Destination
Ipoh
The story
Curry laksa — kari laksa on Malay-language menus, curry mee at the coffee shops — is the coconut-milk laksa most Malaysians eat: a bowl of yellow egg noodles and rice vermicelli in a thick, red-orange, coconut-rich curry broth, topped with prawns, cockles, sliced tofu puffs, poached chicken, bean sprouts and a spoon of sambal chilli oil to break through the richness. Every Kuala Lumpur, Klang Valley and southern-peninsular hawker centre has a curry laksa stall, and this bowl is the one Malaysian expats crave hardest when they're abroad.
Method
Wrap the belacan in a small piece of foil and toast in a dry pan over medium heat 3 to 4 minutes each side until fragrant and darker. This kills any raw funk and wakes up the flavour. Unwrap and crumble into the food processor.
Drain the soaked chillies and shrimp. Combine all rempah ingredients in a food processor and blend to a smooth paste (2 to 3 minutes), scraping down as needed. It should be the colour of terracotta.
Warm the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the rempah and curry powder and cook 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until the paste has darkened and the oil has separated and turned deep red at the edges. This is the moment you know the rempah is ready.
Pour in the chicken stock and coconut milk. Bring to a gentle simmer. Add the sugar, salt and fish sauce. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes so the flavours integrate and the broth thickens slightly. Taste and adjust — it should be rich, salty, faintly sweet and glowing red-orange.
Poach the prawns in the broth for 2 minutes just until pink and curled; lift out and set aside. Add the fish balls and simmer 3 minutes. Add the cockles at the last minute (30 seconds) if using fresh. Stir in the coconut cream just before serving so the broth stays glossy, not split.
In a separate pot of boiling water, blanch the yellow noodles 30 seconds and the rice vermicelli 45 seconds. Drain both and divide between four large deep bowls. Top each with a handful of bean sprouts.
Arrange shredded chicken, prawns, tofu puffs, fish balls, cockles and half a boiled egg on top of each bowl of noodles. Ladle the hot broth over everything, submerging the noodles and coating every topping.
Scatter coriander and mint over the top. Drop a spoon of sambal belacan or chilli oil on the surface (or serve on the side for guests to add themselves). Serve with a lime wedge to squeeze over. Eat immediately, while the broth is scalding.
Tips
- Toast the belacan first. Untoasted belacan tastes raw and fishy in the wrong way. Two minutes wrapped in foil in a dry pan transforms it and is not optional.
- Fry the rempah until the oil separates. This is the single biggest determinant of a good curry laksa. Under-cooked rempah gives a raw, cloudy broth; properly-cooked rempah is glossy and integrated. Twelve minutes minimum.
- Add coconut cream at the end. Boiling coconut cream splits it and turns the broth grainy. Stir it in during the last two minutes of simmering, off a rolling boil, and the finish stays silky.
- Blanch, don't boil, the noodles. Fresh yellow noodles go slack fast. Thirty seconds in boiling water is enough — they'll keep cooking in the hot broth.
- The bowl is best on the day. Leftover broth reheats fine, but assemble each bowl fresh — pre-mixed noodles and broth turn stodgy within an hour.
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