I have always wanted to make laksa, especially since I only started eating it a few years ago. My Cambodian fiancé (hehe) introduced me to this dish, and I completely fell in love with it.
Laksa is one of the best comfort foods, I love it just as much as I love pho. The only reason I used to hesitate ordering it was because I knew it was high in fat and calories. So I decided to make a calorie-friendly version at home. Honestly, it was more than enough to satisfy my laksa cravings. I also love that I can add as much protein as I want.
I used tofu noodles to reduce the calories even more, but if you have room for extra carbs, rice noodles work perfectly. I highly recommend making this, and make sure to refrigerate the broth, especially since it is summer (Mine went off because I left it at room temperature for too long 😢)
Calorie friendly Laksa
Difficulty: medium8
servings30
minutes40
minutes549
kcal63
g17
g28
gIngredients
**Protein & main
Chicken thigh cutlets (bone-in)
2 kgPinch of salt
Prawns (defrost)
800 gFish balls
500 g**Soup base
Olive oil
10 gLemongrass
15 gGarlic (minced)
25 gGinger paste
15 gAyam laksa paste
185 g (1 small jar)Coconut milk (a can)
400 mlChicken stock
20 gChicken cooking water
1500mlFish sauce
30 g**To serve
Tofu noodles (or any noodles you like)
Bean sprouts
Coriander (optional)
Lime juice (optional)
Directions
- Prepare seafood
- Slice the fish balls in half.
- Defrost the prawns completely.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil.
- Blanch the fish balls and prawns for a few minutes until just lightly cooked.
- Remove and set aside.
- Cooking
- Using the same pot, blanch the chicken drumsticks briefly, then discard the water.
- In a new pot, add fresh water.
- Add chicken thigh cutlets, boil for about 20 minutes.
- As the chicken cooks, remove any scum that rises to the surface to keep the broth clear.
- Once cooked, remove the chicken and place it into a bowl of ice water, soak for 15 minutes.
- Debone the chicken and shred the meat.
- Remove the skin at this stage to reduce fat. Set the chicken aside. Keep 1500 ml of the chicken cooking water for the soup.
- Make the laksa soup
- Finely chop the lemongrass.
- Combine it with minced garlic and ginger.
- Heat a pan over medium heat.
- Add olive oil, then add the aromatics. Cook until fragrant and lightly golden.
- Lower the heat to low, add the laksa paste and stir well for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk and let it simmer gently for a couple of minutes.
- Add the chicken broth powder, fish sauce, and chicken cooking water. Simmer gently, if any scum appears, remove it.
- Assemble
- Prepare noodles of your choice.
- In a serving bowl, add:
Noodles
Shredded chicken
Fish balls
Prawns
Bean sprouts
Coriander - Pour hot laksa soup over the top and enjoy!
Recipe Video
Notes
- The chicken cutlets were bone-in. After cooking and deboning, the total cooked chicken meat was 800 g, which I divided into 100 g per serving.
- When laksa served, taste and adjust saltiness- Add more fish sauce if needed!
- Remove the scum from the broth thoroughly. This helps keep the broth clean and clear in flavour!
- After assembling the ingredients in the bowl, microwave the entire bowl before adding garnish. This keeps the bowl warm and makes it taste better.
- If you use rice noodles or other noodles instead of tofu noodles, the calories and carbs will be higher than the macros shown (but the taste will be better, of course 😌).