Description
A vegan laksa with the lot. Veggies, noodles, and tofu in a spicy coconut broth. A perfect comfort meal that you’ll never get sick of eating!
Ingredients
Laksa paste:
- 1 medium-sized onion, roughly chopped
- 1 stalk / 25g fresh lemongrass, roughly chopped
- 1 inch / 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh turmeric, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tablespoon tamari sauce (or soy sauce if not gluten-free)
- Cilantro stems (from cilantro used for serving below)
- 1 red chilli pepper, sliced
Other ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil*
- 1 can / 400ml full-fat coconut milk (please don’t use lite or reduced-fat)
- 2½ cups / 625ml vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons tamari sauce
- 200g / 7 ounces firm tofu, cut into cubes
- 1 bunch broccolini
- 1 medium-sized carrot, diagonally sliced
- 200g / 7 ounces flat rice noodles (or vermicelli noodles)
- 5 bunches (50g / 1.76 ounces) cilantro / coriander, stems & leaves separated (stems are used in the laksa paste)
- 100g / 3.5 ounces mung bean sprouts
- 3 tablespoons fried shallots
- 1 lime, quartered
Instructions
- In a small food processor, add the onion, lemongrass, ginger, turmeric, cumin, garlic, tamari, cilantro stems, half of the chilli and a tablespoon of water to loosen the mix. Process until smooth. You may need to stop a few times to scrape down the sides.
- To a large heavy-bottomed pot, add 1 tablespoon of the oil and allow to heat up on medium-high heat. Scrape in your paste and cook for about 10-12 minutes, stirring regularly to ensure it doesn’t catch or burn. Allow it to reduce and brown. You want all the liquid to evaporate.
- Next, add in the coconut milk, stock, sugar, and salt. Partly cover the pot and reduce to simmer for 12 minutes.
- In the meantime, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil on medium-high heat in a non-stick skillet (frying pan). Add your tofu cubes and fry on each side for about 2 minutes, adding the tamari to the pan halfway through the process. Partly cover your pan if you’re concerned about oil splatter. Once brown and crispy, take off the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
- To a medium pot of boiling water, add the broccolini and carrot – cook for 7 minutes. Then, remove them from the water into a bowl with a slotted spoon and set them aside to cool. You can use that same water for cooking your noodles to packet instructions. Drain and run the noodles under cold water and let them drain once finished.
- Now you’re ready to assemble. In four medium-sized wide bowls, divide your noodles. Next, ladle on your soup base, and top with the broccolini, carrot, tofu, mung bean sprouts, cilantro leaves, fried shallots, the other half of the sliced chilli and a wedge of lime to squeeze over each bowl.
Notes
Oil: We used sesame oil, but other great substitutes are coconut oil or rice bran oil.
If you want to speed up the process for next time you want laksa, make a double batch of the laksa paste and broth and freeze half of it for later. That way your soup can be ready in 15 minutes flat!
- Diet: Vegan
