Laksa with Chicken and Water Chestnut Meatballs
Serves: 4
Time: 45 minutes
I try not to use pre made food but I do make a bit of an exception when it comes to a curry paste. I used to be all for making my own pastes but they do require a lot of ingredients and just that little bit of extra time, so nowadays for me it’s the convenience and the fact that I can use a whole jar and be done with it and have no wasted ingredients at the end.
You wanna pack some heat?
Chop up two birdseye chillies and sauté them with your onion mix.
Leftovers
Keep your soup ingredients separate to your noodle ingredients. They will be easier to transport.
What you'll need
500g chicken mince
1 small brown onion
1 small piece of ginger
4 garlic cloves
1 small tin of water chestnuts
1 egg
1 lime
1/2 bunch of coriander
1 small jar of laksa paste (I’m using Ayam - it’s one of the most common in supermarkets but it’s also quite mild so my little toddler will have a crack at it)
1 litre chicken stock
1 can of coconut milk
1 250g packet vermicelli noodles
1/2 a packet mung bean shoots
1/2 a bunch of Vietnamese basil
1 packet of button mushrooms
100g sugar snaps
2 birdseye chillies (if you want the heat)
From the pantry
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
Make me a Vegetarian Option
This dinner could very easily be turned into a vego option, by substituting the meatballs with lots of yummy veggies, peppers or zucchini or even pumpkin would all work great.
Prep and Cook
Preheat Oven to 180c
Boil a jug of water.
Sauté Onion, Garlic and Ginger
Peel and finely dice the onion and garlic, and peel then grate your ginger.
In a medium-sized pot, heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and then sauté the onion, garlic and ginger till soft.
Remove the pot from the heat and take out half of your mix and put it into a medium sized mixing bowl.
Soften Noodles
Place your noodles in a clean, heat resistant bowl and cover completely with boiling water.
Give the noodles a bit of a stir up with a pair of tongs so they separate, then leave to soften.
Rolling Meatballs
This is a very sloppy mix so you will need wet hands in order to get a smooth roll. Have a bowl of cold water right beside the mix and dunk your hands in before each ball.
Make Meatballs
Take the mixing bowl with your onion mixture and add the chicken mince, roughly chopped water chestnuts, egg, fish sauce, salt and pepper and mix all ingredients.
Roll the mix into balls the size of a golf ball and layout on an oven tray lined with baking paper.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
When you remove them from the oven, they should be firm to touch — and cooked through to check cut one in half.
Make Laksa
Empty your paste into the pot with the remaining onion mix, along with a tablespoon of fish sauce. Place it on a high heat and stir all the while to bring it up to a light sizzle. Add your stock and coconut milk, bring up to a boil.
Chop your button mushrooms into quarters and add to the soup mix.
Once your soup is boiling, carefully drop in your meatballs. Allow the soup to come back up to the boil.
Lastly, top and tail your sugar snaps and pick off the leaves only of your Vietnamese basil.
Add the sugar snaps to the soup mix, then remove from the heat.
Plate It Pretty
Drain your noodles, twist them into a bundle and place them at about 9 o’clock in a deep rimmed bowl.
Use a slotted or dessert spoon to remove four chicken balls from the soup, make a triangle with three then sit the fourth on the top in the centre.
Ladle the soup gently over and finish with a nice big handful of mung bean shoots and some basil leaves on top. Garnish with lots of fresh coriander and a wedge of lime.
Enjoy!
Lunch tomorrow
I find it works best to keep your soup separate until your ready to eat it’s best to travel this one in two containers.