Who doesn’t like a bowl of a hot spicy noodle soup? If you do, you need to try this Kuching Style Laska.
Just a warning this soup is a ‘labor of love’. If you want a simple and quick recipe I would recommend you try my Simple Miso Noodle Soup
My husband and I have been watching the Parts Unknown series with Anthony Bourdain on Netflix lately. It’s a really well done series if you haven’t watched it yet. Ever since we’ve been watching Anthony has had us craving a bowl of hot and spicy noodle soup. You often see him somewhere in southeastern Asia, sitting on a small plastic stool, eating at some roadside noodle joint and whatever he is enjoying just looks like pure bliss.
I have this cookbook of his Appetites, so I thought I’d give his Laska recipe a try. He claims this Kuching Style Laska to be his favorite hot brothy noodle bowl of goodness. I’m assuming with his extensive travel history he has tried many, so I thought it would be worthy of a try.
Kuching, in case you are wondering, is a city in Malaysia. The capital city in the state of Sarawak.
This recipe is indeed a ‘labor of love’ and by that I mean it takes a bit of time. I would suggest you tackle it if you have a day off and some hours to spare in the kitchen, or make the Laska Paste the day before you decide to make this dish. The rewards though will be some easy meals to follow, as the stock and Laska Paste freeze beautifully and you will have extra for future use. You need about 2 hours to make this paste, you also need likely a glass of wine, as you will need to stir the paste for 1 continuous hour. Almost like making risotto, but longer.
Ok so if I haven’t lost you already…
Galangal is a common ingredient in Asian cooking. It looks very similar to ginger, but its taste is quite different, I would say galangal is more citrus-like, if you can’t find galangal you can swap ginger, but the taste will be different.
You can also alter the number of chilis if you don’t like things super spicy. I cut down by quite a bit on the dried chilis as I wanted my young son to enjoy and felt the spice might be a bit much for him, so adjust to your taste.
A mortal and pestle are handy to have here for grinding the spices, or an electric spice grinder works well too. You will also need a food processor for this.
Laska Paste:
– 10 shallots, peeled and coarsely chopped
– 5 large garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
– Large knob of galangal (about 3/4 pound), chopped
– 10 fresh long chili peppers cut into chunks (wear gloves or don’t touch your eyes after chopping)
– 1/2 cup dried chili peppers rehydrate in hot water for 20 minutes and drain (I used less of these)
– 5 stalks lemongrass (white parts only) coarsely chopped
– 3 1/2 ounces cashews or macadamia nuts
– 3/4 cup roasted peanuts
– 1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted
– 3 tablespoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
– 1/2 cup coriander seeds, toasted and ground
– 6 pieces star anise, toasted and ground
– 7 toasted and ground cloves
– 1 teaspoon nutmeg
– 10 cardamom pods
– 2 cups soybean oil (veg oil will be fine)
– 5 tablespoons salt
– 1/4 cup palm sugar
– 8 ounces tamarind pulp, mixed with a cup of boiling water
OK now does that ingredient list already have you frightened off? Honestly, with a bit of prep, it’s not too bad. Be sure not to skip toasting your spices. You can toast them in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant. Just watch not to burn them, it can happen quickly.
You will need two large bowls and your food processor ready to roll.
In a large bowl combine all your ingredients with the exception of your salt, sugar, oil, and tamarind water.
Transfer your ingredients in batches to your food processor and grind into a paste, scraping the sides if necessary (it will be). transfer the paste in batches to your other bowl.
Heat your oil in a heavy-bottomed large pan over medium heat, and carefully add in your spice paste. Now, relax, have a sip of your wine, turn on some good tunes, and stir. Stir for about 1 hour, scraping the bottom and sides of pan frequently to ensure the paste doesn’t stick or burn. If you have children, enlist them to give you a stirring break every so often.
Once your hour is up, stir in your salt, sugar, and tamarind water and continue to cook and stir a little longer…..I promise you are almost done stirring. 20 minutes more and you are done! Now take a break. You deserve it.
This paste will keep in the fridge sealed for about a month or in the freezer for several months. I portioned mine into 1 cup portions in freezer-friendly containers. You will need 3/4 cup for our soup recipe.
For the broth:
Anthony calls for using a ‘dark universal stock’ recipe he has in his book. I just made my own.
I typically change up my stock recipes depending on what I have on hand. Since I was doing a more Asian flavored recipe, I used some Asian aromatics in mine.
INGREDIENTS:
– 1 whole organic chicken
– any other meat bones you have are good to add in, I had a few saved from a prime rib roast that I saved from a supper at my parents (optional)
– whole peppercorns, 5-10
– lime leaves (optional)
– 1 onion quartered (skin left on)
– 1 bunch green onions
– 2 carrots roughly chopped
– 2 celery stalks roughly chopped
– 4 star anise
– 1 bunch of cilantro
– knob of ginger peeled and sliced
Put all your ingredients in a large heavy-bottomed soup or stockpot. Fill with water to cover the chicken. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer and let simmer for at least a couple hours preferably longer until the taste it to your liking.
Remove the chicken meat and set aside. Strain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve and transfer to freezer-safe containers. You will need 2 quarts reserved for this recipe, you can freeze the rest for future use.
You can add salt to your stock at the end if you wish or leave unsalted to season when using.
NOW finally for the actual soup! So you can like I said totally break this recipe up into a few days. Make the laska paste one day, the broth the next and once you have those it all comes together rather quickly. This is how we did ours
SOUP INGREDIENTS:
– 2 quarts of homemade stock
– some of your reserved chicken from your broth making
– 3/4 cup Laksa Paste
– 16-20 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails intact. Save the shells for your stock
– 2 large eggs
– 1 teaspoon soy sauce
– 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
– 8 ounces rice vermicelli
– 3/4 cup coconut milk
– 2 cups mung bean sprouts (approx.)
– Fresh cilantro leaves for garnish
– Fresh sliced red chili peppers for garnish (I used the thai chilis)
– Lime wedges for garnish
– Sambal belecan (a chili pepper shrimp condiment, available at Asian grocery or online) – this I’m told really adds to the taste but we omitted as I couldn’t find easily and didn’t want to drive across town)
Bring your stock to a boil and add your reserved shrimp shells and Laska Paste. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook over low heat for 30 minutes.
While this is working, whisk together your eggs with your soy sauce and make a little omelet. once finished, let cool and cut into strips and set aside.
Bring some water to boil in a kettle or on the stove. Place your vermicelli noodles in a large bowl and cover with the boiling water and let sit until noodles are done (about 5 minutes). Strain the noodles and toss with a bit of oil so they don’t stick.
Drain your stock through a fine-mesh sieve, return to the pot and heat and add in your peeled shrimp. Let cook for about 30 seconds until just cooked through. Add coconut milk, bring just to a bowl, and remove from heat.
Now you FINALLY get to enjoy after all this hard work. Place some noodles, chicken, beansprouts, and shrimp in a bowl, ladle over the hot broth and garnish with cilantro, chilis, and lime wedges. Serve with sambal belacan alongside if you can find – we just added sriracha to spice ours up further.
If you like this recipe you should try: Simple Miso Noodle Soup
