galangal | Chef Doru's Blog

Another amazing soup I’ve tried it few times already with great results. The ingredients are very hard to find, but it worth the effort.

Ingredients:

6-8 cups chicken stock (2 boxes of 900ml)
2 cans of 400ml coconut milk
4-5 stalks lemongrass, bruised
4-5 curry leaves (I couldn’t find them anywhere)
2 pandanus leaves, knotted
1 pack of 90 g tofu puffs, halved
4 to 5 tbsp peanut oil
sea salt to taste

Spice Paste:

25 g dried chilies, cut into ½ inch in length and soaked in hot water, drained (I used 3)
2-4 fresh red chilies, chopped fine (I used 2 only)
3-4 tsp roasted shrimp paste
4 candlenuts
10 g fresh turmeric (I used ground turmeric)
15 g galangal
10 shallots, peeled and chopped

Accompaniments:

1-2 halves of chicken breast, cooked and cut thin slices (I smoked the breast for one hour and then few more minutes on the BBQ until fully cooked
8-10 prawns, cooked
150 g fresh yellow noodles, scalded
150 g rice vermicelli, cooked and drained
100 g bean sprouts, scalded
150 g long beans, cut into 1 inch in length, cooked and drained
8 hard-boiled eggs, cut into 1/2″ thick slices
2-3 laksa leaves, chopped fine (optional)

Directions:

Grind the spice paste ingredients in a blender or food processor for few minutes. In a large stockpot over low heat, add the oil and cook the spice paste until fragrant, stirring continuously. Then mix in the lemongrass, pandanus leaves and continue to stir the paste for another minute. Pour in the coconut milk and water into the spice paste mixture, bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 35 – 40 minutes. Then add the tofu puffs and let it cook for another 2 – 3 minutes. Season the soup with sea salt.
To serve, place some noodles or vermicelli into a large bowl, then top it with some bean sprouts, long beans, chicken, prawns and sliced eggs. Then ladle the hot soup with a few tofu puffs into the bowl and sprinkle with some laksa leaves, if desired.