Nyonya Laksa

Grace’s Nyonya laksa is a coconut curry noodle dish, also called laksa lemak or curry mee. Her version combines chicken-bone and prawn-shell broths with a chilli-and-spice paste, then serves noodles with prawns, tofu puffs, fish balls and hard-boiled egg.

Chicken drumstick bones simmer in one pot of water. In another, the prawn shells and heads fry before water and Vietnamese coriander join them for a second broth. Prawn meat, tofu puffs, fish balls and noodles blanch separately in boiling water.

Toasted dried shrimp paste blends with dried shrimp, fresh and dried chillies, galangal, candlenuts, turmeric powder, garlic, shallots and lemongrass. The paste fries until fragrant, then both broths pour in. Salt seasons the soup before coconut milk, tofu puffs and fish balls are added.

A separate sambal toasts another portion of dried shrimp paste and fries chilli boh until the oil separates. Water, that toasted paste and sugar finish this condiment for serving alongside the curry laksa.

For the bowl, noodles sit under the broth with prawns, tofu puffs, fish balls, Vietnamese coriander, sambal and a hard-boiled egg. Grace includes egg noodles among her suggested noodle choices; their strands contrast with the coconut broth and the varied toppings.