Curry Laksa

Today is November 7 and one year ago yesterday I lost my friend, Erica Stark, when she died tragically in a collision that she had nothing to do with. 

Life isn't fair, there's no way around it. 

This year has seemed unbelievably long, yet when yesterday came about I couldn't believe that a year had passed. I remember the feeling when I received the call abut Erica. I remember the weather, what I was doing, what I was wearing, the mournful cries from my children, and how we couldn't comprehend how David and his three beautiful boys could possible go on without her. They did, they have, but pieces of their hearts will forever be heavy from their unbearable loss.

A group of Erica's close friends wanted to remember her in recipes, since Erica loved to cook, bake, and entertain. We explored many options and decided that posting her recipes on my blog would likely work well. Here is the first post, of many to come, and it has been authored by David.

We miss you, Erica. You're in our thoughts, you're in the faces of your children, you're in the actions of your loving husband, and you'll forever be in our hearts.

As Erica used to sign off on emails, 'Bye for now'.

Guest Post by David Stark

Eight months after Erica and I were married, guess what happened?  No, we didn’t have a baby.  We travelled to Australia and lived there for a year.  One evening, we went to Chinta Ria Soul in Melbourne with another couple and discovered curry laksa, a spicy coconut curry noodle soup.  We could not get enough of it.  Sometime later, we went to Penang Coffee House, another Malaysian restaurant in Melbourne, and agreed that their laksa was even better than Chinta Ria’s.

Erica and I relaxing at St. Kilda Beach in Melbourne. 

Erica and I discovered curry laksa at Chinta Ria Soul restaurant, a short walk from the beach.

When our year Down Under came to an end, we spent some time in southeast Asia, including two weeks in Penang, Malaysia.  We had laksas there daily.  The best ones were served up by street vendors.

Walking around George Town, the multicultural capital of the Malaysian island of Penang.

Hawker food stalls in George Town.  One of many places where we had our daily fix of curry laksa.

This recipe appeared in Lucy Waverman’s column in The Globe and Mail.  Erica first made it 15 years ago or so and we decided it was a keeper.  It’s perfect comfort food for a cold winter night.

You can serve it as soon as it’s ready or you can let it cool, refrigerate it, and heat it up the next day.  Personally, I prefer it after the flavours have had a chance to fuse together, although it’s noticeably spicier the next day, so keep that in mind…and a box of Kleenex handy.

Ingredients:

Egg white noodles

1 tbsp. minced ginger

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 tbsp. curry paste (Erica’s handwritten note: Namjai is the best brand)

1 tsp palm sugar

1 can of coconut milk (Erica’s note: low fat is okay)

4 cups of chicken stock

2 tbsp. of fish sauce

Zest of 2 limes

Juice of 2 limes

1 grilled chicken breast

7 ounces of tofu (half a package) cut into bite-sized cubes

15 shrimp with tail shells on

Coriander and bean sprouts for garnish

Method:

Mix onion, ginger, garlic and sugar in a food processor.  

Add oil to a large saucepot and fry the mixture for 2 minutes. Add curry paste and cook for 30 seconds.  

Add stock, coconut milk, fish sauce, lime and zest.  Cook for 30 minutes.  

Add tofu for the last 5 minutes and shrimp for the last minute.  

Cook noodles separately.  Add them to bowls, ladle in the laksa, and garnish with coriander and bean sprouts.

Note: Erica once picked up a package of frozen fish balls, stir-fried them, and added them to the laksa.  They were delicious and became a must-have ingredient.

Editor's Note: The next time one of us makes this recipe, we will be sure to take photos of the process and will include them in this blog post.