Cooking for Beginners recipes, structured

Laksa

A coconut curry noodle soup with a pounded rempah, tofu puffs that soak up broth like sponges, and a spoonful of chilli on top.

Prep
35m
Cook
35m
Total
1h 10m
Serves
4
Effort
Involved
Scale
4
Units

Method

Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.

10 Blend the rempah to a smooth paste 15m Soak the dried chillies in boiling water 20 minutes first. Fry the rempah in oil until it darkens and smells sweet 15m Fifteen minutes, genuinely. Under-fried rempah tastes raw and sour through the whole bowl. Add coconut milk and tofu puffs, simmer 10 minutes, season 12m Below a boil once the coconut milk is in, or the broth goes grainy. Noodles in the bowl, broth over, tofu puffs and garnishes on top 5m Assemble at the last minute. Noodles sitting in hot broth turn to mush within ten minutes.
8
6 cloves
3 stalks
a 4 cm piece
a 3 cm piece
6
1 tbsp
5 tbsp
1 litre
400 ml
200 g
1 tbsp
2 tbsp
1 tsp
400 g Cook the noodles and blanch the beansprouts in the same water 6m
200 g
a small handful
1/2
1
4 tsp
Read left to right: ingredients merge into steps, and the rightmost cell is the last thing you do. Steps account for 53m of hands-on and cooking time.

  1. Blend the rempah to a smooth paste

    15m
    • dried red chillies 10
    • shallots 8
    • garlic 6 cloves
    • lemongrass 3 stalks
    • galangal a 4 cm piece
    • fresh turmeric a 3 cm piece
    • candlenuts 6
    • fermented soybean paste 1 tbsp

    Soak the dried chillies in boiling water 20 minutes first.

  2. Fry the rempah in oil until it darkens and smells sweet

    15m
    • from 1 Blend the rempah to a smooth paste
    • neutral oil 5 tbsp

    Fifteen minutes, genuinely. Under-fried rempah tastes raw and sour through the whole bowl.

  3. Add coconut milk and tofu puffs, simmer 10 minutes, season

    12m
    • from 2 Fry the rempah in oil until it darkens and smells sweet
    • vegetable stock 1 litre
    • coconut milk 400 ml
    • fried tofu puffs 200 g
    • palm sugar 1 tbsp
    • light soy sauce 2 tbsp
    • salt 1 tsp

    Below a boil once the coconut milk is in, or the broth goes grainy.

  4. Cook the noodles and blanch the beansprouts in the same water

    6m
    • thick rice noodles 400 g
    • beansprouts 200 g

  5. Noodles in the bowl, broth over, tofu puffs and garnishes on top

    5m
    • from 3 Add coconut milk and tofu puffs, simmer 10 minutes, season
    • from 4 Cook the noodles and blanch the beansprouts in the same water
    • Vietnamese mint a small handful
    • cucumber 1/2
    • lime 1
    • sambal oelek 4 tsp

    Assemble at the last minute. Noodles sitting in hot broth turn to mush within ten minutes.

Why the rempah is fried so long

A rempah is mostly alliums and fibrous rhizomes, all of them full of water and sharp raw sulphur compounds. Frying drives that water off, and once the paste stops steaming the temperature climbs past 120°C and browning begins — the harsh notes break down and sweet, roasted ones replace them. You can see the moment: the mass tightens, darkens by two shades, and a slick of coloured oil appears at the edge of the pan. That oil is where the flavour now lives, and it carries through the entire pot.

Notes

  • Candlenuts are the thickening agent. They are mildly toxic raw, which is fine here since they cook for half an hour, but do not nibble them.
  • Tofu puffs are the point of a vegetarian laksa: hollow, absorbent, and better at holding broth than any prawn.
  • Belacan gives the traditional funk. Fermented soybean paste is the closest plant-based equivalent; a teaspoon of white miso also works.

Try butter, 30 minutes, braise, or an ingredient you need to use up.