Thick & Creamy Siamese/Thai Laksa

Photo of completed Thick & Creamy Siamese/Thai Laksa

Siamese Laksa or Thai Laksa is a flavorful rice noodle dish with creamy coconut milk and fish-based thick gravy. Although there are quite a few types or versions out there, this is one of our favorite. With limited ingredients available, we will show you how to make a pot of delicious and flavorful Siamese/Thai Laksa from scratch.

Ingredients A (Spice Paste):

  • 8-10 Dried Red Chillies
  • 2 Fresh Red Chillies (or 3-4 red bird's eye chilies)
  • 5 - 6 Shallots
  • 1 Stalk Lemongrass (chopped)
  • Dried Shrimp Paste aka Belachan (roughly 0.5 cm thick)
  • 5-6 Slices Fresh Galangal

Ingredients B:

  • 3 Bunches of Polygonum Leave/Vietnamese Coriander
  • 1 Bunch of Mint Leaves
  • 1-2 Cans Sardines/Mackerel in natural oil (ie:425 gram size)
  • 2 Tablespoons Cooking Oil
  • 1/2 Cup Coconut Milk (-/+ adjustable)
  • 4-5 Cups Water (-/+ adjustable)
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Salt (-/+ adjustable or to taste)
  • 1 Tablespoon White Sugar (-/+ adjustable or to taste)
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Tamarind Powder
  • 1- 1 ¼ Teaspoons Turmeric Powder
  • 6 Kaffir Lime Leaves
  • ⅛ Cups Pineapple Chunks (optional)
  • 1 Pack Thick Rice Noodles

Garnishing:

  • 1/2 Cucumber (julienned)
  • 1 Bunch Fresh Mint Leaves
  • 4-5 Bird’s Eye Chillies (chopped)
  • ½ Cup Pineapple Chunks (fresh/canned)
  • 1/8 Cup White Onions (sliced, optional)
  • 1/8 Cup Lettuce (chopped, optional)

Instructions

Prepare the rice noodles

  1. Soak rice noodles in water for one hour.
  2. Bring a pot of water to a boil then add rice noodles. Cook until tender. Drain off the water and set the cooked rice noodles aside in a colander.

Prepare the blending spice/ingredients A

  1. Soak dried chillies in hot water for 30 mins or until softened. Remove seeds and cut into pieces. Remove seeds and cut fresh red chillies into small pieces as well.
  2. Roughly chop lemongrass, slice up galangal, peel off shallots and cut shrimp paste into 0.5 cm thick.
  3. Put all ingredients A above into a blender and blend into a paste. Add some water if necessary for smooth blending.
  4. Set blended spice aside.

Prepare Ingredients B

  1. Wash and rinse Polygonum leaves in water. You can pick just the leaves or use the whole stalks together with the stems.
  2. Rinse mint leaves and remove leaves from the stems, set aside.
  3. Rinse and cut cucumber, set aside.
  4. Cut pineapple into chunks, set aside half for garnishing and half for cooking.
  5. Open up a can or two of Mackerel or Sardine. Transfer it to a bowl and slightly mash the meat into big chunks with a fork, set aside.
  6. Thinly slice up kaffir lime leaves and set side.

Prepare to make the gravy:

  1. Heat up cooking oil in a deep saucepan or pot at medium heat.
  2. Add in blended ingredients ‘A’ and fry until fragrant.
  3. Add turmeric powder and stir.
  4. Add water and continue to stir for 5 minutes under medium heat.
  5. Add fish and mix well with the gravy.
  6. Stir to mix for 3 minutes before adding in Polygonum leaves.
  7. Let the gravy simmer for 15 minutes or so under medium low heat.
  8. Add sugar, tamarind powder and salt. Stir to mix.
  9. Add half of the pineapple chunks, some mint leaves and all of the sliced kaffir lime leaves. Stir to mix.
  10. At this point, if you want more gravy, you can add more water. Please take note that we want a flavorful thick gravy at the end. So please do not add too much water.
  11. Turn up the heat to medium high and simmer the gravy for 10-15 minutes or until aromatic.
  12. Remove all the herbs (optional).
  13. Taste test to see if you need more sugar or salt before turning off the heat.
  14. Serve hot with rice noodles and garnish with the garnishing ingredients.
*** © MB CREATIVE KITCHEN, 2022. No part of this site,, MBCREATIVEKITCHEN.COM may be reproduced in whole or in part in any manner without the permission of the copyright owner.

Video

Tips & Notes

  1. Instead of canned Mackerel or Sardines, you can use fresh.
  2. Some of the garnishing is optional.
  3. If fresh red chili is not available, you can use bird’s eye chili.
  4. You can substitute turmeric powder with fresh turmeric.
  5. Most of the herbs and spices can be found in most Asian grocery stores.
  6. Add more coconut milk if you like the gravy creamier.
Click On Photo To View Fullscreen
Back to Main