From ilyce@tpg.com.au Mon Jun 18 15:46:58 2001 Date: 17 Jun 2001 14:11:44 GMT From: ilyce Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes Subject: Seafood Laksa Followup-To: rec.food.cooking Seafood Laksa There's nothing quite like the heavenly fragrances and fabulous flavours of laksa soup. You can make this delicious seafood laksa using shop-bought laksa paste, or if you have time try this homemade laksa paste recipe. The quantities given below will serve six people. Geoff's Genuine Laksa Paste 2 teaspoons coriander seeds 2 teaspoons cumin seeds 2 cm length fresh turmeric, grated 1 medium onion, finely chopped 2.5 cm knob ginger, grated 100 ml coconut cream 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 stalk lemon grass, finely chopped 5 bird's-eye chillies, finely chopped 1 tablespoon shrimp paste Lightly toast the coriander and cumin seeds then grind them either in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder. Add the spices to the rest of the ingredients and put in a blender. Blend until smooth. Seafood Laksa 2 tablespoons vegetable oil shop-bought laksa paste - see jar label for quantity (or use recipe, above) 2 400 ml cans coconut cream 500 ml chicken stock 50g palm sugar, grated bean curd puffs (optional) 2 tablespoons fish sauce 6 kaffir lime leaves, shaved very finely juice of 2 limes 200g uncooked prawns, peeled 400g white fish fillets, cubed 200g calamari, sliced 400g fresh egg noodles 100g bean sprouts, for garnish 1 cup coriander leaves, for garnish chilli jam, for garnish (optional) Soak the bean curd puffs in hot water. Place the bean shoots into a dish of cold water. Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan. Fry the laksa paste over a medium heat for 1 or 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the chicken stock and the coconut cream and bring to simmering point. Halve the bean curd puffs and add them along with the palm sugar, kaffir lime leaves, lime juice and fish sauce and allow to come back to temperature. Add the uncooked prawns, fish fillets and calamari slices and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the prawns are cooked. Lower the egg noodles into boiling water and leave for 2 minutes. Drain and divide them evenly between six serving bowls.(Tip: Soup bowls can be warmed first by filling them with hot water. After a few seconds pour the water out and bowls will be ready to use.) Ladle the laksa over the top of the noodles and garnish with the bean sprouts, fresh coriander leaves and a dollop of chilli jam. Further information: Ingredients such as laksa paste, palm sugar, fish sauce and chilli jam are available at many supermarkets, department store foodhalls and Asian food stores. Fresh noodles are available from the refrigerated section at supermarkets. Burke's Backyard, magazine All of Ilyce's Recipes go to rwbf@Topica.com (list name is in lower case) rwbf-subscribe@topica.com (list name is in lower case) -- ~~Rec.food.recipes is moderated; only recipes and recipe requests are accepted for posting. Please read the FAQ posted each week. Please send recipes, requests, questions or comments to recipes@rt66.com Please allow several days for your submission to appear.