If you're into Asian meals then you should make this quick Malaysian red curry laksa recipe that will only take 20 minutes to cook. I know Asian meals could be daunting to make as most of them take lots of time and use ingredients that are very difficult to find if you're not living in an Asian country. But fear not, that's why I'm here to help you!
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What Is Curry Laksa?
Curry laksa is a very famous dish in Malaysia and its neighboring countries like Singapore, Indonesia, and Brunei.
It's a spicy curry-based broth with a wonderful hint of sweet and sour. It's served with some noodles, chicken, and shrimp and with condiments such as fried tofu, boiled egg, bean sprouts, sambal, and coriander leaves.
The difference between curry laksa and curry noodles is that curry laksa broth has a very significant flavor of lemongrass and/or ginger torch.
There's another type of laksa that's different from curry laksa, which is called asam laksa. It's a fish-based broth that has a wonderful tamarind flavor.
Why This Recipe Works
The traditional way of making curry laksa is quite laborious and takes a lot of time. It also takes ingredients that are not so easy to find like a ginger torch, amongst many others.
My quick recipe takes a shortcut to both the labor and ingredients (yay!) but still preserves the essence of the wonderful flavors that you look for in a curry laksa just like we preserve the essence of pho in our easy beef pho recipe and Malaysian satay sauce. And you know what, it's also way cheaper to make at home, like my crispy Chinese spring rolls, easy Pad Thai, Malaysian-style fried rice (nasi goreng kampung), and Thai basil beef.
Recipe Highlights
Texture and flavor - Spicy creamy curry broth with hints of sweet and sour served together with noodles, chicken, and shrimp, with optional condiments of fried tofu, sambal, and boiled egg.
Size - 4 people.
Level - super easy and fast.
Occasion - anytime, whenever you want to impress somebody with a home-cooked Asian meal.
Lets Talk Ingredients
Red curry paste - this is what's going to make our life easier, instead of making our curry laksa paste. Red curry paste has similar ingredients and flavors as curry laksa but needs a bit of tweaking to achieve the curry laksa essence. I use a very strong paste. If you're using a mild one, add more to your liking. The broth should have quite a strong taste to it.
Lemongrass - It gives the curry laksa an aromatic herbal and citrus touch. It's a common ingredient in Southeast Asian dishes, like my Malaysian chicken satay and satay sauce.
Chili powder - optional, I like spiceeeeh!
Seafood stock - less sodium is better. You can easily use chicken stock of bouillon, no problem at all.
Noodles - Any type of noodles will work, including spaghetti and udon.
Lime - Any acidic item would work such as lemon, tamarind, or vinegar.
Condiments: Tofu, sambal, coriander leaves, and eggs are optional, although they do make all the flavors complete.
I make my own Malaysian-style sambal and I also made an easier and less spicy version of it in my eggs in sweet and spicy sambal (for you who want to enjoy sambal without killing yourself with the spiciness). You can also use sambal oelek instead.
Make It Vegetarian: Use vegan red curry paste, and veggie broth and use tofu in the broth.
More Quick Asian Recipes
- 30 minutes chicken ramen
- Stir fry glass noodles with veggies
- Kimchi fried rice
- Stir fry shrimp with turmeric
- Steamed fish with ginger and soy sauce
Recipe Video
📖 Recipe
Red Curry Laksa Noodle Soup
Ingredients
The Broth
- 4 lemongrass , bruised and cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) length
- 4 garlic cloves , grated
- 2 thumb sized ginger , grated
- ⅓ cup Thai red curry paste (90 gr)
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder (optional)
- ⅓ cup water (80 ml)
- 3 cup less sodium fish/seafood/chicken stock (750 ml)
- 1 chicken breast , thinly sliced
- 12 shrimps , peeled
- 3 tablespoon coconut sugar
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 cup coconut milk (250 ml)
The Noodles & Condiments
- 2 oz dry rice vermicelli noodles (60 gr) cooked according to packet instructions
- 5 oz dry egg noodles (140 gr) cooked according to packet instructions
- some firm tofu
- 2 eggs
- some coriander leaves
- some sambal , recipe link above
Instructions
The Broth
- Heat some oil in a pot on medium heat. Add in lemongrass, garlic and ginger. Cook until garlic and ginger turn golden brown.
- Add in red curry paste, cayenne pepper powder and water. Mix well and continue cooking for 1 minute. Then add in fish stock and chicken. Stir and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.
- Finally add in shrimps, coconut milk, sugar, lime juice and stir everything together. Turn the heat off when the shrimps are fully cooked.
The Condiments (Optional)
- While the broth is cooking, prepare the condiments. Shallow fry tofu, slice and set aside. Make 6 ½ minutes eggs, peel and set aside. Cook noodles according to package instructions, set aside.
How To Serve
- Place some cooked noodles in a bowl. Ladle in some broth (discard the lemongrass pieces) together with chicken pieces and shrimps. Place half an egg, some sliced fried tofu, coriander leaves, sambal and lime wedges. Serve hot, enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition Facts
The nutrition facts provided are an estimate per serving. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Originally published on Feb 14, 2019. Updated with improved text, recipe and pictures on Feb 24, 2021.
Trudy says
I won't buy curry laksa anymore. I'm telling you that!
Do you know Asian food can be expensive?
With this recipe I am very satisfied.
Delicious.
Thank you both for sharing this!!
Bea & Marco says
Haha! Well, I'm happy to know that you liked it, Trudy! I guess depending on the place, Asian food can be expensive (or non-existence in my place!) due to the ingredients used. We try to make our Asian using easier-to-find ingredients so that they're more doable. Thanks for giving it a try and leaving your feedback!
Brett says
Hi Guys,
Made this tonight for my Filipino family - I'm an Aussie expat here in The Philippines. They loved it! Had to substitute a couple of things; calamansi for limes, Filipino basil for coriander but it turned out great. That's what I love about laksa, once you've got the base, you can just follow your nose 🙂
Bea says
Hi Brett! Happy to know the laksa was a success 👍! We expats do have the skills of substituting ingredients when it comes to cooking 🙌, eh? You're right, just go with your instincts. Thanks for your feedback!
Nathan says
Very easy to follow recipe. We've really enjoyed it, thank you!!
Bea says
Thanks for letting me know Nathan! I'm happy to know you like it 🙂
Bec W says
I made this, but vegetarian so no meat products. I used a paste that is vegetarian, and used a dark mushroom soy with vegetable stock instead of fish stock.
Its still as good as I remember from laksas I used to eat over 6 years ago! Love it.
Bea says
Yeay! I'm happy to hear that, thanks Bec!
Nancy K says
OMG I can't believe how easy this is!!!
THANK YOU for sharing!
Bea says
Yes, it's super easy right? Thank you so much Nancy!
paul says
made it. absolutely loved it. thank you.
Bea says
Thank you Paul!
Reid says
I made this again for the second time and it was delicious. Everybody loved it. Thanks.
Bea says
That's awesome Reid. Thank you so much! 😀
John says
Made this today. Loved it, but was I supposed to cook lemongrass long enough that it broke down and eat it, or do you eat around it?
Bea says
That's great, I'm happy to hear that you loved it. Lemongrass when used whole/bruised like this is just to infuse its flavour into a meal, not to be eaten. When very thinly sliced and toss with salad for example, then yes. Hope it helps. Thank you for the feedback John!
Kim says
I made this tonight for dinner and it was delicious! I toned down the cayenne for my 2 and 5 year old but it was still great.
Bea says
That's great! And to know even your little ones had it, that's just awesome. Thanks for the love Kim!