It can be a bit tricky sometimes, food blogging.

During a particularly lovely bout of daydreaming about exotic places last week, I had an idea – Laksa!

I quickly researched traditional ingredients, brainstormed some changes, told my Lovebug to get his belly ready, skipped to the shops and back, and whipped up a pot with excitement.

Only…  the finished product was lacking.

Oh it was okay – Food Hall standard – but life’s too short for just okay food, right?  Forget those bland soups and crappy noodles – we want awesome, fresh food that makes us feel nourished and happy to be alive!  Sing it with me, sista!

The next morning dawned sunny and bright and I knew what I had to do.  Thankfully, when my Lovebug asked: ‘What do you want to do today?” and I replied: “Make Laksa!”, he just laughed and went along with it.  He’s pretty awesome like that.

The second time (and night in a row!), the Laksa was magical.  Hot, spicy, sweet, tangy and oh so satisfying.

And the best part?  You can freeze the spice paste and then next time you fancy a delicious, exotic, daydream-worthy soup, you can just take the paste from the freezer, throw it into a big pot, add the rest of the ingredients, and have dinner ready in less than 15 minutes.

Take that, Food Hall. 🙂

xx

Easy Vegan Laksa

Easy Vegan Laksa

Rebecca Weller - Vegan Sparkles
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp Coconut Oil
  • 2 tbsp Sesame Oil or more Coconut Oil
  • 4 cups Vegetable Stock/Broth
  • 3 1/4 cups Organic Coconut Milk
  • 1 tsp Tamarind Concentrate/Paste
  • 50 ml Tamari Sauce or Soy Sauce if gluten is not an issue
  • 50 ml Fresh Lime Juice
  • 2 cups Capsicum/Peppers any colour, cored and sliced
  • 1 cup Baby Corn quartered (or any other Asian veg you prefer)
  • 5 Spring Onion sliced
  • 300 g Firm/Hard Tofu drained and chopped into bite-sized cubes
  • 200 g Rice Noodles any kind you like

Spice Paste

  • 6 Garlic Cloves peeled and chopped
  • 1 inch/2.5cm knob Ginger peeled and chopped
  • 4 Red Chillies chopped (less if you don't like spicy food but the coconut milk really tames down the spiciness)
  • 2 Lemongrass stems white part only, thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp ground Turmeric
  • 5 Kaffir Lime Leaves finely shredded (from a jar is fine if you can't find fresh)

To Serve

  • 1 handful of Bean Sprouts
  • 1 handful of fresh Coriander Leaves chopped

Instructions
 

  • Soak noodles in a large bowl of hot water for 30 minutes to soften.
  • Meanwhile, assemble all Spice Paste ingredients in a food processor and pulse/process until it forms a chunky paste.
  • In a frypan over medium-high heat, shallow fry tofu in 2 tbsp Coconut Oil until just golden brown. (Don't let it cook for too long or the tofu will become too chewy. This step is optional - you can add the tofu directly to the Laksa later if you prefer but pre-cooking does give the tofu a lovely texture)
  • In a large pot or frypan over medium heat, stir fry Spice Paste in Sesame Oil until fragrant (a couple of minutes).
  • Add Coconut Milk and Vegetable Stock and bring to the boil.
  • Add Capsicum/Peppers, Corn, Spring Onion, Tofu and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Add Tamarind, Tamari and Lime Juice. Allow to simmer for another couple of minutes, then remove from heat.
  • Drain noodles and divide among 4 bowls.
  • Spoon Laksa over the noodles, garnish with Bean Shoots and Coriander, and enjoy!

Easy Vegan Laksa

24 Comments on Easy Vegan Laksa

  1. The Dame Intl
    May 10, 2013 at 5:54 pm (11 years ago)

    Yay! Another recipe from you! And my favourite Thai curry too! Laksaaaaaaa! YUM! I actually have most of the ingredients apart from tofu and tamarind sauce but gonna make it anyway tonight 🙂

    Thank you Bex!

  2. The Dame Intl
    May 11, 2013 at 4:19 am (11 years ago)

    OH MY GOSH! So I made this for supper and it is effing LLLLLLLUUUSSSSHHHH!!!!! XD So divine and I didnt have lemongrass like I thought I did but it tasted amazing anyway. Think this might be my signature dish from now on cos I just love Thai curry’s, Panang, Massaman… Takes me straight back to Thailand every time 🙂

    • * Vegan Sparkles *
      May 11, 2013 at 1:25 pm (11 years ago)

      Oh YAYYY, so happy you loved it, beautiful! So easy if you pre-make the paste, too – great for a dinner party to impress the friends. 🙂

  3. The Dame Intl
    June 1, 2013 at 11:46 pm (11 years ago)

    Making this again right now! XD

  4. alessandra
    October 12, 2013 at 3:15 am (11 years ago)

    hi! what a nice blog! I’ve just tried this laksa, it was since i were in malaysia, five years ago that I hope to taste it again.. and finnally, thanks to you, I decided to try.. W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L!!! As I didn’t have any tofu I used pumpkin chopped into little cubes and fried in coconut oil just like tofu and added 5 mins before the end. Very, very nice. Thank you!!
    I live in the middle of Europe, here weather is not one of the bigger attraction, cold and misty, but this meal brought sun into house!
    Alessandra, Luxembourg ville

    • * Vegan Sparkles *
      October 22, 2013 at 2:52 pm (11 years ago)

      Oh I’m so happy to hear that, Alessandra! It has such a warming effect, doesn’t it. 🙂 I’m so happy to have you here. x

  5. Gina
    October 24, 2013 at 11:37 am (11 years ago)

    I have a question about the coconut milk. Is this the thick canned variety or thin boxed type?

    • * Vegan Sparkles *
      October 24, 2013 at 6:29 pm (11 years ago)

      Hi Gina. I only ever use the canned variety and only organic – it’s so much silkier and creamier. 🙂

  6. Jaimee
    April 7, 2014 at 10:21 am (11 years ago)

    Love the sound of this! All the other recipes I looked at asked for a pre-made laksa paste which just isn’t available at my local supermarket. Do you have a Pinterest account I could follow?

  7. nickedwardlawrence
    May 1, 2014 at 3:07 pm (10 years ago)

    Hello!
    I was desperate to make this and rushed out to a smallish store that is open after regular trading hours and with only a limited range. I picked up minced keffir lime leaves in a jar and minced lemongrass in a jar (I usually hate not using fresh ingredients but I was desperate). What ratios of each do you think I should use to get the desired flavour? Thank you heaps!
    Also found your blog only the other day and loving it so far!!
    – Lucja (I was too lazy to get out of my partners account)

    • Vegan Sparkles
      May 3, 2014 at 10:47 am (10 years ago)

      haha, I love it, Lucja! And welcome. I’m so happy you found me. 🙂
      About 5 tsp of the keffir lime leaves and 3-4 tsp of lemongrass should do it nicely. x

      • nickedwardlawrence
        May 8, 2014 at 12:29 pm (10 years ago)

        Thank you so much! Looking forward to more of your wonderful posts 🙂
        – Lucja

  8. Julsmann
    May 2, 2014 at 9:53 pm (10 years ago)

    Brilliant recipe, thank you very much! Just battling off the end of a cold and this toasted me up and cleared out the sinuses. Loaded in a bit more chilli and it was divine. So cheap to make at home, the flavour in the homemade paste just knocks your socks off. Not sure if I will try to find a vegan laksa out of home for a very long time. Singin’ it with ya sista!

    • Vegan Sparkles
      May 3, 2014 at 10:48 am (10 years ago)

      Oh I’m so happy to hear it warmed you up and helped with the healing, Juls! Here’s to delicious food as medicine, always. 🙂 x

  9. Cecilia
    July 1, 2014 at 7:03 am (10 years ago)

    I tried the recipe last night and impressed myself with the results!!! Thanks very much.

    • Vegan Sparkles
      July 1, 2014 at 10:14 am (10 years ago)

      haha, oh snap! I had it for dinner last night too, Cecilia. So happy to hear that yours was delicious too. 🙂 x

  10. KymO
    June 13, 2015 at 6:31 pm (9 years ago)

    Wow! I just made this for dinner and it was AMAZING!!! I loved the fresh flavours and it was so simple to make. Thank you so much for the recipe.

    • Vegan Sparkles
      June 14, 2015 at 4:51 pm (9 years ago)

      Oh my pleasure, Kym! Aren’t Thai fresh flavours just the BEST?! I’m so happy to hear you loved it as much as I do! 🙂 x

  11. Bharathi
    June 20, 2015 at 8:12 pm (9 years ago)

    I attempted my first Laksa using your recipe & must say it was my family favorite! I loved making it from scratch & thoroughly enjoyed cooking it with our favorite veggies – eggplant;, okra & long beans. Thanks so much for sharing!

    • Vegan Sparkles
      June 21, 2015 at 2:58 pm (9 years ago)

      Oh, my pleasure, Bharathi! I’m so happy to hear that you and your family loved it. 🙂 x

2Pingbacks & Trackbacks on Easy Vegan Laksa

  1. […] Nutrition student, Rebecca of VeganSparkles.com makes the most divine recipes, this week I made her Vegan Laksa and it was TO DIE FOR. Ok so I used chicken instead of Tofu cos I was cooking for my mom, but I […]