Singapore Katong Laksa
This recipe is a paid partnership with Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
My fondest memory of my first trip to Singapore was the Katong Curry Laksa that I ate at Katong 328. I loved it so much, and no matter where else in Singapore I tried laksa, it never compared to the combination of rich flavors & spice from Katong 328.
Every so often, I’ll crave that bowl of laksa, yet I haven’t been able to find a place in NYC that has the same depth, richness & comfort in its laksa compared with Katong 328, so I’ve been working on recreating it at home based on my taste memories!
MSG has gotten an unsubstantiated* bad rap over the years, but it’s completely safe. I grew up on the stuff! Remember Accent? My mom used it in everything! I love that extra umami-richness MSG brings to food! It was exactly what my Katong Laksa needed!
*Science & research have shown that glutamates are naturally occurring in the most delicious of foods like parmesan cheese, seafood, mushrooms & tomatoes. Those glutamates are what provide the umami-depth of flavors; MSG is just salt + naturally-derived glutamates. Have more questions about the science behind MSG? Head to KnowMSG.com!
NOTE: Many of these ingredients can only be found in an Asian market. I’ve also veered from some classic additions like candlenuts and substituted almonds because I always have almonds at home. If you have macadamia nuts, that would be a better substitute. You can skip the nuts if you have an allergy!
Laksa paste and shrimp broth can be made up to 2 days in advance and kept refrigerated.
Makes 4 Servings
INGREDIENTS:
LAKSA PASTE
• 10-15 dried red chilies
• 60g dried shrimp
• 65g shallots, peeled
• 55g red long peppers (you can sub 5 fresh Thai chilies if you want it very spicy)
• 15g peeled garlic cloves
• 15g fresh turmeric
• 40g fresh galangal
• 40g fresh ginger, peeled
• 40g chopped lemongrass
• 20g almonds
• 10g coriander seeds, toasted
• 35g belacan (dried shrimp paste)
• 5g laksa leaves (aka rau ram or Vietnamese coriander)
• 7g MSG
• 45g vegetable oil
SHRIMP BROTH
• Shrimp heads & shells from shrimp for toppings
• Water from steeping dried chilies & dried shrimp
• 1 tsp tomato paste
TOPPINGS
• 1lb large head-on shrimp
• 1/2lb fresh cockles
• 1/2lb fish balls
• 15 fried tau pok (fried tofu puffs), cut in half
• 1/2lb bean sprouts
1lb rice noodles (the ones for Vietnamese Bun Bo Hue seem the closest to laksa noodles)
14 oz can coconut milk
14 oz can coconut cream
Extra laksa leaves, julienned, for garnish
Lime for serving
Make Laksa Paste
Cover dried chilies & dried shrimp with boiling water and steep for 20 minutes. Save this water for the broth. Place all the ingredients except vegetable oil in food processor and chop until fine. Add rehydrated shrimp & chilies and process again until VERY FINELY chopped; scrape down sides as needed. Add oil and keep processing until the mixture forms a fine paste. Beware, the paste may be quite fragrant especially from the belacan. It’s all good!!
Make Shrimp Broth
Pan roast shells & heads in a large pot or Dutch oven over high heat, stirring often so that the shells get some color. It will start to smell like roasted shrimp. Cover with steeping water from previous step + water to make ~7 cups. Add tomato paste and mix into liquid. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour, uncovered. Strain shells from broth. You should have about 6 cups of broth.
Make Laksa
Preheat large heavy-bottom pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Add 250g (9oz) of laksa paste and stir fry until color gets deeper and smells toasty, about 5 minutes, stirring often and scraping bottom/corners of pan to make sure paste doesn’t stick to bottom and burn. (You don’t need to add oil since there’s oil in the paste).
Add 6 cups of shrimp stock to the toasted laksa paste and stir so paste melts into stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes while you prepare everything else.
Cook rice noodles according to package instructions in another pot. Once finished cooking, drain noodles and rinse with cold water.
Also, prepare all of the toppings:
Boil a small pot of water. Blanch bean sprouts for 20 seconds. Strain and rinse in cold water or ice bath.
In the same pot, boil more water. Gently poach shrimp. Remove from water. Add fish balls to heat through, about 2 minutes. Remove from water. Cook cockles in the same water, until they just open. Set the toppings aside.
Add coconut milk & tau pok to broth and gently simmer for another 10 minutes or so. Taste the soup at this point. If it needs salt, now’s the time. It should taste a touch salty since you’ll be adding the noodles and all of the toppings to the broth. I usually add salt plus another 2g of MSG. Warning: Do not let your broth boil or get too hot, keep it at a simmer or the fat from the coconut milk will separate. You want the broth to stay cohesive.
While broth is on the lowest heat, add coconut cream. This is the good stuff!
To serve, put ¼ of the rice noodles in a large bowl. Add toppings: shrimp, fish balls, cockles & bean sprouts. Ladle hot broth over the top, sprinkle with laksa leaves and give a squeeze of lime.