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–+ servings

Ingredients

Yields: 5 bowls
  • 1 pack of rice noodles/vermicelli - ~200g for dried noodles, or 500g fresh noodles per pack
  • 2 tamarind peels
  • 1 tbsp tamarind paste - mixed with water and then strained
  • 1 stalk lemongrass
  • 1 torch ginger lily buds - diced, plus more to garnish
  • 1 sprig laksa leaves - or vietnamese coriander (~15-20 leaves)
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • salt

Spice paste: (see notes)

  • 10 dried chillies - soaked to rehydrate
  • 5 fresh chillies
  • 1 large onion - (or 5 shallots)
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 25 g galangal - can be substituted with ginger
  • 5 g turmeric - optional
  • 15 g belacan - or shrimp paste (can be substituted with fish sauce)

Garnishes

  • ½ head of Lettuce - slices thinly
  • 1 bunch of mint - picked
  • cucumber - shredded/sliced into matchsticks
  • 1 red onion - sliced thinly
  • 5 eggs - hard-boiled
  • 1 lime - cut into wedges
  • 1 chilli - sliced thinly

Method

  • Poach the mackerel in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes. Reserve poaching liquid. Then separate the mackerel flesh from its bones and blend it/flake it by hand. (Optional: To extract extra flavour, blend the bones with a bit of water and strain the liquid from it, then add to the mackerel poaching liquid. Discard unstrainable solids).
  • If you're not using store-bought laksa paste, blend all ingredients in a blender until silky smooth, add water if necessary.
  • Add the laksa spice paste, tamarind, and lemongrass to the poaching liquid and keep on a simmer for 15-20 minutes until the broth starts to smell really fragrant.
  • Add the blended/flaked mackerel flesh, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add the torch ginger lily buds and laksa leaves. (These two are added at the end as they tend to lose their fragrance if cooked for too long.) Finally, add the fish sauce and season liberally with salt ( you need more than you’d expect!).
  • While the broth is simmering, start prepping the garnishes. Slice the lettuce. Pick the mint leaves. Shred the cucumbers. Boil the eggs. Slice the red onions. Wedge the limes. Slice the chillies. Season with love. (Yes I know, this recipe is crazy labour intensive, don't get discouraged though, it's all worth it!)
  • Set a separate pot of water on a rolling boil to cook the rice noodles/vermicelli. When water is boiling, plop the noodles in and cook for ~3 minutes until cooked through, stirring at the beginning to prevent the noodles from sticking. When cooked, strain the noodles and add a little oil if you see them start sticking to each other too much.
  • You're finally ready to serve! Place noodles in a bowl, then ladle the laksa soup onto the noodles. Then add ALL THE GARNISHES. Enjoy the fruits of your hard hard labour!

Notes

If you lack the time or patience for making your own laksa paste from scratch, you can always get them ready-made pastes from most grocery stores/wet markets (well in Malaysia at least...). I got mine from this auntie at the TTDI market who customises her blend of chillies and spices right in front of you according to your needs, super neat!