Thai Style Curry Noodles (Laksa) Recipe - UPDATE

There's nothing as quick, easy and delicious as a bowl of noodles - add spicy to the mix, and you've got yourself a winner, well at least to me, the self-proclaimed noodle fanatic.  Noodles are just so convenient to have around the kitchen and lends itself to a ton of culinary possibilities, don't you think? For today I came up with some Thai style curry noodles, reminiscent of the popular Malaysian laksa.  Laksa is essentially noodles served in a spicy and rich coconut milk-based broth with some vegetables and meat.  My brother was in Chiang Mai recently and he bought me some curry pastes so naturally I was itching to try some of them out.  Instead of making green curry chicken as was suggested on the packet, I decided to use it as a base for today's laksa and the results were fantastic, well considering that I am a huge fan of both Thai flavours and spicy noodles of all kinds.

For today, I used rice noodles but you can substitute with your favourite kind of noodles.  This recipe will also work well if you use red curry paste.  This is perfect for those tired weeknights although laksa is rather indulgent with the addition of rich coconut milk.  I added some fresh lemongrass, garlic and curry leaves (well, I guess no matter how good a paste is, I still feel I have to do a tiny bit of doctoring up) for the rich broth and served it with chicken and some beansprouts for crunch.  All in all, an easy full meal in a bowl you can whip up on those busy nights with minimal hassle and prepping.

Update: Adding a splash of light soy sauce is a must for me now.  Although I used to think that adding soy sauce to curries seem a little counter-intuitive, I am utterly convinced now.  This post is part of my Yuen Chun Recipes, an ongoing project on this blog.

Serves 4

Notes from Jen:  

1.  This recipe calls for blanched beansprouts, so please plan accordingly.

2.  If at anytime, you think the broth is too thick, you can thin it out with a bit more chicken broth but then please add seasoning accordingly if required.  Always do a taste test before adding more seasoning just in case. Do not taste when the chicken is not fully cooked yet.

Ingredients:

4 packets of rice noodles (or other noodles of your choice), soaked in warm water for about 30 minutes

4 tablespoons of green curry paste

4 cloves of garlic, smashed

2 stalks lemongrass, white parts smashed

A handful of fresh curry leaves, rinsed (skip if you can't find the fresh version)

2 boneless chicken thighs, sliced into strips

1 cup coconut milk

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1-2 teaspoons of fish sauce or to taste

1 cup of bean sprouts (or substitute with green beans if you like), blanched in boiling water until wilted

2-3 bird's eye chili peppers (optional), sliced
1 teaspoon light soy sauce (I used Yuen Chun's)

Method:

Firstly, heat up your wok or pan.  Add 2 tablespoons of oil.  Turn heat to low.  Add in the garlic, lemongrass and curry leaves.  Stir fry until aromatic.

Add in paste and stir fry to release aroma.  If the paste looks too dry, add a bit more oil.  Add in the chicken strips.  Once the chicken browns a little, add in about 1/4 of the coconut milk.  Stir fry around.  Add in the chicken broth.  Bring to a boil.  Add in the rest of the coconut milk.  Add 2 teaspoons of fish sauce.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and turn heat to low.  Simmer for about 10 minutes.  Check to make sure chicken is fully cooked.  Do a taste test and add more fish sauce if needed.

Arrange the noodles in individual serving bowls.  Top with the blanched beansprouts.  Ladle enough broth to cover at least 3/4 of the noodles and garnish with some bird's eye chili peppers if using.  The noodles will soak up the broth and become lumpy if they sit in the broth too long so serve immediately.

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