L
aksa has been on my to do list for ages. I’m not noodles biggest fan (ramen and udon my biggest peve) so its slipped to the bottom.
That said, my fiancé is an udon and all things ‘pad Thai’ lover (compromise) so, being an excellent wife in training I made him noodles for dinner. We’ve been focusing on vegetables this month so I ditched the chicken and prawns here and made this dish with some tasty, crunchy vegetables. The sauce is the star of the show so you won’t even miss it! I’d happily just eat this sauce with prawn crackers for dipping!
This one was adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Chicken Laksa recipe which I was really impressed with! I decided to add some crunchy, sweet soy roasted cashews to the top which, if entertaining, also make an excellent nibble with drinks.
NOTE: You can use whatever vegetables you like here. Just ensure you don’t overcook them so add them into the sauce at the right stage as necessary. See method below for this and adapt accordingly.
Serves 4
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- Half cauliflower, cut into bitesize florets
- 1 x packet baby sweetcorn
- 1 x packet sugar snap peas
- 2 cloves garlic
- 5cm piece ginger
- 1 red chilli
- 1 tsp tumeric
- Bunch spring onions
- 1 heaped tsp peanut butter
- 4 dried kaffir lime leave
- Small handful fresh coriander
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 200-300g noodles – half vermicelli, half plain rice noodles. I used these and used 4 blocks in total.
- 1 x 400g can coconut milk (good quality)
- 3 limes
Soy Cashews
- 100g cashew nuts
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 tbsp desiccated coconut
- Start with the cashews. Preheat the oven to 200. Mix the honey, soy and nuts in a bowl. Tip onto a lined baking tray. Bake for about 5 minutes before turning. At this stage, add the coconut and coat well. Continue to roast for a further 5-7 minutes until crispy and golden. set aside.
- Next make the paste. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli, turmeric, 3 spring onions, the peanut butter, kaffir, half the coriander, sesame, soy and fish sauce to the bowl of a food processor (Or pestle and mortar). Blend to make a paste.
- Heat 800ml of water in a large pan until simmering. Crumble in the stock cube and then add in the cauliflower and corn. Simmer for 1 minute.
- Add the paste and stir. Add the noodles and bring to a simmer for 1 minute.
- Add the coconut milk and the sugar snap peas and stir thoroughly.
- Squeeze in the juice of 1 lime and taste. Add more lime if needed.
- Chop the remaining coriander and spring onions and scatter on top followed by the cashews.
- Serve and enjoy!
