Learn how to make Vegan Laksa
Malaysian Noodle Soup
Hi there, Happy Tuesday! 💚
First of all, I hope you had a great Paddy’s Day, we completely forgot to plan something this year and didn’t even tell the kids about it 😅. Our family is half Irish, but I guess we’ve been just too busy and didn’t end up going to the parade, so we kind of had a regular day yesterday. Maybe next year we go to Ireland and celebrate properly!
If you’re planning on cooking something this weekend to celebrate, have a look at our Vegan Irish Recipes to get some inspiration. Sorry if this comes a bit late. This is basically how I feel lately: always being late!
Back to Asian cuisine, today, I want to share with you a very special recipe, Vegan Laksa, a Malaysian noodle dish that I learned how to make while living in Malaysia.
While there are many variations, it is characterized by its rich, coconut milk-based broth flavored with aromatics like lemongrass, garlic, and shallots. Classic Malaysian Laksa often contains noodles, seafood, fish balls (Asam Laksa), chicken, or puff tofu.
For our vegan Laksa soup, we use puffed tofu, vegetables such as broccoli and mushrooms, and toppings such as cucumber, fresh chili, and beansprouts. Our broth is made with homemade vegan curry paste, which I will teach you how to make, but you can also use store-bought curry paste.
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How to cook Vegan Laksa
To make Vegan Laksa, you can choose to follow the "from scratch" way or the "cheating" way. You can make Vegan Laksa from scratch by making your own Laksa paste, or simply use store-bought Vegan Laksa Paste (quite difficult to find if you are not in Malaysia), or use Red Curry Paste using a few tricks we'll give you.
How to make Laksa Paste from Scratch:
The flavor base of laksa comes from the curry paste. Traditional versions contain shrimp paste and fish sauce, so creating a vegan version will need some substitutions. Making your own Vegan Laksa Paste is quite simple, as all you need to do is add all the ingredients into a blender jug and blend using a hand blender until you have a smooth curry paste. The tricky part may be to find all these ingredients depending on where you live.
Ingredients and substitutes
Dried red chilies. (they need to be soaked before adding them into the blender with the rest of the ingredients)
Candlenuts. We used candlenuts while living in Malaysia, as they’re easy to find, but you can substitute them for Macadamia nuts, which are very similar, or cashews.
Lemongrass stalks. For the curry paste, we just use the thick white part. You can use the green part to add to your broth and add more flavor.
Galangal and ginger. If you can get both, use both; they add different flavors that are nice for your curry paste. If you can't find galangal, then you may want to just use ginger.
Garlic cloves.
Shallots. We use Asian shallots, which are smaller than French shallots. If you are using French shallots or yellow onion, reduce the amount.
Mushroom sauce or vegan oyster sauce. We use this as an alternative to prawn paste. You can find mushroom sauce in Asian supermarkets. You can use other ingredients, such as miso paste or mushroom powder.
Dry Spices. For your Vegan Laksa Curry Paste, you will need turmeric (you can use fresh turmeric), coriander seeds, and cumin.
Sugar. We use cane sugar to add some sweetness to our Curry Paste. This is optional, but we do recommend using it to make the paste or adding some sweetener while cooking the curry.
Method
Soak the dried chilies while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Finely chop the galangal, ginger, garlic, shallots, and lemongrass. We like to chop these ingredients into small pieces so it makes the blending process easier.
Add all the ingredients to a blender jug, add the soaked red chilies and one tablespoon of fresh water, and blend until you have a smooth paste.
When blended into a paste, these ingredients create an intensely flavorful mixture that's spicy, gingery, and filled with Southeast Asian flair.
If you are making a big enough batch, you can use the food processor to blend the paste ingredients.
At this point, you can freeze any extra paste that you won't be using to make the Laksa Curry using an airtight container.
Store-bought Laksa Paste
If you cannot find the time, or energy to make the paste from scratch, that's alright. We've been there, and you can still make a really decent Laksa Curry that will taste very similar to the other version. You have two choices here:
Use store-bought Vegan Laksa Paste. This may be difficult if you are not in Malaysia or its surroundings. We got a really nice Vegan Laksa Paste from Pinxin Restaurant. It's really handy to have it already made for you if you want to have a quick version of this delicious curry noodle soup.
Use Thai Curry paste. Laksa paste and Red Curry Paste have many ingredients in common, so they can be used alternatively. If you are using Red Curry Paste, add curry powder to it, to make it more "laksa-like". If you are looking for that bright yellow color for your paste, you may want to use a yellow curry paste. Thai curry pastes are easier to find in your local Asian supermarket, or big grocery stores.
How to make curry Laksa once the paste is made
Once your Laksa paste is ready, whether you make it from scratch, or you are using a store-bought paste, you just need a couple of ingredients and follow some simple steps to make a delicious Laksa Soup.
Ingredients
Laksa Paste. Choose if you prefer to make the paste from scratch or if you want to use a store-bought paste.
Fresh vegetables. For our Vegan Laksa, we use broccoli and mushrooms. Here, you can get creative and use your favorite veggies. Some of our favorites are green beans, carrots, different types of mushrooms, bok choy, eggplant, or baby corn.
Coconut cream or coconut milk. You can find coconut milk in most grocery stores. We recommend using a can of full-fat organic coconut milk. Creamy coconut milk is much tastier and richer.
Vegetable stock or broth. We like using organic vegetable bouillon, but you can choose your go-to brand or make your own homemade veggie stock.
Laksa Noodles. Traditionally, Laksa is served with rice starch noodles or rice noodles. You can find different types of noodles depending on where you get your Laksa Soup, but so far, I've seen that in Malaysia, this soup is mostly served with thick rice noodles, which look like Udon noodles. For our Laksa soup, we use brown rice laksa noodles. You can use any type of rice noodles you may find or have.
Tofu puffs. This is the main protein we use for our Vegan Laksa. Normally, Laksa comes served with fish balls and tofu puffs. You can try making tofu balls or even buy Vegan Fish balls if you are in Asia. If you cannot find tofu puffs, you can just use stir-fried firm tofu or make tofu puffs at home.
Toppings. For our recipe, we use bean sprouts, fresh chilies, fresh mint, and sliced cucumber. These toppings add freshness, crunchiness, and heat, the perfect combo for your noodle soup!
Step-by-Step Method for Vegan Laksa
Cut into bite-size your fresh vegetables, and briefly stir fry using some vegetable oil. Reserve for later.
Add some vegetable oil in a wok or pan and heat to medium heat. Add the Vegan Laksa curry homemade paste or store-bought one, and cook for a couple of minutes. You want your curry paste to be well cooked so the flavors are released.
Slowly, pour your coconut cream, and bring it to a gentle simmer. You should see the oils separating from the cream.
Add the vegetable stock and combine well. Bring to a gentle simmer.
Incorporate the stir-fried veggies, tofu, and optionally, the greens of the lemon grass to add more flavor. Let it simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Season with salt or a dash of soy sauce.
Cook the noodles following the package instructions, rinse them with cold water, and place them in a serving bowl. Add the Laksa soup on top, add toppings of your choice, and serve.
Best noodles for Laksa
Traditionally, this delicious soup uses either thick rice noodles or thin rice vermicelli noodles. Both noodle types work beautifully, soaking up the rich coconut curry broth, but in my opinion, making your Laksa with thicker noodles makes the whole dish heartier. For a healthier Laksa, you can use brown rice noodles like we do, or sweet potato starch noodles.
Some tips for preparing the noodles:
If you are using dried noodles, soak in hot water for 5-10 minutes until softened and pliable before adding to the soup. Drain well before using. Make sure you are following the package instructions, as soaking time may vary, and sometimes, you'll need to cook them in boiling water.
Fresh or frozen noodles can be briefly boiled until just tender, around 2-3 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process.
For a shortcut, use pre-cooked instant rice noodles. Simply soak in hot water for 1 minute to hydrate before adding to the laksa.
Cut or break up longer noodles into shorter pieces so they're easier to eat with a spoon.
You can find serving suggestions, FAQs, and more on our blog.
I hope you give this recipe a try, as it’s a very special recipe that I made while in Malaysia. Back there, it was very easy to find all the ingredients to make this soup, but I managed to find them in Spain too, so I’m sure, wherever you are, you can make your own version of this hearty noodle soup.
Let me know if you have any questions; I’ll be happy to help 💚
Love,
Laura.
Beautiful recipe. I will try making this soon.