Chicken Laksa
It’s so chilly in San Francisco lately! I’m about to wearing my winter orange coat without sweating and it feels so deliciously holiday season-like! The holiday season is in full swing and I’m non-stop baking and melting chocolate until the 25th! It between all the sweets we still gotta eat and it’s also 1000% noodle soup season too! To be fair it’s always noodle soup season for me because I could eat pho even if it was 100 degrees outside… but I’m weird. For everyone else, these chillier temperatures mean we should bring out our stock pots and grab our favorite noodles to make noodle soup!
I love noodle soup. Ramen. Wonton noodle soup. Udon. Taiwanese beef noodle soup. Chicken noodle soup. Matzo ball soup (I think that counts). I love them all! Today I’m sharing a recipe for Chicken Laksa, which is high up there on my list of favorite noodle soups. On one of my first dates with Reuben, we tried to get laksa at Lime Tree but the entire restaurant was commandeered by a birthday party and they didn’t look like they wanted us to eat birthday cake with them so we left. I don’t remember where we went instead… so that was a bad story… BUT we eventually went back later for laksa another time and it was great!
Laksa is a Southeast Asian noodle soup. The broth consists of curry paste, coconut milk, and aromatics. The noodles could be either rice noodles or egg noodles, but I almost always see it with rice noodles. Seafood is a popular protein and flavor to add to laksa, but chicken is also pretty common too.
This recipe comes together relatively quick and makes such a cozy meal for those upcoming chilly fall and winter nights!
Prep, Prep, Prep!
I’ve been cooking in my little square kitchen with 4 sqft. of counter space for almost 4 years now. I like to think working in such close quarters has made me a better person and a more efficient cook. I still hear my Mom’s voice all the time telling me to “clean as you cook!” so I don’t have a giant mess waiting for me at the end. I’ve also become an obsessive prep-er. I feel a million times better if I prep all my veggies, open all the cans (I try to not have canned things but I can’t live without 10 cans of full-fat coconut milk at any given time), and measure out as many ingredients as I can to fit all on a quarter sheet pan before I actually cook anything.
Give it a try next time! I promise it makes cooking way less intimidating and you can pretend you’re on a cooking show where all you do is dump everything into a pan and it tastes delicious!
The Calphalon® Contemporary SharpIN™ Nonstick 13-Piece Cutlery Set has recently landed in our kitchen and I couldn’t love the knives more! First of all, we have our first set of steak knives! It’s something we’ve been meaning to add to our lives, not that we eat that much steak or hunks of meat, but it’s nice to have for when we splurge on some lamb chops. Secondly, they are so razor sharp and make prep work such a breeze! The knife block has a built in knife sharpener so it’s pretty much always razor sharp!
I’ll let you in on a secret… I HATE mincing garlic and I don’t believe in a garlic press… so I end up having to chop a lot of garlic for work. It’s so annoying when the garlic bits get all sticky and adhere themselves to the knife blade. Well, when I used the Calphalon® Contemporary SharpIN™ Nonstick Santoku Knife, there was so stickage! So. Awesome.
Noodle soups get a bad rap for being labor intensive and taking hours to prep and simmer. It’s honestly just as simple as a stir-fry. Prep all your ingredients first and you’ll have a cozy bowl of laksa within 30 minutes if you’re quick!
Assembling the Perfect Bowl
A perfect bowl of laksa or any noodle soup consists of noodles, rich broth, and tasty bits.
The noodles in this case are medium wide rice noodles! They have a great chew and neutral flavor that doesn’t compete with the laksa broth. Another new addition to our kitchen (we’re running out of space…) is the new Calphalon Classic™ Nonstick 14-Pc. Cookware Set with No Boil-Over Inserts. All such beautiful pieces and cook like a dream. I boiled the noodles in the 6 quart stock pot with the No Boil-Over Insert and it freaking worked! Starchy foods like potatoes, rice, and noodles tend to obnoxiously boil over when they cook because of some funny chemical reaction I’m not even going to try and explain right now. It’s almost as annoying as garlic sticking to your knife. You let your food boil and focus on something else, then you here the gushing and sizzling sounds of overflowing water and have to drop whatever you’re doing to fix the situation. We’ve all been there. Thankfully, Calphalon is solving all my kitchen problems one product at a time! I didn’t spill any boiling water and my noodles were cooked perfectly!
The laksa broth is combination of aromatics (ginger, garlic, and lemongrass), red curry paste, coconut milk, and chicken broth. There’s a touch of funk from fish sauce and sweetness from brown sugar. It’s simmered with chicken thighs and tofu, which act as the tasty bits. If you have fish tofu or know about fish tofu then absolutely add that in! If you know, you know. The laksa broth gets so creamy and spicy. You finish it off with a healthy amount of lime juice to complete the whole spicy, salty, sweet, funky, and tangy circle of flavors.
To assemble a bowl you ALWAYS start by adding a bundle off noodles to a bowl. Pour the hot broth over the noodles to warm and loosen the noodles and then make sure to top the bowl with tasty bits and some fresh scallions and bean sprouts. An extra lime wedge won’t hurt either!
Chicken Laksa
serves 3
materials:
3 garlic cloves - minced
1” knob of ginger - minced
2 lemongrass stocks
2 tbsp red curry paste
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cups chicken stock - or water with chicken bouillion
13.5 oz can of full fat coconut milk
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
tofu or fish tofu - optional
juice of 2 limes + wedges for garnish
1 lb dried rice noodles
handful of bean sprouts - optional
chopped scallions for garnish
steps:
Mince garlic and ginger and set aside. Peel off the tough outer layers of the lemongrass stalks until you reach the tender slightly yellow center. Chop off and discard the lower 1” root and the woody tops, about 3”-4” from your first cut. Mince the tender lemongrass.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in large sauce pan over medium high heat. Add garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and the red curry paste. Stir and gently cook for 3-4 minutes until aromatic. Add the stock, coconut milk, and fish sauce. Season with salt, pepper, and brown sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer and add the whole chicken thighs. Simmer for 8 minutes or until the chicken has cooked through.
Remove the chicken from the broth and place on a cutting board. Use 2 forks to shred the chicken thighs and place back into the laksa broth. Add tofu or fish tofu and simmer for 5 more minutes. Finish with lime juice and keep warm until ready to serve with noodles.
While the broth is simmering, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add rice noodles and cook until al dente according to package directions.
To assemble bowls, place a bundle of rice noodles in a bowl. Bowl laksa broth over the noodles and top with shredded chicken and tofu. Garnish with scallions, bean sprouts, and a lime wedge. Enjoy!