Chicken Laksa

• Serves 4

• Preparation time:

• Cooking time:

Ingredients

Curry paste:
1 small onion
1 cm piece of ginger
1 clove garlic
1 stalk lemongrass, white part only, very finely chopped
1 whole dried chilli
1 candlenut
1 heaped teaspoon shrimp paste
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander, toasted
1 teaspoon ground cumin, toasted
1 teaspoon paprika

3 chicken marylands
500 ml coconut milk
1 tablespoon tamarind liquid
1 tablespoon sugar
Juice of one lime
400g rice noodles, cooked according to the packet instructions

Garnish:
300g bean sprouts
Handful of mint leaves
Handful of coriander leaves
2 tablespoons crisp fried shallots
Lime cheeks
Bird’s eye chilli, finely chopped (optional)

Method

Soak the dried chilli in a little boiling water for about 10 minutes.

Place marylands in a saucepan that is a snug fit and just cover with water. Measure the water as you pour it in and add 1 teaspoon of salt per litre of water. Bring to the boil, skim off any gunk that rises to the surface, and simmer till the chicken is cooked through. When done, remove the chicken, and strain and reserve the cooking liquid. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones and shred the chicken meat. Set aside in the fridge.

In a food processor, process the onions, ginger, garlic, shrimp paste, lemongrass, soaked dried chilli and candlenut to form a smooth paste.

Heat the oil and fry the paste till it is well cooked and fragrant. Add the coconut milk, and around 500 mls of the chicken cooking broth and simmer. Add the chicken shreds, then the tamarind liquid, sugar and lime juice. Taste for seasoning, and add more salt/tamarind/sugar/lime juice until you have a good salt/sour/sweet flavour balance.

Cook the rice noodles according to the packet instructions; drain and dish up into bowls. Ladle out the soup on top of the noodles and serve, with the bean sprouts, mint and coriander leaves, crisp fried shallots, chopped chillies and lime cheeks on the side for everyone to customize their laksa to their own taste.

Notes