Lime 2 pcs
- Hot pepper 1 pc
- Champignons 8-10 pcs
- Cilantro 0.5 bunch
- Cucumber 1-2 pcs
- Egg 2 pcs
- Mint 1 sprig
- Green onions 1-2 pcs
- Carrot, onion, ginger for the broth
- Olive or soybean oil 3 art. l.
- spice salt
- You can argue about which products are appropriate to add to the soup and which are not, you can endlessly. Almost all common dishes do not have an "exact" recipe, and there are usually a lot of variations. Despite the long list of ingredients, laksa is easy to prepare. Mandatory products - coconut milk, spicy dressing paste, rice noodles. The composition of greens, vegetable additives, the presence of mushrooms, meat, poultry or fish - here you have a choice.
Basic ingredients for soup
- Rice noodles should be bought thick enough. In appearance, it looks like an almost transparent matte white paste, similar to tagliatelle, but 2.5-3 mm wide. When boiled, such noodles practically do not swell and retain their shape. Often recipes use rice "paste" similar to spaghetti or thin threads.
rice noodles
- Pour 1.5 liters of water into a saucepan and put it on fire. While the water is heating, peel the carrot, onion and a piece of ginger 4-5 cm long. If there are soup roots: parsley, celery, parsnip - they can be used for broth, if desired. Cut carrots, ginger and roots into large cubes or sticks, cut the onion crosswise. Throw the peeled vegetables into the water. Boil the broth at a low boil under the lid for 35-40 minutes. At the end of boiling, discard the vegetables and strain the broth. Please note that vegetable broth is prepared without salt and spices.
Make a simple vegetable broth
- While the vegetable broth is cooking, prepare all the ingredients. Laksa soup is a little unusual to prepare - all prepared ingredients are placed in a deep bowl and poured with a liquid component, and not boiled in broth. Therefore, by the time of submission, everything should be ready.
All ingredients must be ready to serve.
- So, you need to boil chicken eggs. It is necessary that the egg white harden, and the yolk almost harden. Boil the eggs for about 5 minutes, then cool under running water and carefully peel. Defrost large shrimp. It is enough to pour them with boiling water from the kettle and after a few minutes clean them from the shell - only the meat of the tail with the tail fin should remain.
Defrost and clean shrimp
- Wash a few mushrooms and cut into slices. In a saucepan, heat 1 tbsp. l. olive oil and fry the mushrooms over high heat until browned. It is necessary that the mushrooms are fried and not lose moisture. Arrange the prepared mushrooms, peeled shrimp and halved eggs in separate bowls - they are ready to serve the soup.
Saute mushrooms in vegetable oil
- Wash a small chicken fillet and remove the remains of bones, fat and films from it. It is very easy to beat the fillet with a knife block - the goal of beating is not to reduce the thickness of the meat, but to give it the same thickness over the entire area, for even frying. On a grill or grill pan, fry the chicken fillet about half cooked, periodically turning it over, like. Fry for 8-10 minutes enough to start to form a golden crust.
Grill chicken fillet
- Transfer the fried fillet to a saucepan and pour 2-3 ladles of vegetable broth. Put the saucepan on the fire and simmer the fillet under the lid over low heat for 25-30 minutes. Remove the finished fillet from the broth and cool slightly in the air. The rest of the liquid can be poured back into the broth. With a very sharp knife, cut the fillet into strips 5-6 mm wide at an angle to the fibers - obliquely. We must try to keep the fillet strips in shape.
- Spicy laksa soup is richly seasoned with herbs - it is tasty and pleasing to the eye. Fresh cilantro and mint are best for the dish. It is better not to chop the mint, but add a small sprig to the soup, and coarsely chop the cilantro with a knife - literally cut off the coarse parts of the stems, and use only the leaves and the upper part of the stem. Green onion feather - only the green part, finely chopped. Arrange all the chopped greens separately in bowls.
Stew fillet in vegetable broth
- Peel small green cucumbers and cut into strips along the fruit. Cut the hot pepper into wide rings along with the seeds across the pod. Hot peppers with seeds are quite hot, so be careful. Cut one lime into quarters or slices - this is for serving.
- Sachets with ready-made spicy paste for laksa are on sale. One bag is enough for 3-4 bowls of soup. If you wish, you can, and it's not difficult, cook the pasta yourself. But, as I understand it, even in the native places of this dish, few people make pasta on their own. At first glance, it may seem that the seasoning is very spicy, its color contributes to this. In fact, it is very spicy, but the sharpness in it is moderate, even weak, and is felt in the aftertaste.
Spicy paste for soup - sold in stores
- Heat up 2 tbsp. l. olive oil. Easy to fry spicy laksa soup pasta for 1-2 minutes. Add 2-3 ladles of broth. Then, stirring constantly, pour in the coconut milk. Before opening the can, shake the coconut milk thoroughly - it tends to settle and exfoliate. Add all the vegetable broth that remains to the pan. The total volume of liquid in the pan is about 2 liters.
Fill the broth with pasta and coconut milk
- Next, add a little salt to the broth and add lime juice. The broth should be noticeably sour. Squeeze the remaining lime juice into the broth. Bring the broth to a boil.
Add lime juice to broth
- Put the rice noodles into the boiling and seasoned broth. Cook rice noodles over low heat until tender. The package of noodles indicates how long it takes to be fully cooked, usually 5-6 minutes. Worth trying the noodles and maybe extending the time a bit. This completes the preparation of the liquid part of the laxa.
Boil rice noodles in broth
