How to Cook Thai Chicken Laksa
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 40 mins
Ingredients needed to make Thai Chicken Laksa:
For the chicken:
- 4 boneless chicken thighs, skinned
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1tbsp honey
- 1 fresh red chilli
- 1 heaping tsp Chinese five spice
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the laksa:
- 300 gm rice noodles
- Neck end of 1 butternut squash
- ½ bunch spring onions, trimmed
- 2 bunches asparagus, trimmed and halved
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- ½ bunch fresh cilantro, stalks and leaves separated
- 2’’ fresh ginger root, peeled
- 4 dried kaffir lime leaves
- 3 limes
- Juice of ½ lime
- 1 fresh red chili
- 1 chicken stock cube
- One canned (400gm) light coconut milk
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 heaped tsp peanut butter
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
Cooking instructions for Thai Chicken Laksa:
- Place the chicken in a wax paper and sprinkle the five spice powder, a dash of salt and ground black pepper generously.
- Toss them together to coat well and wrap it up in the paper.
- Pound them with a meat mallet or rolling pin to flatten them out into 1.5 cm thick pieces.
- Heat a griddle over medium heat and place the seasoned chicken pieces on it.
- Sear them for about 3-4 minutes, or until they char evenly and flip it over to brown the other side in a similar fashion, until they are cooked through.
- Fill a large deep-bottomed pan with 800 ml water and crumble the chicken bouillon cube into it; bring it to a boil over moderately high heat.
- Chop off the stalk of the squash and coarsely chop its neck portion.
- Grate it into the boiling broth and simmer for several minutes or until they become mushy.
- Toss the garlic cloves, red chili, ginger, coriander stalks, dried kaffir lime leaves and spring onions into the food processor
- Sprinkle the ground turmeric into it, followed by a lashing of sesame oil, splashes of fish as well as soy sauce and finally a knob of peanut butter.
- Pulse them into a smooth paste and pour it into the stock.
- Drop the noodles into it, along with the asparagus halves and stir them all together, along with the coconut milk.
- Bring it back to a boil and adjust the seasonings if necessary.
- Stir in a splash of lime juice and remove from heat.
- Ladle the laksa into serving bowls and sprinkle red chili slices and the reserved cilantro leaves on top if each serving; set aside until the chicken is ready.
- Smother the chicken with honey and freshly squeezed out juice of a lime and top it up with sesame seeds.
- Toss them together to coat well and serve alongside hot laksa and wedges of lime.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
