Laksa Ketam or Rice Noodle in Rich Crab and Coconut Milk Curry
Laksa is a spicy rice noodle soup from the Peranakan culinary, fusion of of Chinese and Malay (Melayu) descent found in Indonesia, Malaysia and also Singapore. Laksa derived from the Sanskrit lakshas (लकशस्) meaning “one hundred thousand” (lakh) and Hokkien Chinese word 辣沙 (Cantonese: [lɐ̀t.sáː]) as “dirty” and “spicy sand” from the appearance and the texture of the grounded dried prawns.
Live Blue Crab Made the Laksa Had a Very Kick’in and Superior Crabby Broth
I was so lucky to found live blue crab at Grand Lucky Supermarket in Jakarta (nearby Pacific Place Mall) and it’s not tagged as silly expensive as a seafood restauran. The live blue crab cost me about 9.99 USD for a kilo and i brought home about one and a half kilos. No more pale canned crab meat that cost me about 2.85 USD for 125 gr drained crab meat weight. Foraging over a gourmet store in Jakarta driven me to Kem Chick Supermarket and i found a very small bundle of daun laksa or daun kesum or laksa leaves for about 0.5 USD. Daun laksa had a stong aromatic aromas and pleasant spicy and a little bit tangy after taste. but since i using live blue crab for this recipe, i use only a pinch. I think daun laksa is more suits with asam or sour laksa instead of curry laksa for my personal licking.
Live Blue Crab in Aquarium @ Grand Lucky Supermarket
Laksa Leaves,Daun Kesum, Vietnamese Corriander Leaves, Cambodian Mint from Kem Chick
Spicy Crab Coconut Curry Soup with Rice Noodle/Vermicelly a.k.a Laksa Kari Ketam
There are two basic types of laksa: curry laksa and asam laksa. Curry laksa is a coconut curry soup with noodles, while asam laksa is a sour fish soup with noodles. Thick rice noodles also known as laksa noodles are most commonly used, although thin rice vermicelli (bee hoon or mee hoon) are also common and some variants use other types.
Crab Curry Laksa Recipe:
- 1 kg live or fresh blue crab,
- 2 pcs tamarind peel (asam keping/asam potong)
- 1/4 tsp tamarind paste
- 5 fresh shiitake mushrooms, thinly slice*optional
- 1500 ml chicken stock
- 1 cup coconut milk
- Cooking oil
- Rice vermicelly or rice noodle, boiled according to package instruction
- Salt, sugar and fish sauce to taste
Laksa Spice Paste Recipe:
- 20 fresh red chillies (cabe merah)
- 12 shallots (bawang merah)
- 8 cloves garlic (bawang putih)
- 3 cm turmeric (kunyit)
- 3 cm ginger (jahe)
- 1 tbsp shrimp paste (terasi/belacan)
- 3 candlenuts (kemiri)
- 2 lemongrass (sereh)
- 1 tsp coriander (ketumbar)
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 30gr dried prawns, soak for 10 mins, drained
Garnish and Condiment:
- Corriander leaves
- Daun kesum or laksa leaves or vietnamese corriander leaves
- Bean sprout
- Chopped tomatoes
- Chopped chillies
- Deep fried shallots
- lemon wedges
Instruction:
- Clean the blue crab and remove the gills,steamed for about 15 minutes, carefully remove the meat from the shell, drain and set asida the crab meat, retain the liquid for the laksa broth
- Heat up the oil in a wokpan, saute the spice paste until fragrant and had more vivid color
- Pour the chicken stock, coconut milk and the liquid from steaming the blue crab
- Add the tamarind peel and the tamarind paste, bring to boil
- Put the shiitake mushrooms and season to your preference taste
How to serve the crab curry laksa:
- Put the rice vermicelli/rice noodle in the bottom of the serving bowl, add the crab meat and pout the laksa broth, serve with the garnishes and condiments
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