Prawn & Vegetable Laksa

Serves 6 people

Laksa soups are an amazing Asian creation, sometimes however, the ingredients and method can be very overwhelming, as there is traditionally many spices that go into the dish. Don't let this stop you! Below is an easy to follow recipe that tastes just as good as the traditional style, minus all the complicated ingredients, plus all the great flavour. It's a family recipe created by my mother so rest assured it is amazing! When eaten by my family we always cook double, eating laksa the next day always seems to taste even better.
Not a huge fan of seafood? Add chicken instead by pre-cooking chicken pieces in a pan. Or make it a seafood laksa by adding calamari, fish (preferably a firm one), crab etc. It's all up to you! Once you know how to make the soup base, adding tofu, vegetables, poultry, meats or seafood is easy, you just need to know what quantity of each suits you and your family best.

Prawn and Vegetable Laksa

Ingredients

For the soup base:

• 1 capsicum roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 2cm ginger grated or 1 heaped tsp fresh ginger (jar)
• 1 fresh chilli or 1/2 tsp fresh chilli paste
• 1 whole stalk lemon grass finely chopped
• 1 heaped tsp paprika
• 1 heaped tsp turmeric
• 1 heaped tsp coriander seeds ground
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
• 1 heaped tsp cumin seeds ground
• 1 heaped tsp fennel seeds ground
• Hot water
• 1 1/2 litres chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 1 can coconut cream/milk
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• Salt
• Pepper

For the soup filler (Ingredients are optional depending on your preference):

• 500g raw prawns peeled and de-veined
• 200g snow peas or green beans or sugar-snap peas
• 1 broccoli bunch chopped
• 1/2 Chinese cabbage sliced about 1cm thick
• 200g packet fresh bean sprouts
• 1 can baby corn spears or 1 packet fresh baby corn, chopped in chunks
•  2 carrots julienned or sliced
• 1/2 to 1 packet rice vermicelli
• 1 bunch fresh coriander finely chopped (roots can be kept and added to soup base)

Method

For the soup base:

1. Place garlic, ginger, chilli and lemongrass in a small bowl (wet spices). Place paprika, turmeric, coriander, cinnamon, cumin and fennel in another small bowl (dry spices).
2. Heat oil in a heavy-based saucepan on medium heat, add the onion and simmer until softened and translucent.
3. Add the wet spices (optional: chopped roots of fresh coriander). Stir for 30 seconds then add the dry spices and stir through for 1-2 minutes. 
4. Add the capsicum and stir until heated through. Pour in hot water, enough to cover the capsicums, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes or until the capsicums have softened. More water may need to be added until this is complete, ensuring that the water content always covers the capsicums.
5. At this point the mixture can be poured into a container and stored in the fridge or freezer for later use. Otherwise keep on going!
6. Remove from the heat and pour mixture into a blender or food processor and blitz until everything is pureed. Return mixture to the saucepan.
7. Pour in the stock and coconut cream, season with salt. Don't be afraid to add salt. Taste for flavour. Bring to a simmer.
8. Your soup base is complete!

For the soup filler:

1. First add the cabbage and simmer for 5 mins or until cooked.
2. In the meantime place vermicelli in a heat-proof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 5 mins. Use a fork to separate the noodles. Strain into a colander.
3. Add the fresh baby corn and carrots (for canned baby corn add just before prawns). Bring to a simmer.
4. Add the broccoli and snow peas/sugar-snap peas (for green beans add with carrots). Bring to a simmer.
5. Add the prawns. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes until to prawns have changed colour completely.
6. Add the vermicelli. Stir through. Once the soup begins to boil again add the bean sprouts, stir through and turn off the heat.
7. Serve in deep bowls and sprinkle with fresh coriander.

Hints!

• The cooking times for the vegetables solely depend on how cooked you want each vegetable to be. I prefer snow peas and broccoli to remain crunchy so I add them in last whereas you might like them cooked through.
• If your prawns come with shells, keep the heads. Heat some oil in a fry pan, add the prawn heads and cook until the prawn heads have fully changed colour, the prawn head juices are out of the prawns and you can smell the aroma. Remove the heads from the pan and you are left with virtually 'shrimp paste' (normally another ingredient for laksa). Strain juices through a sieve to remove any excess shells. Add to your soup base after step 4.
• To clean the roots of the coriander, place them is a bowl of water and let them soak. Any excess dirt will sink to the bottom. 
• For stronger aromatic spices, dry fry all the seeds in a non-stick fry pan until you can smell the spices, grind in a mortar and pestle. There is definitely a difference between already ground spices and freshly ground spices.