Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Nigel Slater's Pumpkin Laksa Redux


spicy comfort in a bowl

Rainy nights always seems to call for something special to warm the tummy. Since last night saw a heavy downpour, I was hankering for something hot and spicy. Ever since I got my latest Nigel Slater cookbook aka Tender (he's my food hero with his fast, simple and great food philosophy), I've been dying to try his new pumpkin laksa. I've made his previous laksa from Kitchen Diaries that became a bright orange and red tomato spectacle.

For my version, it was super spicy bird's eye chillies, an unusual pairing of Binchotan charcoal noodles and sweet butternut pumpkin. The verdict was a slurpworthy, tongue numbing and most importantly tummy warming meal!! Even the cats were staring at me, when I slurped it down loudly. Gorgeous stuff that just perked up my mid-week blues!

Nigel Slater's Pumpkin Laksa (adapted from Tender, part 1)

spice paste
3-4 bird's eye chillies
2 cloves garlic
3cm fresh young ginger
2 stalks lemongrass
5 to 6 coriander roots, washed
a handful coriander leaves
2 tablespoons sesame oil
350g pumpkin, seeded, skin peeled and chopped to pieces

600ml chicken or vegetable stock
400ml coconut milk
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce, or to taste
juice of 1 lime
100g Binchotan charcoal noodles, cooked
coriander and mint leaves for garnish

To make spice paste: Blend all ingredients together and set aside.

To prepare pumpkin: Steam until softened. Set aside.

To prepare laksa: Heat up a pan over medium heat. Add spice paste and fry until fragrant. Add stock, coconut milk and bring to a boil. Add fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, cooked pumpkin and noodles. Simmer briefly. Ladle into bowls and top with coriander and mint leaves.

17 comments:

Jade said...

that looks lovely! nigel slater's one of my favourite chefs on bbc. might try this with roast pumpkin :)

qwazymonkey said...

Kitchen Diaries has got to be one of my favourite cook books. I've yet to try this laksa. You've made it look amazing! I wanna go make some now too.

Coicidentally, my post today is on Laksa too. LOL

Ciki said...

wot a smart cookie you are! pumpkin soup.. comfort food for a rainy day.. heck anyday!

AugustDiners said...

where can we find charcoal noodles? im not sure ive even heard of such thing b4 :D

~ Wombat said...

This looks delicious! I can't wait to try out the recipe.

Are the charcoal noodles available in KL?

Bangsar-bAbE said...

I lazy to cook...when can I come over Boo? =P

August Diners - You can get charcoal noodles from Country Farm Organics in Bangsar Village.

boo_licious said...

Jade - I heart Nigel Slater. Have almost all his cookbooks. Hope it turns out well with the roast pumpkin.

qwazymonkey - ah, Ravenous Rabbit is also a big fan of Nigel Slater too! Laksa day tday!

C&C - comfort in a bowl!

August Diners & Wombat - charcoal noodles are from Country Farm Organics. They also fry the noodles at their Bsar outlet. Yummy stuff.

Bsar Babe - awww, I'm also lazy to cook. Get inspired after a bad day, need to destress.

Yumiko Yasuo said...

Hi!

Just wanna know if the charcoal noodle available in Jusco @ Cold Storage @ anywhere else other than Country Farm Organics? I'm from Melaka btw

boo_licious said...

yumiko - sorry, no idea abt Melaka. Some of the supermarkets have an organic section but it depends from outlet to outlet on the levels of stocks (per Country Farm's website, it seems they stock at Carrefour Melaka).

Alternatively, organic shops in Melaka may have the noodles. If not, do you want to contact Country Farm directly? Here's the link to the website details on their contact. Good luck.

http://www.countryfarmorganics.com/cfo/cont.asp?sltcat=5&cid=13

Julie said...

pumpkin and laksa together?
Wow, that's a first.
Just stumbled upon you blog and I must say that I love your writing. and your photos too :)

Yumiko Yasuo said...

Thanks for the info! Will try to look for it this evening!

foodbin said...

good combination and looks good too.

boo_licious said...

Thxs Julie.

Hope u're successful Yumiko. If not, I guess it's KL for the binchotan charcoal noodles.

foodbin - thxs! Btw, Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Jade said...

I tried it with roasted butternut squash! gorgeous stuff. thank you for sharing the recipe! :)

fatboybakes said...

oh me oh my...i MUST try this!!!

Julia S. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Julia S. said...


Did you deliberately omit the 2 teaspoons of ground turmeric from the spice paste? I like the warmth that it brings to the dish. Also, I often use udon noodles. I've made this many times and it has become a firm favourite in our house!

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