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Laksa Chook Stirfry

When I first came to Adelaide, Wyld Man educated me on some Aussie slang. A barbeque is a barbie, kangaroo is shortened to roo, afternoon gets referred to as arvo, a biscuit is a bickie, MacDonald’s is makkas and a chook is a chicken. Other interesting slang I picked up are such as a pom or a pommie, which is a reference to a British person; being peckish means being hungry; football is footy-but means Australian Rules football, not football as Malaysians know it, which is known to Aussies as soccer; and an ocker or yobbo is a somewhat uncultured Aussie male.

Wyld Man sometimes laughs at my take on Aussie slang, which still sounds like a Malaysian trying to talk Aussie, but I’ve starting calling chickens chooks. So this dish is a Laksa Chook Stirfry which I knocked up last night on the fly. It’s a simple dish, with ingredients which can be sustituted quite easily with pretty much anything. I used laksa paste from a jar-it’s so easy and tastes just yummy.

Before I proceed however, I should say that there are many types of Malaysian laksas as there are states in Malaysia. There’s Sarawak Laksa, Johor Laksa, Penang Laksa, laksas with curry, laksas with coconut milk and without, laksas with speghetti noodles instead of the usual laksa noodles, assam laksas, and Singapore laksas. I love all kinds of laksas, loving each one I tried more than the last, although my favourite has to be Johor laksa and Penang Laksa, Johor laksa being a standalone unique dish made with fish mince sauce and speghetti and eaten dry instead of soupy. The laksas I encounter in Adelaide are more geared towards curry laksas or Singapore laksas. However, the jar of laksa that I had in my pantry was probably to make an assam laksa.

The Ingredients

2 chook filets, carrots, curry leaves, celery, garlic shoots, laksa paste, constarch, oil, sugar, salt and pepper.

Thai Tonight Laksa Paste

This is the brand I had in my pantry-and these were the instructions on the jar…

Instructions for laksa soup recipe

I wasn’t in the mood for soup or noodles. So out went the instructions!

Any laksa paste should do.

First, cut the garlic shoots in 1 inch lengths

Peel the carrots and slice thinly

Wash and cut the celery

I like my celery cubed. So chop off the ends.

Cut the stems at where they divide and look out for dirt.

Cut each stem lengthwise twice.

Slice up the stems

Now cube the chook.

Cut the breast filets lengthwise about 1 cm wide

Turn the lengthwise slices 90 degrees and slice in 1cm widths to make cubes.

Heat oil in the pan on high.

While it is heating up…

Coat the chook with 2 heaping tablespoons cornflour

Season with salt and pepper

Stir the mixture and coat the chook evenly

This removes any excess moisture from the chook, reducing splatter when you put it into hot oil, and also makes them brown nicely. The cornflour also helps thicken the sauce.