flinder’s lane nyc laksa cocount curry soup recipe restaurant food garance dore photos

Flinders Lane’s Laksa Soup

8 years ago by

You might not have heard of laksa, but it’s one of my all-time favorites. Seriously, it’s one of those dishes I crave — and everyone I introduce to it falls for it every time. Your love affair with this dish might just start here…

It’s a coconut soup with fragrant notes of chilli and citrus that hails from South East Asia. With vermicelli noodles and topped with shrimp (or your preferred protein), it’s equal parts warming and palette-pleasing, and it seems pretty healthy on the spectrum of things (it’s not a kale salad but it’s not a dessert)(probably fine for those with resolutions to eat healthy!).

My favorite in New York comes by way of Flinders Lane, one of my favorite spots in the East Village. Ok, so the recipe seems kind of complicated but the Chef, Chris Rendell, said it’s totally fine to just use store-bought sambal (and I think even the laksa paste too, hehe) unless you happen to be up for a true culinary challenge!

Coconut Curry Laksa, Grilled Shrimp, Bean Curd, Rice Noodles
Chris Rendell, Executive Chef and partner of Flinders Lane NYC

Serves 4

 

flinder's lane nyc laksa cocount curry soup recipe restaurant food garance dore photos

Ingredients:

For the laksa paste (can be stored and used again)
5 Tablespoons belacan (shrimp paste)
3 Tablespoons dried prawns
5 dried birds eye chili
3 Tablespoons coriander seeds
5 red onions- chopped
10 clove garlic
3 Tablespoons minced lime zest
3 stalk lemongrass
3 Tablespoons chopped galangal
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh turmeric
10 red birds eye chili
¼ cup candlenuts
5 coriander roots
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
3 Tablespoons curry leaves
2 cups vegetable oil

Sambal (can be stored and used again)
1.5 pounds (26 dry oz) red chili-finely chopped with seeds
½ pounds (10 dry oz) red birds eye chili
4 onions-peeled, finely sliced
7 garlic cloves-sliced
1.5 cups blended oil
½ cup tamarind puree
2oz palm sugar-grated
2oz fish sauce

Broth
½ cup laksa paste
2 tablespoon sambal
2 teaspoon palm sugar
2 tablespoon fish sauce
3 cans (400mls can) coconut milk
3 cups water
Juice of 2 limes

Garnish
4 large shrimp. Cleaned. Head /tail on.
1 sheet of fresh rice noodles-cut into ½ in strips
2 cups fresh bean sprouts
½ cup fresh picked Thai basil
½ cup fresh picked cilantro leaf
2 red chili –finely sliced
Crispy shallots

 

 

———————————————————————————————————–

Laksa Paste
Dry roast the belacan, dried prawns, chilies and coriander seeds in separate pans – cook over medium heat until fragrant, and allow them to cool. Once cooled, using an electric spice grinder, or a mortar and pestle, grind the spices into a fine powder. Finely chop the onions, garlic, lemongrass, turmeric and birds eye chili. Soak dried shrimp and chilies in water for 10 minutes until they are hydrated. Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until they form a small paste.

This will make a quarter of a gallon, which is more than enough for this recipe. Any paste that is not used can be stored in a sterilized screw top jar. Place this paste in the jar and cover with a little olive oil to prevent oxidization. This will keep for up to 2 months in the fridge.

Sambal
Blend the chilies, onions, garlic and oil into a fine paste. Place the mixture into a non-reactive pot and cook over a low heat for approximately 3 days, making sure to stir regularly to avoid sticking. The sambal should be come a deep red color and the oil should start to appear on the surface. At this stage, add the tamarind puree, sugar and fish sauce and cook for a further 2 hours.

Broth
Place laksa paste and chili jam (or sambal) in a heavy based pot and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add the palm sugar and stir until dissolved. Once dissolved, add coconut milk and water. Once this begins boiling, reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Season with fish sauce and lime juice.

To assemble
Divide the noodles into 4 soup bowls. Bring the broth back up to a boil. In a separate mixing bowl, place bean sprouts, Thai basil, cilantro, sliced chilies and mix together. Divide the soup into four bowls. Place the shrimp on a grill or on a flat pan drizzled with olive oil. The shrimp should be grilled for 2 minutes on each side or until the shells are hot pink and the shrimp is opaque. Place one shrimp on top of each bowl. Just before serving place the bean sprout salad on top of the broth and finish with a sprinkle of crispy shallots.

 

 

Bon appétit!

Flinders Lane NYC | 162 Avenue A, New York NY 10009 | +1 (212) 228-6900

22 comments

Add yours
  • oooh ça l’air d’être agréable j’ai souvent des relations passionnelles avec de nouveaux mets mais elles sont de courte durée
    bonne appétit
    xoxo from Abidjan,

  • i’m officially drooling! :)

    http://littleaesthete.com/

  • agréable et jolie

  • Oh gawd! That list… I zoned out after reading the first 5 ingredients. Ha but I so would want to taste this at least once!!!

  • I soo agree!!! On both counts! :-)

  • Mmmh this soup looks super yummy! I definitively have to try it out :)
    Much love, Carmen from http://www.carmitive.com

  • Parfait pour une nuit d’hiver, a esayer mais en version vege pour moi :)
    x

  • Sounds like a perfect dish for this cold weather!
    I was wondering what laksa was, but I was too lazy to Google it…:)

    https://sofaundermapletree.wordpress.com

  • Yumm, I def want to try this recipe tho my favorite is tom yum.
    Check out my fat and junky lunch : http://www.theeyetraveler.com/difficult-lunch/

  • Flinders Kane c’est littéralement à côté de chez moi, et j’y étais pas plus tard qu’hier soir :-) J’adore! Pas testé cette soupe en revanche… La prochaine fois!

  • I grew up with Asam Laksa, which is completely different from the coconut broth found in many “Laksas” in Australia. It’s such a shame because very few people offer the tangy version (Asam Laksa) here and more people need to know about it! I’ve grown to love the coconut version as well and if you’re in Sydney, my favourite is the one on Hunter St! :)

  • Oh je suis une fan de plats à base de noix de coco et je ne connais pas celui-là?
    Merci pour la recette! Ca a l’air super bon!
    Bonne soirée,

    Petite and So What?

  • Love Laksa! So good :)

    xo,
    Lily | pslilyboutique.com

  • In Singapore (where I’m from), laksa is considered to be a rather UNhealthy dish but I do love it so.

  • Sounds so yummy and perfect for cold winter evenings…

    Neada, have you made this recipe yourself at home? It’s incredibly complicated. NYC is an exciting city because we have access to dishes that are too complicated and labor intensive to ever try making at home. It makes me frustrated to see recipes posted here that seem too complicated to ever accomplish i.e. “cook over low heat for 3 days…” Do you recommend turning the stove off at night? While we’re at work? Is our apartment going to be strongly scented afterwards?

    Also as a regular home cook myself I feel like it’s cheating to post a recipe without having cooked it yourself. Why would you suggest something to us that you haven’t done yourself? I get that feeling with most of the recipes posted here.

  • It smells so good but as Helena noted it … so hard to do because of the multiple ingredients and the way to prepare it.
    Please give us some easy to do recipes for working women !

  • WOW J’aimerais tellement faire cette recette mais je suis allergique aux crevettes :(

  • Sarawak Laksa (from East Malaysia) is the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I was in Sarawak for 2 weeks and ate it every single day. I tried to find a recipe, but they are all very complicated! Definitely taking note of the restaurant for next time I’m in NYC….no way am I cooking something for 3 days Lol.

  • Mariateresa January, 13 2016, 12:55 / Reply

    Mais Garance, trois jours! C’est une folie…je viens a N.Y directemente par Bari! C’est plus pratique…

  • hey neada, i haven’t tried flinders but will definitely give it a shot next. I’m fr Malaysia so I know what authentic laksa tastes like! ;-) Btw, every time I’m in NYC, I get my dose of Assam Laksa (the tangy version without coconut milk) at LAUT NYC, the Malaysian restaurant near Union Square, E 17th St. Living in Paris, there is nothing here that comes close to a good Laksa!!! Do try it out! Can’t wait for my next trip in March..

  • It’s a surprise that you mention ‘belacan’, coz that’s actually made all the taste going. In Malaysia there’re varieties of laksa that differs from one region to the other. People should try ‘laksam’ too, which is a specialty of the East Coast of Malaysia where i came from. Bon appétit! :)

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