Nyonya Laksa - slurpp-able SEDAP-ness!
if you can't travel to Katong for laksa, bring Katong to you..
while there are many versions of laksa throughout the region, the decadent Laksa Nyonya is the most popular in Singapore. even ‘Katong’ Laksa itself is based on the original Nyonya-style Laksa, using a flavour base of a rich prawn stock and thickened with coconut milk.
while the rempah ingredients for this recipe can be quite hefty, the outcome of the laksa comes out to be so divinely delicious, our crew came in for seconds! we also amped up the umami factor in this, using a combination of prawn stock (made from scratch), dried shrimp, belachan and fish sauce.
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Nyonya-style Prawn Laksa
(serves 6)
rempah:
1/2 cup oil
8 shallots, peeled
5 cloves garlic, peeled
12 dried chillies, deseeded & soaked in hot water for 30 mins
3 red chillies
30g ginger
30g galangal
25g fresh turmeric
5 candlenuts, soaked in hot water
3 lemongrass, peeled
2 tbsp dried shrimp, soaked in hot water
25g belachan (fermented shrimp paste)
1 tbsp coriander powder
broth:
3 tbsp oil
350g prawn heads + shells
1 litre water
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 ikan bilis stock cube (optional)
500ml coconut milk
2 tbsp sugar
salt, to taste
accompaniments:
800g-1kg thick bee hoon / yellow mee
200g tofu puffs (taupok)
18 prawns, peeled
3 pcs fried fishcakes, sliced
boiling water, for blanching
3 sprigs laksa leaves, picked and finely chopped (daun kesom)
3 eggs, boiled, peeled & halved
1/2 cup sambal tumis
directions:
making the rempah
blend all the ingredients for the rempah (except oil) into a fine paste. heat 1/2 cup oil in a pan/wok on medium heat. pour in the blended paste and saute until the oil starts to separate, for about 10 mins. reserve the cooked paste.
preparing the broth
in a separate pot, heat 3 tbsp oil. when the oil almost reaches smoking point, add the prawn heads and shells and fry until the shells turn red and crisp. add in the water and bring the broth to a boil. pour in the cooked rempah together with fish sauce and stock cube.
stir well, cover the pot and simmer for 30 minutes. using the back of a ladle/spoon, squeeze the heads to extract out all the tomalley.
using a spider strainer, fish out the prawns shells and heads. squeeze out all the juice from the heads into the broth.
add in the coconut milk, simmer for another 10 minutes and season with sugar and salt, to taste. add in the taupok and simmer for a finally 5 minutes to soak up all the broth,
assemblage
to prepare the accompaniments, boil water in a pot. blanch the noodles, fishcake and prawns separately. assemble in a bowl.
pour over the prepared laksa broth with a few pieces of taupok. top with sambal, half a boiled egg and a sprinkle of minced laksa leaf.
if you are looking for more nyonya dishes, check out these recipes below!
