Laksa Spice Blend: How-to

Here are just a few tips to help you make your delicious version at home:

1. Sauté the spices in 3 tablespoons of oil over medium low heat. We want the spices to bloom, meaning we want to make them come alive in your pot before adding the liquids. Sauté at too high a temperature, and you run the risk of burning the spices which results in a bitter laksa broth. A slow and gentle sauté is how you get the spices to bloom well - as soon as the fragrance fills the air, add the liquids.

2. Coconut milk - the ONLY coconut milk I use for laksa is Aroy-D. Whilst there are many options to choose from, I find most of them lack the creamy coconut flavor so necessary for a good laksa. When I can't find Aroy-D, I look for Chaokoh. Two brands that I avoid like the plague are Thai Kitchen and Grace - use these for your laksa and you WILL be disappointed. 

3. Once the coconut milk is added, cook the laksa broth over medium heat, never higher. If cooked at a high temperature and brought to a rolling boil, coconut milk will break (or curdle) and you'll end up with a lumpy laksa gravy. Baby that gravy, and you'll enjoy a rich, smooth laksa gravy just like the ones at the best laksa stalls in Malaysia.

4. Broth - for weeknight laksa, just use the simplest chicken broth available to you. For extra credit laksa, I sauté shrimp heads and shells in a little bit of oil, then boil them to make a super flavorful broth. For special occasion laksa, I use a combination of homemade chicken broth (chicken feet, backs and ginger) and shrimp broth - the flavor is out-of-this-world. 

5. Taste and adjust seasonings - All our spice blends are salt-free, therefore please add salt to taste. This spice blend makes a MILD coconut curry broth. For extra heat, add Hot Chilli Sambal or serve it on the side. 

6. Noodles - laksa is usually served with both thick egg noodles and thin rice vermicelli. Use your preferred noodles. My pick is always fresh thin egg noodles (found in the refrigerated section of Asian supermarkets), based on a version of laksa that my parents used to take us to when we were kids. 

 7. Toppings - you can keep it simple for a weeknight laksa or go crazy all-out for special occasion laksa (I do this version at our annual New Year's Eve party). Here are my suggestions, from simple to extra extra:

Shredded chicken, hard-boiled eggs, beansprouts, blanched veggies (long beans, green beans, flowering chives, asparagus, bok choy), shrimp, fish balls, fish tofu, fish cakes, jumbo prawns, sliced pork belly, mussels, eggplant and bitter melon stuffed with fish paste (pictured below), braised octopus. 

The must-have topping for a great bowl of laksa is tofu puffs (available in the refrigerated section at any Asian supermarket). These little fried puffs soak up the laksa gravy and though simple, end up bursting with flavor and being everyone's favorite topping. Just soak them in the laksa broth pot for about ten minutes before serving.