Comforting, packed with nutrition, and meat and dairy-free.
“For me, a laksa is the perfect quick-win vehicle to use up any leftover curry, as you can easily use it in place of the homemade curry paste,” says chef Jeremy Pang.
“Though it won’t hold a candle to the laksa aunties of Malaysia, it will make an easy, tasty dinner, so feel free to give it a try with this recipe.”
If you do make the curry paste, you can freeze any left over for another day.
Vegan laksa
(Serves 2)
Ingredients
- 4-5 lime leaves
- 400ml can of coconut milk
- 100g deep-fried tofu pieces, halved diagonally
- 200g rice vermicelli
- Handful of sugar snap peas
- 1 carrot, finely sliced
- 100g beansprouts, rinsed
- Vegetable oil
- For the curry paste:
- 8-10 dried red chillies
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ red onion, finely chopped
- ½ thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 lemon grass stalks, trimmed, bruised and finely chopped
For the stock:
- 500ml coconut water
- 500ml vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp palm sugar (or soft brown sugar)
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce
- ½ tsp sea salt flakes
To garnish:
- Lime wedges
- Handful of coriander
- Sliced red chilli
- 1 tbsp sambal, ready-made or homemade (optional)
Method
- If making the curry paste, soak the dried red chillies in hot water for 10 minutes, drain and finely chop. Pound all the curry paste ingredients using a pestle and mortar until smooth. Stir the stock ingredients together in a jug.
- Build your “wok clock” (i.e. arrange your prepared ingredients on a plate before you cook, in the order you need them): Start at 12 o’clock with the curry paste or leftover curry, followed by the lime leaves, coconut milk, the stock, tofu, rice vermicelli, sugar snaps, carrot and lastly the beansprouts.
- Heat two tablespoons of oil in your wok to a medium heat. Add three to four tablespoons of curry paste (or five to six tablespoons of leftover curry) and stir-fry for four to five minutes until it deepens in colour.
- Now add the lime leaves and one-quarter of the coconut milk and bring to a vigorous boil. Stir well, scraping off any paste stuck to the bottom of the wok and then add a further quarter of the coconut milk. Return to a boil before adding the remaining coconut milk to the wok.
- Pour in the stock and return to a boil once again. Next add the tofu pieces, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the flavour deepens and the stock reduces.
- To finish the soup, add the vermicelli and boil for three to four minutes before fishing it out with tongs or a slotted spoon and dividing between serving bowls.
- Add the sugar snaps and carrot to the soup and boil for two to three minutes. Scoop the veg out of the soup and place on top of the noodles. Next, dunk the beansprouts into the hot soup for 30 seconds.
- Scoop out the tofu into the serving bowls, followed by the just-cooked beansprouts on top. Pour the broth over the bowls of noodles and veg and scatter the garnishes over the top.
Jeremy Pang’s School Of Wok: Delicious Asian Food In Minutes is published by Hamlyn, priced £20. Photography by Kris Kirkham. Available now.
