Friday, September 09, 2011

Laksa Lemak/Nyonya Laksa

There are so many different variations of laksa in Malaysia. . It depends on which part of Malaysia and you will surely get a different bowl of laksa. Penang Laksa, Asam Laksa , Kelantan Laksa, Johor Laksa, Sarawak Laksa and the list goes on. The most common one from Kuala Lumpur is Curry Laksa or curry mee Laksa lemak, also known as Nyonya laksa is a Laksa from Melaka. It is a type of curry laksa with rich and sweet coconut gravy. Lemak is a Malay culinary term which refers to the presence of coconut milk. As the name implies, this dish is all about the broth, it is made with rich, slightly sweet and strongly spiced coconut broth.




Ingredients for the paste:
Recipe source: My Kitchen Snippets


4 red chilies
6 dried chilies – soak in hot water until soft
3 shallots
3 cloves garlic
5 candlenuts/buah keras
1” ginger
1” fresh turmeric or 2 tsp turmeric powder
¼ cup dried shrimps – soak in water until soft


For the Broth and garnish:

3 stalk lemongrass – white part only – smashed it
6 cups of chicken or shrimp stock
3 cups thick coconut milk
5 daun kesum leaves/Vietnamese mint
1 tbsp sugar
Salt to taste
2 cups of bean sprouts – remove the roots and blanched
20 fresh shrimps – peel and deveined
12 pieces of tofu puffs – wash and squeeze out the oil
Some fish balls/shrimp balls or fish cakes
4 hard boiled eggs
A packet of yellow noodles – wash and blanched in hot water


1. Put all the paste ingredients in a food processor and blend it into a smooth paste. Set aside. Heat up a heavy bottom pot and add in about 3 tbsp of oil. Cook the paste over medium low heat until fragrant.
2. Add in the chicken or shrimp stock, lemongrass and bring it up to a boil for 10 minutes. Blanch the shrimps in the stock for 2 minutes. Remove them and set it aside.
3. Add in the coconut milk, fish balls, tofu puffs, and daun kesum and bring it back to a boil. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Remove some of the excess oil from the top of the broth (you can leave it if you like it).
4. Add in seasonings and adjust the taste to your liking.
5. To serve: Put the some noodles and bean sprouts in the serving plate or bowl. Pour enough gravy over it and top it with shrimps, fish balls, and hard boil eggs.

I am entering this post in the Muhibbah Malaysian Monday roundup, created and hosted by Sharon of Test with a Skewer and Suresh of 3 Hungry Tummies.

18 comments:

My Little Space said...

Yeah, there are all kinds of laksa in M'sia and so is mee rebus. I love mee rebus Johor. It's totally different from other places.
No jokes, you really can cook..... almost everything. Carlos is such a lucky man. :o)
Btw, are you celebrating the mooncake festival this weekend?
Enjoy & have fun!
Blessings, Kristy

Janine said...

you just made me hungry - i shall hunt for laksa for supper later ;p your laksa has soooooo many ingredients that I can't even see the soup ;p It looks super yummy, especially with the runny yolk of the eggs!

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Look at your delicious laksa, Tomorrow I going to eat famous curry laksa nearby my house, hehehe ..

ann low said...

Your Laksa Lemak looks so "shiok"!

Cheah said...

Salivating over your bowl of laksa..I like the beancurd puffs. Just heavenly, soaked with the curry gravy ... yum, yum!

Little Corner of Mine said...

Yum! I just had it over the weekend too. :)

suituapui said...

Yum! Looks good... Curry laksa, not the same as Sarawak's. I can imagine what Chef Wan would say. LOL!!!

Google: "Not to Wan's taste" to read the report of him dropping by a Malaysian restuarant in Wellington. Ah well...what to expect? Celebrity chef! I often criticise too...and I bet Shereen does as well. Right or not, Shereen??? LOL!!!

Awayofmind Bakery House said...

Laksa laksa, I'm going to eat it today!!

Shereen said...

Very, very correct, Arthur..hahahaa!..but yours,Gert as usual look so yummy.I am sure your version of laksa is very delicious although my mak's recipe lain sikit.

lena said...

i still havent got to chance to try laksa johor and laksa sarawak. YOu're really good, is there anything that you dont know how to cook??

Rasa Malaysia said...

Hey Gert, thanks for your kind wishes on my cookbook launch. Have a great weekend!

Nate @ House of Annie said...

Sarawak laksa is very nice, but hard to make from scratch - the spice paste mixture is a closely held secret.

Beachlover said...

love the running yolk in the laksa. yummy..isn't this Spore laksa?Mishu walk in and saw this pix..she is 'curry laksa' my favorite!! haha!!

ICook4Fun said...

Kristy, I have yet to try Laksa Sarawak. I am curious about the taste. No lah, there are still so many type of food that I can't cook. No, mooncake festival is not a big deal here so nothing special for us. Happy Mooncake Festival to you and your family :)

Janine, ha ha hope you get your dose of laksa yesterday. ha ha.. yea I like more 'liew' than noodles and soup. Greedy me :)

Sonia, I wish I can just go out and get a bowl of laksa here :(

Ann, yea :)

Cheah, me too. I like to add a lot of it.

LCOM, we like having this once a while especially when Diana is home.

Suituapui, I read the article. Of course the Malaysian dishes in Western countries are watered down version compare to the one back home. No wonder it was not up to his taste :) Never have Laksa Sarawak before. I am very curious about the taste actually.

Ah Tze, lucky you :)

ICook4Fun said...

Shereen, as I told Arthur the Malaysian food from the Western countries are the watered down version so not as sedap as the one from back home. Best thing is to cook it yourself. I want to try out your mak version. When are you going to post it up?

Lena, I can't cook a lot of things. Still have plenty to learn from all of you :)

RM, thanks for stopping by. You too have a great weekend.

Nate, I still have no chance to try out the Sarawak Laksa. I tried googling for the recipe but can't find any of it :(

Lesley, Mishu is missing Malaysia food already? Cook some for her since you brought home so many ingredients. By the way, thanks again for all the things you sent me.

Lisa Ho said...

Gorgeous laksa with beautiful flavour.
Cooked this 2 weeks ago... and still craving for more..:D

Jangmi said...

Hi Gert,

You can get laksa Sarawak ready-made paste only in Kuching Sarawak for the time being. Several local entrepeneurs produce their own version and commercialize. Quite like your laksa lemak (using coconut milk to produce the spicy gravy) except we use rice vermicilli instead of yellow (egg) noodles and we garnish with sliced omelette instead of boiled eggs, shredded chicken meat and daun ketumbar apart from the bean sprouts,prawns and tofu puffs.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Cristalyn Trading accepts mail orders for Barretts Sarawak Laksa Paste. Email addrs: cristalyn_trading@yahoo.com for more details