Nyonya Curried Laksa
An interesting yellow curried gravy with prawns as its main stock . It is a fusion of Nyonya style cooking with Malay authentic ingredients . The spiced seeds created beautiful spicy aromatic taste while the sourness from the kaffir lime leaves , balanced the richness of the coconut milk . Different in taste and style from the other local laksa , the Nyonya Curried Laksa is served with rice vermicelli , instead .
The ingredients
- 20 shallot
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 1 inclh of ginger
- 1 inch of turmeric powder
- 2 cm of galangal
- 5 stalks of lemongrass
- 6 red chilies
- 1 tablespoon of dried prawns
- 1 tablespoon of prawn paste
- 1 tablespoon of toasted coriander seed
- 1 tablespoon of mixed toasted fennel and cumin seed
- 3 candlenuts
- ( Blend all the above ingredients )
- 1 kg of raw medium prawns - peeled and deveined , tails intact . Clean and fry the head and the prawn skin with butter until red . Then boil them with a litre of water to make prawn stock .
- 6 kaffir lime leaves
- A bunch of vietnamese leaves ( Daun Kesum )
- 2 tablespoon of fish sauce
- 3 cups of fresh thick coconut milk
- 150 gm of fresh cockles - boil for its flesh
- 20 fish balls - halves
- 5 dried fired tofu - quartered or thinly sliced
- 4 fish cakes - sliced ( optional )
- salt and palm sugar
- For Garnish
- 1 packet of rice vermicelli - soak in hot water to soften
- A bowl of fresh bean sprout
- A bowl of mint leaves - chopped
- A bowl of Viietnamese mint - chopped
- A bowl of red cut chilies
- Wedges of fresh lime
Making the gravy
Heat oil in a pot ( stock pot ) . Sautée the blended ingredients until fragrant or the paste start to sizzle . Once sizzling , add in the prawn stock. Stir and let the stock mixtures boil . Add the coconut milk , the kaffir leaves , the Vietnamese mint leaves and the fish sauce . Stir and leave it to boil again . Let the gravy boil slightly longer over low heat to ensure the coconut milk are fully cooked . Always remember to gradually stirring it to avoid the milk from splitting . Once done , add the fish balls , the fish cakes , the cockles and the prawns . Leave it to simmer for at least 10 more minutes. By now the gravy should be in deep yellow color with slight oily or glossy appearance. Add in enough salt and palm sugar .
To serve
In a boiling water , soak the rice vermicelli until soft . Drain and leave it a side . In a bowl , scoop in the rice vermicelli and pour enough gravy to cover the noodles . Garnish with the chopped Vietnamese mint , the mint leaves , fresh bean sprout , sliced red chilies and the lime wedges.
Served warm . You can also serve it with fried chili paste or pounded prawn chili paste .
