Lockdown Cookup: Get Your Hawker Fix At Home With This Five-Ingredient Laksa Broth

If there’s one hawker dish that just isn’t as good delivered, it’s laksa – this luscious curry broth is best slurped piping hot and right out of the pot. The simplest solution, arguably, is to whip up your own spicy bowl of joy at home. And, like us, you might just discover another perk of feasting from home – you can pair your laksa with the finest wine in your stash.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Laksa and vino might sound like strange bedfellows, but not to Barossa Valley winery Wolf Blass. Through their latest initiative Find Your Flavour, this Australian icon is out to reinvent wine pairing rules by matching wines with Asian sauces (as opposed to the Western wisdom of pairing with meats). To kickstart our vino adventures, they’ve cooked up a Fragrant Laksa Gravy recipe with only five ingredients. The best wine to cut through this creamy, fiery broth? A fruity Wolf Blass Gold Label Chardonnay with plenty of juicy acidity.

Ingredients (serves 2)

150g dried shrimp, soaked and pounded

1 stalk lemongrass (white part only), grated

2 chicken stock cubes

½ cup laksa paste

400g coconut milk

Method

Step 1: Heat 1½ tablespoons of oil in a pot over medium heat. Add dried shrimp and lemongrass, and fry till fragrant.

Step 2: Add laksa paste to pot. Sauté for 2 minutes.

Step 3: Dissolve chicken stock cubes in 2 cups of boiling water. Pour chicken stock and coconut milk into pot. Bring to a boil and stir continuously until well combined.

Step 4: Reduce heat to low and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.

Step 5: Add lime juice and salt to taste. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

Pour over your classic noods and shrimps for a droolworthy hawker feast. To help you set up your table in style, we’ve even got a handy placemat for your printing pleasure:

Top Image: Tiberiu Ana on Flickr


Deputy Editor

Jolene has a major sweet tooth and would happily eat pastries for all meals. When she’s not dreaming of cheesecake, she can be found in the dance studio, working on craft projects, or curled up with a good book.