Malaysian chicken curry laksa by Mandy Yin - MW

This is my laksa curry soup, with a strong chilli and shrimp. We tend to save laksa cooking for special occasions due to the time-consuming method and long ingredient list, especially if cooking chicken from scratch. If you can find them, laksa leaves / ram vegetables / hot mint (Polygonumodoratum) add a special aroma to the dish and take me back to my childhood growing up in Kuala Lumpur. Like any delicious curry, the soup grows in flavor if left overnight.

Most preparations can be made a day or two in advance, such as cooking chicken, cooking and cooking seasoning powder, chicken breast, eggs, blanched green beans and chickpeas. The noodles are best blanched just before serving.

Server 6
For braised chicken (if homemade)
1 carcass chicken or 1kg of wings
Stars 1
5cm ginger, peeled and sliced
scallions 3
Small onion 1, quarter
garlic 2 cloves

For the spice paste
Vegetable oil 80g
medium onion 1 (300g), peeled and chopped
8cm ginger, peeled and chopped
Garlic 8 cloves, peeled
3 fresh red chili peppers, stalked, chopped
Dried chili 15, soak in hot water for 30 minutes and drain before use
1 teaspoon ground
1 tablespoon turmeric
ground coriander 3 tbsp
3 tablespoons paprika
shrimp paste 50g (Malaysia / Indonesia block is best, otherwise use Thai gapi paste)

Add laksa soup
1½ liter stock chicken (buy from the store, or see above)
Coconut milk 2 x 400g (ideal Chaokoh brand)
2 tablespoons salt (or less to taste)
good quality palm sugar 90g (or dark brown sugar)
ventricular paste 3 tablespoons
Vietnamese cilantro 50g (or normal cilantro)
Lemongrass 2 stalks, pounding with a pestle to release juice
Crispy tofu 12, cut in half

For toppings
Cowpea 120g
green beans 120g, cut into 5cm long
Chicken breast fillets 2
Fresh egg noodles 400g
Medium-sized egg 6, soft-boiled by boiling for 6 minutes before being shocked in ice, peeled and cut in half
Vietnamese cilantro 50g, chopped for garnish (or normal cilantro)

For chicken, if you make your own, put 2 liters of water in a large pot with carcasses or wings, star anise, ginger, scallions, onions and garlic. Bring to the boil, ignore any residue, then simmer at low heat for 90 minutes.

Mix all of the spice paste ingredients in a food processor until it achieves the consistency of a smooth, smooth mixture. In a large non-stick pan at medium-low heat, cook the seasoning powder, stirring continuously for 20 minutes, until it has a dark reddish brown color and the oil separates from the dough. It is best to leave it for at least 24 hours in the fridge to let the dough grow to maximum flavor before using it for soups.

Fill the pot with water and bring to a boil. Use a pan with a lid, as the lid will be used later in the recipe.

Add the ingredients of laksa soup except tofu cake to another large pan with fried spice mix. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat, then remove Vietnamese coriander and lemongrass, and adjust the seasoning (salt and sugar) to taste. Then add puffed tofu to the soup to let it taste for 10 minutes.

While the laksa soup is boiling, blanch one by one into a pan of boiling water, respectively: green beans for 30 seconds and green beans for 3 minutes. Refresh them in cold water as soon as they are removed from boiling water and drain.

Place chicken breast in water to blanch the vegetables and bring to boil - pour water if necessary to cover the chest. Simmer with lid for 20 minutes, then remove them. Once cool enough to handle, shred chicken breast.

Blanch each portion of egg noodles for 5 seconds before placing them in a separate bowl. This is best done using bread baskets for ease.

Pour everything into a bowl ready to serve on top of the noodles - chickpeas, chickpeas and shredded chicken. Pour hot laksa soup into each bowl with 4 pieces of tofu halved per serving. Add half a soft boiled egg and finish with sliced ​​coriander.

MW