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One Hundred Thousand Ways
The internet has a lot to say about laksa - how it was born into the world, its meaning, recipes, and folklore. I for one, had never had a bowl of laksa until about a month ago in Chelsea, London. Which, while I write this, sounds like the most out of the ordinary place to first try laksa. Hailing from South East Asia, laksa is said to have been born during the times of the silk road. Chinese traders, mostly men, set foot ashore Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand bringing with them their native soups and their eagerness to find a wife. Laksa was born from the blending of cultures, hence, why there are dozens of variations to laksa soup. Local women would add their own regional flare of spices, coconut milk and stocks to the Chinese soups which birthed the many variations of laksa we know of today.
The word laksa is said to be defined in sanskrit as a measurement for âone hundred thousandâ. In ancient Persian itâs said to be a type of vermicelli noodle - referring to the thousands of strands that make up the noodles. In Min Chinese dialect, laksa is said to come from the word spicy or sandy which describes the soup down to the very essence of it. The spicy flavor of the coconut broth and the grainy texture of the blended aromatics and dried shrimp really lend to the bowl of broth that sits in front of you. When you break down the possible theories for the soupâs name, laksa simply makes sense. Itâs a definition. And when youâre making a bowl from scratch, it quite literally feels like the soup has one hundred thousand ingredients. After making a bowl and reading its history, I felt a sense of relief. It wasnât just me who thought there were one hundred thousand ingredients in the recipe - it was also written in ancient sanskrit - and thatâs enough of a win for me.
As a person not from England, I see how recipes vary and shift, shape and take form. We have a taste, a memory, in our minds and weâre set out to recreate that feeling of home or that flavor weâve tasted somewhere in our travels. So much of what we cook depends on our surroundings. Where you live, who influences you, the languages they speak, the food thatâs readily available. For me, living in Shepherdâs Bush, itâs middle eastern food. Every butcher is certified halal - pork no where in sight. Herbs, leaves, and root vegetables for making specific native dishes are found in every market - it almost feels like youâre transported to the communityâs small village from their childhood home. A place where everyone knows your name, speaks in mother tongue and cooks anything but British food. I imagine everyone making the same dishes with slight variation - a tablespoon more of one spice or an added squeeze of lemon instead of vinegar. But all consulting each other and comparing recipes from home, from the way they like to eat it. Recipes, in the end, all boil down to personal preference and personal taste - especially true for the home cook. It all comes down to the first time you tried it, the first person who made that dish for you. Thatâs what shapes your relationship to the dish and the memory that we strive to recreate.
When I set out to make laksa soup, I had only tasted it once before. I returned to that moment and tried hard to place the flavors, consistency, texture, and spices. I knew I wanted to recreate the flavor but, since I had no knowledge of the dish prior to eating it only once before, I thought it best to buy a jar of laksa paste. The paste would allow me to follow a few basic steps to building a bowl of laksa soup that was recognizable in taste from the first time I tried it. My local market had other plans for me. I searched countless shelves, specialty shops, and asked each person at the counter if they had the small jar of paste. Shelves upon shelves of specialty condiments staring back at me, mocking meâŚjust go to the restaurant and leave it to the laksa professionals. I came up laksa-less yet determined. I took to the web inter-waves, corroborated a few recipes and went on a scavenger hunt for ingredients to make my own laksa paste. Dried shrimp and shrimp paste from the Asian stall; galangal, turmeric, and lemongrass from the fruit and vegetable shop; cashews and a personal snack to get me through the afternoon from the spice shop. I gathered my findings and a bottle of wine and made my way back to my flat. It was time to assembleâŚand pour a glass of wine.
With a glass of wine in hand and a craving for laksa I stared down at my ingredients. For me, when cooking with cuisines that are not mine, itâs important to me that I get as close to authentic as possible. Not because I donât feel confident in being playful and reimagining dishes to be my own, but because food is like travel. I want to be transported to a place through food - even if itâs a place that Iâve never been to. There were a few moments during my market scavenger hunt that make me smile when I think about them. But my favorite has to be at the Asian stall in the market. Surely I thought I would find the laksa paste there, but to my demise they didnât have it. They asked what I was making and their faces lit up with surprise. Wow, thatâs hard work - how will you make it? Malaysian way I hope. I quickly nodded and said yes, Malaysian way in hopes the ingredients I was purchasing from them were ingredients that were in Malaysian laksa. They asked to see what I had already purchased. I emptied my tote bagâŚthai basil, galangal, turmeric, bean sprouts, prawns, lemongrass, deep fried tofu. They were pleased, looking at one another with pride. My nerves settled and they handed me my purchased items - dried shrimp and shrimp paste. Time to make laksa.
Laksa Soup
Iâm unsure which âregionâ or âstyleâ of laksa this is as I blended a few of my recipe findings. I make this recipe sound very daunting, but in the end, after youâve gathered your ingredients, itâs really quite simple. There are just so many toppings and ways to eat this dish that make it feel like a never ending assembly, but trust me when I tell youâŚyouâll make it again because itâs truly that delicious. Itâs packed with flavor and unpopular to your belief, based on the ingredients, not fishy at all. Make your laksa with chicken, tofu, shrimp, or fish and youâre in for a treat.
If you happen to find a jar of laksa paste, then by all means, use that instead of making your own paste. But if you can source the ingredients to make your own paste, itâs all the more satisfying.
Ingredients
Laksa paste
1-3 dried chilies (pending on their spice level and your tolerance for spice)
2 Tbsp dried shrimp (soak in hot water to rehydrate)
2 shallots roughly chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic
3 Tbsp galangal
3 stalks of lemongrass
2 Tbsp turmeric
2 Tbsp cashews or candlenut (soak in hot water)
1 Tbsp shrimp paste
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
3 Tbsp olive oil, peanut oil, or neutral oil
Soup
3 Tbsp of olive oil
(1) 7 ounce jar of laksa paste or the laksa paste from above equal to about 200-300g
6 cups of chicken stock, fish stock or vegetable stock
8 lime leaves - if you cannot source, leave out.
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 cans of coconut milk
1-2 limes - their juice
1 Tbsp fish sauce - to taste
To serve
Rice noodles
Your choice of shrimp, chicken, fish, fried tofu
Bean sprouts, lime wedges, cilantro, Vietnamese mint, scallions, fried shallots, fried chili, thai basil, pak choi
Method
Beginning with your laksa paste, roughly chop all your ingredients and place into a food processor, blender or mortar and pestle. Blend all the ingredients from the laksa paste section until you have a paste. Taste to make sure the flavors are balanced and the spice level is to your liking.
In a heavy bottomed pot, head 3 Tbsp of olive oil and add your laksa paste to the pot. Allow the paste to brown and cook for about 3-5 minutes - deepening the flavors of the aromatics and spices within the paste. Add the stock of your choice to the paste and stir to dissolve the paste so that itâs blended into the stock. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes before adding 2 cans of coconut milk. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Add your lime leaves, brown sugar, fish sauce and lime juice to the pot. Cook for 10 minutes and taste to be sure youâre happy with the acidity, salt, and spice level.
Prepare your bowls with your rice noodles and garnishes of choice. Add your proteins to the pot of laksa broth and cook until done. Serve your laksa soup over your rice noodles, garnish and serve.
Until next time at a standing reservationâŚ
With love & snacks,
Paige
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Need a happy moment?
Biking in Brugge. Last year we took a long weekend trip to Brugge by train from London. We set out with our closest friends in search of beer, mussels, chocolate, and a few windmills. We rented bikes, cruised along the beautiful tree lines streets and even biked our way into the Netherlands (no passport needed, surprisingly). I made a small video to sum up our time there - if you havenât seen it, check it out here and I hope it brings you some much needed armchair travel from wherever you might be reading this.