Curry Laksa

Method

1. Snip the dried chilies in half, shake out the seeds and soak them in hot water for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, keep only the bottom 10 cm (the pale part) of the lemongrass and slice it thinly; roughly chop the shallots, garlic and ginger. Squeeze the chilies dry and put them in a blender with the shallots, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, cashews, shrimp paste, curry powder, turmeric and coriander. Add 2 to 3 tbsp water and blend to a very smooth paste.

   Add in this stepDried red chilies 6Shallots (or red onion) 80 gGarlic cloves 3Fresh ginger 10 gLemongrass stalks 1Cashews (or candlenuts) 5Shrimp paste (belacan) 1 tspCurry powder 2 tspGround turmeric ½ tspGround coriander 1 tsp

2. Fill a 16 cm pot with enough water to cover the eggs and bring it to a boil over high heat. Gently lower in the eggs with a ladle, boil for 9 min, then cool them straight away in cold water, peel and halve.

   Add in this stepEggs 2

   high heat

3. Heat the oil in a 20 cm pot, add all the spice paste and fry it over medium-low heat for 10 min, stirring constantly so it does not catch. It is ready when it turns a shade darker, brick red, and red oil separates and pools around the edges.

   Add in this stepCooking oil 3 tbsp

   medium-low heat

4. Pour in the chicken stock, add the whole chicken thighs and bring to a boil over high heat, then lower to medium-low heat and simmer for 15 min. Lift out the chicken and cut into the thickest part: if there is no pink, it is cooked. Let it cool a little and shred it coarsely with two forks.

   Add in this stepChicken stock 750 mlBoneless chicken thighs 200 g

   high heat→medium-low heat

5. Add the coconut milk, tofu puffs, salt and sugar to the broth and simmer over medium-low heat for 5 min. Keep it at a gentle bubble at the edges; a hard boil can make coconut milk split. Add the prawns and cook for 2 min more, until they turn pink and curl, then turn off the heat. Taste and adjust with salt.

   Add in this stepCoconut milk 300 mlTofu puffs (hollow fried tofu) 6Salt ¾ tspSugar 1½ tspRaw peeled prawns 8

   medium-low heat

6. Bring plenty of water to a boil in a second 22 cm pot over high heat. Cook the rice vermicelli for 2 min and lift it out with a sieve, then blanch the egg noodles and bean sprouts in the same water for 1 min, drain and shake dry.

   Add in this stepThin rice vermicelli 60 gFresh yellow egg noodles 160 gBean sprouts 80 g

   high heat

7. Divide the vermicelli and egg noodles between bowls and top with bean sprouts and shredded chicken. Ladle over plenty of hot broth with the tofu puffs and prawns, add the halved eggs and laksa leaves, and serve with sambal and lime wedges. Squeeze the lime and stir in the sambal bit by bit to set your own heat level.

   Add in this stepLaksa leaf sprigs (Vietnamese coriander, or mint) 2Sambal (chili paste) 2 tspLime (or calamansi) 1