My missus said she would cook something special for us that day, Sunday – she was going to cook curry laksa…
…from scratch.
I have tried cooking this before once using that no-longer-affordable made-in-Singapore laksa paste and I’ve tried using this Malaysian-made one too but no, you would not catch me cooking it from scratch. The mere idea of all the work to be done sends shivers down my spine!
Anyway, early that morning, I went out to the neighbourhood fruits and vegetables plus sundry and whatever shop in the next lane from my house to buy a few things that my missus said she would need.
I got her some taugeh (bean sprouts)…
…no prize for guessing who removed all the tails, and some tofu puffs…
She also wanted these seafood tofu…
…that she said my girl likes a lot and some daun sup (Chinese celery)…
…as well and yes, she did take some of my daun kesum/daun laksa (Vietnamese cilantro/Vietnamese coriander) from the garden…
…to use in the cooking.
I also bought a box of New Zealand mussels…
…to add to the dish as I was quite sure it would bring it to a whole new level.
When I got up that day, I took the prawns…
…out of the freezer to defrost. We had these the other day, the pre-peeled and deveined ones from Sabah- my missus bought a pack from this same shop and since it was so good, very sweet and fresh, firm and succulent, I went back there and bought two more packs to store in the freezer. Unfortunately, she did not want these – she said she would rather use the ones I bought from my favourite fish & seafood stall…
…as she wanted to use the heads and the shell for the stock. Left without a choice, I had to pack the aforementioned prawns in a container and put them back into the freezer.
To say that it was a lot of work would be an understatement. She spent the whole morning in the kitchen which looked like a whirlwind had swept past the place and it was way past noon when she finally got everything ready.
We gave some…
…to her brother, my brother-in-law and also to my sister but of course, we packed the broth…
…separately.
This…
…was what I had for my lunch that day and I sure enjoyed it a lot!
She said it was a bit too diluted and she did not add enough santan (coconut milk) so it was not very lemak but I thought that was a blessing in disguise. I wouldn’t like it to be too lemak so much so that halfway through I would start to feel that I had had enough. It tasted really great, not quite like curry or masak lemak – it was in a class of its own, so very nice but looking at how much work was involved, no, I don’t think I will ask her to cook it from scratch again, thank you very much.
SWEE HUNG (2.316161, 111.840441) is located along Jalan Ruby, in the block of shops on the right – next to a hair salon at the extreme end and on the other end, to the left is the Kim Won Chinese Medical Store and Mini-supermarket.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I will be the first one to surrender if you ask me to cook something from scratch that involved a lot of work. I agree with you that sometimes too lemak will make you feel enough half way through but like kuih seri muka, I like it very lemak and same like how you always want your nasi lemak too.
Yes, different kind of lemak. I guess it is the soup kind of lemak that puts people off. Just a bit is nice, but not too much but serimuka, if too lemak, will be too wobbly – can be quite messy to eat. Yet to come across any over-lemak nasi lemak, always not lemak.
One of my favourite dishes, so lucky to be living here in NZ, I can use fresh mussels which gives tons of additional seafood goodness. Nice to see you can buy them there
Yes, they are very easy to get here. Lots of NZ products here, not a problem getting hold of them at all.
Yum! Yum! Curry laksa cooked from scratch is a whole lot of work but your missus’ hard work paid off since it was much enjoyed all round! This is something I would rather have someone else cook for me and I would gladly pay hee..hee…
Yes, or just use those tried and tested instant pastes that turned out really good., shortcuts. With special ingredients added, I bet it would be nicer than any sold outside. My missus had the one at Pappa Rich, expensive…and did not get her all excited.
That was a lot of work. Curry laksa cooked from scratch is hard work but bet it tasted better with whatever you want to add. Yum yum, mussels. I like curry laksa to be slightly lemak.
Yes, just a bit lemak, not over-lemak. Jelak. Having said that, it seems that Sibu folks love it extra-lemak. Look at their Sarawak laksa – Kuching folks don’t like it like that – like curry they said, not like Kuching laksa anymore!
I love laksa from Singapore too.
But we usually use blood cockles instead of mussels in Johore/ Singapore.
Yes, laksa leaves are essential to bring out the full flavour.
My favourite bit is actually the taupok (tofu puffs). 🙂
Yes, there are cockles and pig’s blood too. We’re not into the latter and I can’t get cockles at the nearby shops…and I am not going to the central market, listed as HIGH RISK. #staysafe #staywell
My girl loves those tofu puffs too – they do not have that in Sarawak laksa but when I cook, I will have to add those…for her.
Cooking curry laksa from scratch is a lot of hard work and time consuming but it only takes a few minutes to enjoy and finish a bowl of curry laksa. Your bowl of curry laksa looks good and delicious with so much ingredients.
Yes, we all loved it! But considering how much work was needed, I’d happily settle for something less. Once in a long while is all right, I guess.
Goodness that looks like a lot of work indeed. That’s why ti is special 😀 The end product is a bowl of tempting and gratifying curry laksa.
I guess if you want something really really good, you just have to work for it!
Oh my this is absolutely luxurious!
It is? Not really, other than the mussels but we just used a few and saved the rest for other dishes on other days. It was the work that made us think twice about cooking this from scratch again, such a chore.
The more bean sprouts the better in my opinion 😉
High protein, good to eat but not for folks with high uric acid. May end up with a gout attack.