This Singaporean Laksa is one of my favourite recipes from my 2nd cookbook, The Global Vegan. Laksa is a creamy South East Asian noodle soup with origins in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, but you will often find it on Thai menus as well. If you like making your own curry pastes, then you will love this dish! Freshly ground herbs and spices give this soup a huge flavour hit.

For more delicious recipes, check out my two bestselling vegan cookbooks here.

Singaporean Laksa

Serves 2 (generously)

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons avocado oil
500ml (2 cups) vegetable stock
1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
2 teaspoons coconut sugar
1 tablespoon vegan fish sauce (optional)
100g vermicelli noodles
boiling water
400ml can coconut milk
200g firm tofu, cut into 2cm cubes
100g snow peas, trimmed and halved lengthways
1 spring onion, finely sliced
the juice of 1 lime

Laksa curry paste
2 teaspoons avocado oil
2 teaspoons sriracha chilli sauce
1 lemongrass stalk, white part only, finely sliced (or use 1 tablespoon of lemongrass paste)
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2-3cm piece of ginger, roughly chopped
1 long red chilli, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons cleaned and roughly chopped coriander root
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

To serve
90g (1 cup) bean sprouts
handful of coriander leaves
1 tablespoon crispy fried shallots
1/4 long red chilli, finely sliced (or 1 teaspoon sriracha chill sauce) (optional)

How to make:

To make the curry paste, place all the ingredients in a mortar ad pound with a pestle for 5 minutes or until you have a smooth paste. Alternatively, you can make the paste in a food processor, although the flavour won’t be quite the same.
Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat, add the curry paste and fry for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
Add the stock, tamari or soy sauce, coconut sugar and vegan fish sauce (if using) and bring to a simmer.
Meanwhile, place the noodles in a large bowl, cover with boiling water and set aside for 2-3 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water, then transfer to serving bowls.
Reduce the wok heat to low, add the coconut milk, tofu, snow peas and half the spring onion. Simmer for 1 minute, then turn off the heat and stir through the lime juice.
Ladle the soup over the noodles and top with the remaining spring onion, bean sprouts, coriander leaves, fried shallots and fresh chilli or chilli sauce, if desired.