Vegan Laksa Soup or Curry Laksa or Malaysian Laksa Lemak is a spicy noodle soup from Malaysia that has a rich creamy base made from coconut milk and topped with noodles, blanched vegetables and fried Tofu. The soup is spicy, sweet, salty and creamy. It is perfect for a cold winter day. This recipe includes video instructions to make the Laksa Soup.
Hello friends, wishing you a very Happy New Year once again. Are you excited for what 2019 holds for you? Have you made resolutions yet?
I sure have. As every year before, I resolve to eat healthier, blog more and just spend contribute more time towards home. I would also love to reduce stress, and interact more with you on social media. I also want to go on more vacations and carve out some "me" time. A lot of resolutions and I hope can follow them through.
Now that we have our new year courtesies off the table, lets get on to the recipe - Vegan Laksa Soup.
The Laksa Soup is an uber-delicious Malaysian Noodle Soup. While there are different varieties of Laksa, this is the recipe for Curry Laksa or Laksa Lemak which is a spicy soup finished off with rich creamy coconut milk. Which is perfect for this weather. Something weird is going on with the weather in Bangalore and we've had just about the coldest January in ages. Temperatures are dropping to 8-10 degree C and that's not really normal. So cozying up under a blanket and enjoying some delicious spicy soup is just perfect. I mean the weather calls for it!
My inspiration for recreating a Laksa at home came from the Laksa I ate at FoodHall in December. You have got to try theirs! It was so deliciously flavored, that I wanted more. When you want more and more of something, you have to make it at home, especially when they don't do a home delivery. So I looked up several recipes, and came up with mine. I mostly followed Adam Liaw's recipe, but kept it vegan.
The Laksa Soup has 3 main parts to it:
- Laksa Curry Paste - The curry paste is what gives the soup its flavor. The Laksa I had was spicy and hence, I added enough chillies to give the same heat. This heat is eventually balanced by the sweetness and saltiness, but I'd say add just as many chillies as you can tolerate. The curry paste is simple to make, just blend all the ingredients together and you will get your smooth curry paste. If you don't have access to fresh lemongrass, use lemongrass paste or lemon zest (lots of it!). Candle nuts can be replaced with cashew nuts like I did. Use fresh turmeric if you have access to it, else use the ground powder like me.
- Laksa Soup - The soup I had was spicy, sweet, salty and sour (from the lemongrass). It had the perfect balance of flavors (MasterChef judges would be proud of me!). To get the best flavor our of the soup, the laksa paste has to be fried until the oil separates or at least for 15-20 minutes. After that just add in broth or water to thin it. Add the thick coconut milk towards the end to get the creamy richness.
- Toppings/Additions - Since it is a noodle soup, noodles are kind of mandatory. Use any noodles you have accessible. If you are not purist, you may also use spaghetti. After this it is totally up to you to add whatever vegetable you want. I added blanched broccoli, capsicum, snow peas and mushrooms. I blanched my veggies instead of cooking them in the soup because I wanted my vegetables to retain their crunch and texture. Since I did not have Tofu Puffs, I added pan fried Tofu and it was delish!
Enjoy this bowl of heartwarming deliciousness before the Winter is over! See you next week.
If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are upto.
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Video Recipe
Vegan Laksa Soup | Malaysian Laksa Lemak Recipe
Vegan Laksa Soup or Curry Laksa or Malaysian Laksa Lemak is a spicy noodle soup from Malaysia that has a rich creamy base made from coconut milk and topped with noodles, blanched vegetables and fried Tofu. The soup is spicy, sweet, salty and creamy.Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Malaysian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Total time: 60 minutes
Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients:
For the Laksa Curry Paste:
6-8 Dry Red Chillies
2-3 Fresh Red Chillies
10-12 Cashew Nuts
3 Lemongrass Stalks (white part only)
1 small Onion
1 Tbsp Garlic
1 Tbsp Ginger
0.5 tsp Turmeric powder
1.5 Tbsp Coriander Seeds
For the Laksa Soup:
2-3 tsp Jaggery or Sugar
1 cup thick Coconut Milk
4 Tbsp Oil
Salt to taste
Water or Broth as required
For the Crispy Tofu
100 gms firm Tofu
2 tsp Corn Starch
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 Tbsp Oil
To assemble the Laksa Soup
2 cups cooked Noodles
1 cup Broccoli Florets
8-10 Snow peas
0.5 Capsicum
5 Mushrooms
1 Tbsp chopped Coriander leaves
Method:
1. Soak the dry red chillies and cashew nuts in hot water and keep aside for 10 minutes. Then discard the water.
2. Blend together the soaked red chillies, cashew nuts along with all the other ingredients for the laksa curry paste along with a little water to a smooth paste.
3. Heat 4 Tbsp of Oil in a thick bottomed pan and add the curry paste.
4. Fry the paste for 15-20 minutes on low heat or until the oil separates.
5. Add 1 cup of water or broth and bring to a boil.
6. Add salt and sugar to taste.
7. Add in the coconut milk and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and keep aside.
9. Boil water in a pan and add a pinch of salt.
10. Dab the Tofu with kitchen towel to extract as much water from it as possible.
11. Dice the Tofu into cubes and add to a large bowl.
12. Sprinkle the corn starch, salt and pepper to the bowl and toss until the tofu is coated with the corn starch.
13. Heat 2 Tbsp Oil in a frying pan and place the tofu in one layer. Flip the tofu until all sides are browned and crisp. Remove from heat until time to serve. Alternately, you can deep fry or bake the tofu.
14. Drop in the vegetables - broccoli, snow peas, diced capsicum and sliced mushrooms, one by one and blanch for few minutes until the vegetables are slightly soft.
15. To assemble the Laksa Soup, spoon the soup into a bowl, add the cooked noodles and the blanched vegetables. Top with crispy tofu and chopped coriander leaves before serving.
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is used to curdle the milk. While this gives a better texture, it is not something that is readily available to me. So I used the next best coagulant which works perfectly when I make paneer - Lime juice. The coagulant is mixed with water and added to the warm Soy milk and stirred until the milk curdles or splits. You should continue to stir until you see the milk solids. Then just cover and rest for a while until the coagulant does its magic.
. Or you can follow my video for a DIY way to make tofu press with readily available plates and boxes at home.
