Name: Laksa (Rice Noodles in Spicy Coconut Gravy, with Prawns (Shrimps) and Fish Cake)
Yield: Makes 8 Servings
Ingredients: 60 g or 2 ounces dried chillies, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes; 60 g or 2 ounces dried chilli; 1 teaspoon belachan; ½ cup oil; 250 g or 9 oz lemon grass (seray), upper stalks and outer layers removed, sliced thinly; 700 g or 1½ pounds medium-size prawns (shrimps), leave shells on; 90 g or 3 ounces belachan, cut into small cubes; 230 g or 8 ounces dried shrimps; 15 cups water; 300 g or 10½ ounces galangal (lengkuas), skinned and cut into strips; 60 g or 2 ounces turmeric (kunyit), skinned and cut into strips; 1 cup laksa leaves (daun kesom), optional, sliced finely; 230 g or 8 ounces fish cake, shallow-fried, sliced into 2.5 cm or 1 inch pieces; 1 tablespoon sugar or less, to taste; 110 g or 4 ounces candlenuts, diced; 340 g or 12 ounces shallots, peeled and diced; 1 cucumber, skinned, deseeded and sliced into fine 2.5 cm or 1 inch strips; 3 tablespoon salt or less, to taste; 20 red chillies, stemmed and deseeded, sliced and ground into a fine paste; 1 tablespoon coriander seeds (ketumbar), crushed; 1.5 kg or 3 pounds 5 ounces rice noodles; 450 g or 1 pound bean sprouts, roots plucked; 3½ cups coconut milk

Preparation info

Makes
8
Servings

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Growing Up In A Nonya Kitchen

By Sharon Wee

Published 2012

About

This dish took me under two hours to make. Before this, I had procrastinated making laksa, always assuming that it was a painstakingly long process. How wrong I was!

My mother sometimes prepared the spice paste for the gravy ahead of time. In fact, cooking the gravy a day ahead makes it even tastier when you serve. She also believed in blanching the noodles only just before serving, so that the noodles would not become soggy or kembang, as she would say.