Social Cooking Recipe Challenge – Malaysian Laksa

While many of our guests at Social Cooking love the challenge and fast pace of a Masterchef or Mystery Box Challenge, sometimes the structure of a Recipe Challenge is more appropriate for teams. We offer a range of exciting, contemporary and accessible recipes to choose from. Guests arrive at Social Cooking, and have an hour to recreate their best interpretation of the recipe provided. As always, our chef will judge which team reigns supreme, based on taste, presentation, and the mysterious “love note”.

Don’t think this is an easy task! Teams will need to work together, delegate tasks, overcome obstacles and demonstrate creativity to succeed. Just like any of our Social Cooking team building challenges.
A popular choice for our Recipe Challenge guests is our Malaysian Chicken Laksa. While this is not a vegetarian dish, we are able to offer a vegetarian option by substituting chicken stock for vegetable, and adding either tofu or pumpkin to the dish. Our guests have an hour to create this Malaysian (with a Social Cooking twist) classic.

With thanks to the amazing Annabelle Langbein for the inspiration.

Social Cooking’s Malaysian Chicken Laksa

Ingredients
200g rice stick noodles
2 tbsp neutral oil (rice bran, grapeseed or canola)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Finely grated zest of 1 lime
2 tbsp red curry paste
1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 tomatoes cored and chopped
4 cups chicken stock
250ml coconut cream
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 chicken breasts, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and halved
Lime cheeks or wedges to serve

Salad Garnish
2 handfuls bean sprouts
2 spring onions finely sliced
Handful coriander
Handful mint leaves
Long red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
½ telegraph cucumber, deseeded and sliced

Method
Cover rice noodles with plenty of boiling water, stirring to submerge. Allow to soak while you make the laksa soup and salad.

Heat a large pot and sizzle garlic, lime zest, curry paste and ginger for a minute or two until aromatic. Add tomatoes, stock, coconut cream, sugar and fish sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.

Prepare salad vegetables and arrange on a platter.

Add chicken to hot soup, reduce heat to low simmer and cook gently for another 3-5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Season to taste. Drain noodles and divide them between 4 bowls.  

Arrange two eggs halves on top of each and divide the laksa soup between the bowls. Serve with the platter of salad garnishes so everyone can help themselves, and accompany with lime wedges or cheeks to squeeze over.

Serves 4.