Laksa is not the most common soup in Europe. So it is time to change that! In short it is a healthy meal soup from South East Asia. And you can serve it in less than half an hour time! Are you afraid it's too spicy? It does not need to, as you can vary the ingredients to your own taste. I would describe this version of laksa curry chicken soup as slightly spicy. So you can taste the spices, but they certainly do not dominate.
Laksa curry soup with chicken
Ingredients
- 250 gram chicken breast
- 100 gram rice noodles
- 100 gram mushrooms
- 500 ml chicken broth
- 200 ml coconut milk
- 1 baby bok choy
- 15 gram fresh ginger
- 1 red chili pepper
- 1 spring onion
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil alternatively neutral oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 teaspoon red curry paste
- 1 lime
- pepper
- salt
Instructions
preparations
- Clean the garlic clove and cut it into pieces. Later we will squeeze it out with the garlic press.
- Peel the ginger root and finely chop or grate it.
- Cut the spring onion into small rings. Keep the green and white parts separate.
- Quarter the mushrooms. Or cut them into slices.
- Remove the stump of the bok choy (about 1 cm). Now cut the rest into pieces of two to three centimeters.
- Halve the red chili pepper lengthwise. Remove the seeds and finely chop them.
- Cut the chicken breast into 1 cm cubes.
- Cut the lemon into four wedges.
The making of the soup
- Heat the (coconut) oil in a large pot. Then add the chicken, ginger, white parts of the spring onion and half of the chili pepper. Press the garlic through the garlic press.
- Let the chicken cubes brown for about five minutes. Stir regularly so that they cook evenly on all sides.
- Add the curry paste to the chicken cubes. Stir everything well so that the pasta is evenly distributed. Let it cook for 1 more minute.
- Then add the liquid: the coconut milk and the chicken broth. Bring to a boil again and then simmer for two to three minutes.
- Now reduce the heat until the soup stops boiling. Then add the rice noodles and the bok choy. Let this steep for another three minutes while stirring regularly.
- Season the soup with two wedges of lime juice, salt and pepper.
- Serve the soup in deep plates. Garnish with the green parts of the spring onion and the remaining red chili pepper. Serve with the remaining lemon wedges.
Nutrition
Cooking tips for laksa curry chicken soup
The chicken
I cut the chicken into cubes of about 1cm by 1cm (half an inch). But if you prefer them a bit bigger, you can also go to two or even three centimeters (one inch). If you want to save on the cutting work, you may buy chicken strips or cut chicken cubes. They are usually of a slightly lower quality. Nowadays I also prefer bio-chicken: a chicken that had enough room to roam and had a varied diet tastes better.
The red chili pepper
If you remove the seeds from the chili pepper, the biggest source of spicy disappears. Please also be aware that different types of peppers also have different degrees of spiciness. So be careful in your choice! In principle, the smaller the sharper. If you are not used to, I advice to stay away from the ultra small peppers. I usually use peppers that are 7 to 10 cm in size (3 to 4 inches). I usually put half of them in the soup, and the other half as a garnishment on top. Not a fan of raw peppers? Then just put them all in the laksa soup.
the ginger
Fresh ginger is wonderfully tasty and healthy. I always have it at home. And I dare to use some more than indicated in the recipe. It is important that you take fresh, juicy ginger. And especially that you peel it well. This skin contains starch, which has a negative influence on the taste. Did you know that there doesn't exist a machine to peel ginger? Due to the different shapes and the composition of the ginger root, you are obliged to peel it manually for a good result. I usually halve the peeled ginger so that I can lay it flat on the cutting board. Then I cut it like an onion into small pieces: first horizontally, then lengthwise and then vertically. Alternatively, you can grate your fresh peeled ginger.
Red curry paste
Do you like spicy? Then feel free to add a second teaspoon of curry paste. Taste regularly until you have found the optimal balance for yourself: spicy and challenging but yet pleasant in your mouth. By the way, not every curry paste has the same taste and strength. So it's best to try it here too.
bok choy
Bok choy is mainly known from Asian cuisine. It is therefore a long Chinese cabbage with a white stem. It is crunchy and mild in taste. That is why it is often used in stir-fry dishes. But they also do very well in a salad or a stew.
The name bok choy is derived from the Chinese: baak choi. This means as much as small white vegetables.
As usual, there are different varieties of this vegetable. For this dish we used the smaller variant that you can find in the store under the name baby bok choy.
What if the laksa curry chicken soup gets too spicy?
Did you make the laksa soup a bit spicy? Then dilute it with extra coconut milk and lime juice. They soften the taste. Or you can eat a piece of fresh French baguette with it.
The geography of laksa curry chicken soup
As indicated in the introduction, laksa comes from South-East Asia. This noodle soup is typical for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. And it is also very popular in South Thailand, as many people of Malaysian origin live there.
There are two types of laksa:
- the curry laksa we made here is the first one.
- the second is a sour fish soup: asem laksa. Asam stands for sour. People often use tamarind to make this version.
- Sometimes these two variants are also mixed together as alternative three.
Traditionally, a curry laksa is made with fish, shrimp or chicken. And with rice noodles or glass noodles of course. Since these are gluten-free, this recipe is also suitable for people with a gluten allergy.
In Asia, this curry laksa chicken soup is a typical street food. You can have it in countless stalls. There the chicken and stock are prepared separately. When you buy it, the noodles and chicken are placed in a bowl and topped with stock. Fast food, but healthy.
More laksa recipes
As mentioned, there are many other variations besides this curry laksa with chicken. In these articles you can find some more inspiration:
- how to make authentic prawn laksa (adamliaw.com)
- Vegan laksa (lazycatkitchen.com)
- Seafood laksa (kitchensanctuary.com)
- 7 types of laksa you should know how to cook (expatgo.com)
- Penang asam / assam laksa (sour and spicy fish noodle soup (whattocooktoday.com)
More surprising.Asian
I love to travel in Asia. So this also reflects on surprising.recipes. Please find here some more Asian inspired recipes:
- easy Thai pumpkin curry with chicken
- Delicious cashew.chicken
- Thai pumpkin curry with pork
- Sweet&sour fried Chinese chicken
- Banana peel curry
- Sweet&sour Thai chicken with peaches
- Chicken chowmein
More surprising.soup
I love soup as it can be so comforting. And you can play a lot with the ingredients. Below you can find some lovely soup ideas:
- Green pea soup with mint
- Cuban green plantain soup
- Fish soup for the fall
- Fískasupa - Icelandic fish soup
- Vegetarian orzo soup
- Minestrone meal soup
If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.
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