Chicken and prawn Laksa – Malaysia

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Aromatic Malaysian Laksa

Dive into the aromatic world of Malaysian cuisine with this luxurious Chicken and Prawn Laksa, a soul-warming noodle soup that’s both elegant and comforting. This fragrant bowl combines the succulence of tender chicken strips and plump prawns with a rich, coconut-based broth infused with traditional Asian aromatics like galangal and lemongrass. The gentle heat from fresh red chillies and chilli flakes is perfectly tempered by creamy coconut milk, while glass noodles soak up the complex flavours of this iconic Southeast Asian dish. Whether you’re a seasoned lover of Asian cuisine or new to Malaysian flavors, this laksa offers an authentic taste of hawker-style comfort food at its finest.

 

Prawn and Chicken Laksa
 
Author: 
Nutrition Information
  • Serves: 4
  • Serving size: 350 g
  • Calories: 528
  • Fat: 31 g
  • Saturated fat: 20 g
  • Unsaturated fat: 2 g
  • Trans fat: 0 g
  • Carbohydrates: 38 g
  • Sugar: 7 g
  • Sodium: 685 mg
  • Fiber: 3 g
  • Protein: 24 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: Malaysian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Another fantastic soup from a part of the world where Chillies are masterfully blended with seafood, coconut milk and other herbs and spices. In its traditional form, this dish is normally either made of prawns or chicken. This recipe is the best of both worlds, as it combines both. The two certainly complement each another, but if preferred, leave out one or the other. Simply substitute the amount you are leaving out with the ingredient you prefer.
Ingredients
  • Prawns - 250 grams ( peeled and deveined)
  • Chicken breast - 150 grams ( cut into strips)
  • Galangal - one tablespoon
  • Chicken stock - one cup
  • Lemongrass - two teaspoons
  • Lime juice - 1.5 tablespoons ( or the juice of one freshly squeezed lime)
  • Coconut milk - one can (400 ml)
  • Red chillies - 3 red ( chopped)
  • Chilli flakes - one teaspoon
  • Spring onions - three ( chopped)
  • Garlic cloves - two ( finely diced)
  • Glass noodles - 150 grams
  • Chilli oil - one teaspoon - (optional)
  • Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons
  • Fresh coriander leaves - a handful (chopped)
Instructions
  1. Cook the glass noodles to package instructions. Drain and keep warm
  2. Heat the Chilli and vegetable oils to medium heat.
  3. Add the spring onions and lemongrass.. Sautee for two minutes
  4. Add the galangal, chillies and garlic. Stir- fry for a minute
  5. Add the chicken strips and cook until all pinkness has gone.
  6. Now add the lime juice, chicken stock and coconut milk.
  7. Simmer for 10 minutes
  8. Add the prawns and glass noodles. Allow to cook through ( about 5 minutes)
  9. Pour into bowls. Garnish with coriander and sprinkle with chilli flakes
  10. Serve
Notes
This recipe yields 4 to 6 portions

Additional toppings include boiled eggs cut in half, bean sprouts and fried tofu

Keywords: Chicken and prawn Laksa soup

Image credit : BeauGiles / CC BY 2.0/ via Flickr

 

Lagman soup – Uzbekistan

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A Silk Road Symphony

Initially, the aromatic spices of Central Asia waft through this hearty Lagman soup, while tender chunks of stewing beef meld harmoniously with fresh vegetables and pasta. Furthermore, the rich, slow-cooked meat develops deep flavours alongside the earthiness of cumin and coriander, whereas the star anise subsequently adds an unexpected layer of complexity. Meanwhile, the potatoes, carrots, and bell peppers create a satisfying interplay of textures, just as garlic and chillies gradually infuse the broth with gentle heat. Consequently, this traditional soup, which has traveled along the Silk Road for generations, not only offers sustenance but also delivers a complete meal that connects multiple cultures. Finally, whether you choose to savour it on a chilly evening or decide to embark on a culinary adventure, this beloved soup continues to warm both body and soul.

 

Lagman soup with chillies
 
Author: 
Nutrition Information
  • Serves: 8
  • Serving size: 500g
  • Calories: 276
  • Fat: 9 g
  • Saturated fat: 2 g
  • Unsaturated fat: 0 g
  • Trans fat: 0 g
  • Carbohydrates: 16 g
  • Sugar: 3 g
  • Sodium: 230 mg
  • Fiber: 4 g
  • Protein: 34 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: Uzbek
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
This soups hails from Uzbekistan , in central Asia, where it is very popular .If you are looking for comfort food of the highest order, this is it. On a cold winters evening, nothing beats a bowl of Lagmen soup with a healthy dash of hot sauce and a piece of freshly baked bread with butter .
Ingredients
  • Stewing beef – 750 grams
  • Onion – one large ( chopped)
  • Garlic - four cloves ( finely chopped)
  • Oil – two tablespoons
  • Potatoes - Two cups (cubed)
  • Tomatoes – 2 large ( chopped)
  • Bell pepper – one large ( red, diced into 12mm pieces)
  • Carrot –one large ( peeled and chopped)
  • Chillies – three to four ( red, chopped)
  • Bay leaves – three
  • Pasta - 175 grams
  • Water – 8 cups
  • Beef stock cube – one
  • Star anise – one
  • Coriander powder – one teaspoon
  • Ground cumin – one teaspoon
Instructions
  1. Add the oil to a medium-sized pot. Bring to a gentle heat. Add onions
  2. Once the onions have begun changing colour add the garlic and bay leaves, cook for two minutes stirring all the time
  3. Add the bell peppers and chillies, sautee until the pepper are starting to become soft.
  4. Add the meat, coriander powder and cumin powder.
  5. Stir until starting to brown
  6. Add the tomatoes, potatoes and carrot stir until well mixed.
  7. Heat one cup of water in a kettle. Add the stock cube. Stir until well dissolved
  8. Add this and the remaining water plus to star anise to the pot. Turn down the heat and cover.
  9. Cook slowly until the meat is tender and vegetables cooked. Bear in mind; this is a soup; if it starts becoming too stew-like, add more water.
  10. In the meantime, cook the pasta only until still al dente ( quite firm to the bite)
  11. Drain and keep covered until the meat is almost tender
  12. About 10 minutes before the meat is done, add the cooked pasta.
  13. Cook until heated through and the meat is as required.
  14. Remove the star anise and bay leaves.
  15. Serve immediately. Great with freshly baked bread and butter (and with a dash of hot sauce of course)
Notes
This recipe yields 6 to 8 portions

Keywords: Uzbek Lagman soup with chillies

 

Sup Seafood Rempah

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Sup Seafood Rempah is a lavish Malaysian seafood soup where tender chunks of fish, plump prawns, squid rings, and fresh clams swim in a luxurious coconut milk broth. Initially, this aromatic soup gets its distinctive character from a carefully balanced blend of Asian aromatics – fragrant lemongrass, sharp shallots, and fiery red chillies – while a touch of curry powder adds warmth and depth. Furthermore, the broth is enriched with savory oyster sauce and consequently brightened with fresh lime juice, creating a perfect canvas for the medley of seafood. As a result, each spoonful offers a harmonious balance of sweet, spicy, and tangy notes, and finally, a scatter of fresh coriander leaves adds a fresh note to this opulent dish.

Spicy Indonesian seafood soup
 
Author: 
Nutrition Information
  • Serving size: 100g
  • Calories: 29 kcal
  • Fat: <0.9 grams
  • Saturated fat: <0.1 grams
  • Carbohydrates: 4.9 grams
  • Sugar: 1.1 grams
  • Sodium: 1.2 gram
  • Fiber: <0.5 grams
  • Protein: 1.8 grams
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: Indonesian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Indonesia is a country where Chillies are virtually indispensable in cooking. This recipe combines Indian influences on Indonesian cuisine to the traditional Sumatran style of cooking. The result is something truly outstanding. Rich, creamy and brimming with seafood flavour ( with just a hint of spice & chillies), this soup is perfect as a starter or in its own right for a special celebration meal
Ingredients
  • Coconut milk – one and a half litres ( use fresh if available)
  • Fish fillets – 250 grams ( diced) see note
  • Squid – 250 grams ( sliced into rings)
  • King prawns – 250 grams ( de-veined and peeled)
  • Clams – 200 grams
  • Juice of one fresh lime
  • Lemongrass – two stalks ( bruised)
  • Shallots – 5 - finely chopped
  • Garlic – 3 cloves finely chopped
  • Red chillies – 5 finely chopped ( Cayenne, birds-eye or serrano)
  • Black pepper – ½ teaspoon ( coarsely ground)
  • Curry powder – one teaspoon
  • Vegetable oil – 3 tablespoons
  • Oyster sauce – 3 tablespoons
  • Sugar – two teaspoons
  • Salt to taste
  • Coriander leaves – a scant handful
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil. Add the shallots and fry until translucent
  2. Add the garlic, shrimp paste and lemongrass. Fry for a minute
  3. Add the curry powder, chillies and black pepper. Fry until spices are cooked through
  4. Add the seafood and cook until just starting to change colour
  5. Add the coconut milk and bring to the boil
  6. Add the Oyster sauce and sugar
  7. Once the seafood is cooked, add the lime juice and season with salt
  8. Add the coriander. Stir through
  9. Serve hot
Notes
This recipe yields 4 to 6 portions

Keywords: Spicy Indonesian seafood soup

 

 

Bun Bo hue (spicy beef soup) – Vietnam

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Aromatic Bun Bo Hue Soup

Bun Bo Hue is a masterful Vietnamese soup that showcases the complex interplay between aromatic lemongrass, tender beef, and a deeply savoury broth. This recipe combines succulent beef brisket and oxtail with a rich bone broth that’s been carefully infused with fragrant spices like star anise and fresh lemongrass. The soup gets its characteristic depth from the umami-rich combination of shrimp paste and fish sauce, while fresh chillies and chilli flakes provide the signature heat that sets this dish apart from other Vietnamese noodle soups. The result is a complex, spicy broth that coats each strand of rice noodle, creating a harmonious bowl that’s both comforting and invigorating.

Spicy Bun Bo Hue
 
Author: 
Nutrition Information
  • Serving size: 100g
  • Calories: 29 kcal
  • Fat: <0.9 grams
  • Saturated fat: <0.1 grams
  • Carbohydrates: 4.9 grams
  • Sugar: 1.1 grams
  • Sodium: 1.2 gram
  • Fiber: <0.5 grams
  • Protein: 1.8 grams
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Okay, this is hardly an instant soup. It takes lots of time to make, but as the adage goes " all comes to those that wait " . To achieve the depth of flavour that this dish delivers a whole days cooking will be needed. It is best to start in the morning with a view to eating it in the evening. It is certainly substantial enough a meal to eat on its own . Once tried, this is something you will make again, It is absolutely superb!
Ingredients
For the soup
  • Beef brisket - 2.2 pounds (1 kg)
  • Beef Oxtail - one pound ( 450 grams)
  • Beef bones – two pounds ( 900 grams)
  • Onion – two large ( one finely sliced, the other coarsely chopped)
  • Ginger - 2-inch piece ( peeled and thinly sliced)
  • Lemongrass – 4 stalks ( 2 inches wide - bruised)
  • Garlic – 4 cloves ( peeled and cut in half)
  • Kaffir lime leaves – 5 ( optional)
  • Fish sauce - 4 tablespoons ( see note **)
  • Shrimp paste - one tablespoon
  • Sugar – 2 tablespoons
  • Star Anise – 3 whole
  • Peppercorns – one teaspoon
  • Water – 10 – 15 cups
  • Red Chilli flakes – 2 tablespoons ( see note ***)
  • Red Chillies – 3 sliced ( Birds- eye chillies or similar)
  • Vegetable oil – 2 tablespoons
  • Garlic puree – one teaspoon
  • Ramen/instant rice noodles – 200 to 250 grams
Accompaniments
  • Bean sprouts
  • Lime wedges
  • Spring onions – Thinly sliced ( both white and green parts)
Instructions
  1. Heat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius
  2. Place the beef bones, coarsely chopped onion and one clove of garlic ( sliced in half) in a roasting tin. Pour in half an inch of water
  3. Place the roasting tin into the oven and cook for 40 to 45 minutes. Check roasting tin periodically to ensure that it does not run dry. Add water if necessary
  4. In the meantime, place a large pot on the stove. Add 10 cups of water and bring to a boil
  5. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a pan. Add oxtails and brown all over. Keep to one side
  6. Remove roast bones and vegetables from the oven. Add to the boiling water together with any residue from the roasting pan ( these should be nice brown bits – not burnt).
  7. Add the browned oxtail
  8. The water should cover the bones and oxtail. If not add more
  9. Bring to a gentle simmer. Skim off any impurities that rise to the top.
  10. Allow to cook for 4 to 6 hours, adding more water if necessary
  11. Strain the resulting stock into a new pot, removing the bones. The remaining meat can be added back to the soup just before it is served. (Keep refrigerated until just before serving, Ensure that it is heated through with the cooking Brisket - ten minutes before eating)
  12. When this has completed heat remaining oil in a pan. Add finely chopped onion and fry until translucent
  13. Add garlic puree and cook for another minute
  14. Now add the Chillies, Chilli flakes and star anise
  15. Stir for 2 to three minutes
  16. Add to the stockpot together with the peppercorns, lemongrass, remaining garlic cloves and kaffir lime leaves
  17. Bring the stockpot to a boil
  18. Turn down the heat. Add Brisket, fish sauce, shrmp paste and sugar
  19. Simmer gently with( pot covered) for another 2 to 3 hours ( or until Brisket is tender).
  20. Follow instructions for preparation of the ramen/instant noodles ( Consider re-introducing cooked meat from initial stockpot to the cooking brisket at this point. Ensure that it is heated through)
  21. Remove Brisket from the stockpot. Cut into slices and add back to the pot
  22. Remove whole spices, lime leaves, garlic and lemongrass
  23. Serve by placing a layer of ramen/ rice noodles at the bottom of a bowl, next add a slice or two of Brisket and finally covering with broth
  24. Now add bean sprouts, spring onions or lime juice ( if required)
  25. Enjoy
Notes
* Vietnamese fish sauce is called Nuoc mam. If unavailable Nam Pla (Thai fish sauce) can be used

This recipe yields 4 to 6 portions

Keywords: Pho bo hue

Tom Yum Goong – Thailand

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Classic Tom Yum Soup

Tom Yum Goong, Thailand’s beloved hot and sour prawn soup, is a masterful symphony of aromatics that captures the very essence of Thai cuisine. This iconic soup balances the sharp citrus notes of lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves with the pungent heat of Thai chillies and the distinctive warmth of galangal. At its heart are plump, succulent prawns that release their sweet brininess into a fragrant chicken stock, while tender oyster mushrooms add an earthy depth. The final harmony comes from the perfect balance of sour lime juice, savoury fish sauce, and just a touch of sugar to round out the flavours. This recipe stays true to the authentic version found in the streets of Bangkok, where the soup’s intense aroma draws diners from blocks away.

 

Tom Yum Goong ต้มยำกุ้ง
Nutrition Information
  • Serving size: 100g
  • Fat: 0.9g
  • Unsaturated fat: 0.2g
  • Carbohydrates: 4.3g
  • Sugar: 2.1g
  • Sodium: 131mg
  • Fiber: 0.2g
  • Protein: 3.5g
  • Cholesterol: 12 mg
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: Thai
Thailand is a country that produces some excellent cuisine. They have a masterful knowledge of how to combine sweet, sour and saltiness with piquancy of the Chilli, to provide an explosion of flavour. This dish is a great starter for a Thai theme meal evening or simply as a comforting pick me up on a cold winters night. To make the dish more substantial, simply add pieces of cooked chicken, which will readily absorb the wonderfully flavoured broth.
Ingredients
  • Chicken stock - 4 cups
  • Prawns - 8 to12 medium-sized shrimp, deveined, head and shell on.
  • Kaffir lime leaves- 4 to 6, roughly chopped
  • Fresh Lemongrass - 1stalk , cut into 1-2 inch pieces
  • Galangal – 1 piece - 2 inches, thinly sliced. * see note
  • Thai chillies 2 to 3, roughly chopped
  • Thai chilli paste - 3 to 4 tablespoons (optional) ** see note
  • Lime juice - ½ cup
  • Thai fish sauce - 3 tablespoons *** see note
  • Sugar - 1 to 2 teaspoons
  • Oyster mushrooms - 3 cups chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • Coriander /Cilantro - for garnish
Instructions
  1. Combine chicken stock, galangal, lemongrass, chillies and kaffir lime leaves in a pot. Bring to the boil. Add the mushrooms and allow to simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and galangal
  2. Add the prawns and now turn off the heat. The residual heat from the boiled stock will cook the prawns. Allow to cook for 1 to 2 minutes
  3. Now add the lime juice, sugar, Chilli paste and fish sauce. Stir well
  4. Garnish with coriander/ cilantro and serve immediately
Notes
* Whilst not exactly the same, galangal can be substituted by I teaspoon of fresh ginger This recipe yields 4 portions
** Thai name: Nam Pla
*** Thai name: Nam Prik Pao

Shitake noodles can also be added . Follow package instructions

This recipe yields 4 portions

Keywords: Tom yum goong with chillies