Laksa Schmuksa

Ok. I promised Janice this. It’s no surprise everything is agak agak. But J said it was ok. She will agak agak til she gets it right!

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
Bean sprouts
Noodles – Mihun, Mee
Curry powder (about 2 cups)
Belacan (toasted and pounded to powder form)
Shallots (minced) LOTS!
Garlic (minced) LOTS!
Buah Keras (pounded)
Curry Leaves (bout 10)
Chili powder or paste (to your spiciness liking)
Tau-Fu-Pok
See-Ham or Mussels
Shrimp
Lemon Grass (one stalk)
Coconut milk or cream
Oil

Broth – Place chicken in pot and fill with water til cover chicken. Cook chicken, breast side down. Once water boils, turn down to medium heat and cook for half hour. Turn chicken and cook for another fifteen minutes. Turn off fire. Remove chicken from pot and let cool. Shred or chop chicken – to your liking.

Make a Curry Paste with curry powder, Salt or fish sauce (once again this is another recipe that should not use soy sauce), chilli powder, curry leaves, coconut milk or cream (about 3 tablespoons) and water – til a thick paste is formed.

Heat oil, cook garlic, shallots, buah keras, lemon grass and curry leaves til fragrant. Add Curry Paste and more coconut milk (another 3 tablespoons or so). Cook til red oil oozes out. (the coconut milk causes the red oil phenomena). Add belacan and fish sauce or salt. It’s okay to be a little salty here. Turn fire off. Save ¼ for dipping later.

The rest of the ¾ to make the Laksa soup.Add the cooked paste in broth. Add the rest of the coconut milk to taste. (Add as milky/thick as you like) Let boil. If you shredded the chicken, you can add the bones back in to the soup to boil for more taste. If you cooked mussels, add the broth in the soup. You can also add shrimp and you should also add the shrimp broth in. Add salt or fish sauce to taste. Add tau-fu-pok and let simmer for about 20 minutes.

Serving – Cook noodles and bean sprouts. Place in bowl, add Laksa soup. Add chicken, mussels and shrimp on top. Don’t forget you still have the ¼ cooked paste. You can put some on top or add it with lemon/lime juice as a dipping thing.

Enjoy!!!

~Al