February is the coldest month of the year in Canada, and noodle soup always brings both of us comfort during cold snowy days. For this recipe video, I was inspired by one of my friend’s post on home-made laksa noodle soup, where they made everything from scratch!
We didn’t have the time to make everything from scratch with all our competing demands, so we used store bought laksa sauce, noodles and chicken stock. Cooking and preparing foods can support healthy eating habits as it allows you to control the amount of sauces and seasonings, and make substitutions and modifications. Even if you’re not cooking from scratch, when you prepare foods compared to having take out, it allows you to adjust recipes to align with your health goals, dietary restrictions, and what’s available.
We read a few online recipes, including this one and this one, and spoke to family and friends, then combined what we liked. Cooking, unlike baking, does not need to be followed to a tee. What we liked about this recipe is that once the noodles and crispy shallots were prepared, everything else was cooked right in a pot with the soup.
Take some inspiration from us and others, try making laksa, a warm, spicy, rich, curry and coconut noodle soup!
Love,
Your Peach
Irene
Ingredients:
Soup:
2 stalks lemongrass – minced
2 cloves garlic – minced
2 tbs ginger – minced
2 Thai chilies – minced (optional)
2 tbs vegetable oil
4 tbs laksa paste
1 tbs brown sugar
1 can coconut milk
1 can chicken stock
1 tbs fish sauce
1 lime – juiced
Crispy Shallots:
3 large shallots – thinly sliced
2 tbs flour
2 tbs vegetable oil
Toppings (adjust as desired):
Rice noodle – or any noodle
Shrimp – 2 or 3 per bowl
Tofu puffs
Beancurd skin
Other possible toppings: chicken, fish cake, egg,
Garnish:
Cilantro
Bean sprout
Instructions:
To prepare fried shallots, heat a pan over medium heat with vegetable oil. Coat shallots with flour and add to hot pan to pan-fry until golden brown then set aside.
In a pot cook noodles as per package instructions. Divide into large bowls.
In a clean pot, heat oil over medium low heat and add garlic, ginger, lemongrass and Thai chilies until fragrant (3 minutes). Add laksa paste and brown sugar and cook for 3 minutes. Add coconut milk, chicken stock, fish sauce and lime juice.
When soup is boiling, cook toppings that require cooking - shrimp, tofu puffs, beancurd skins. Divide the toppings into the large bowls with noodles.
Divide toppings that do not require cooking to the large bowl – cilantro and bean sprouts.
Add soup and finally top with crispy shallots.