This Thai-inspired seafood laksa is a great way to get a fabulous spicy noodle dish on the table quickly, using only one pan and ready in less than 30 minutes. If you like spicy Thai food like I do, then you will LOVE this!
This Seafood Laksa is heaven in a bowl.
A slurpy, splash-orange-coloured-sauce-down-your-white-top-in-enthusiastic-eagerness kind of soup, that makes you look at your husband’s bowl to see if he has any left that you could steal.
That’s how good this soup is. It’s also on the table in less than half an hour.
I first had laksa soup in a Thai restaurant many years ago, and I adored all the flavours and textures. I may have mentioned before that Thai is my favourite kind of food, and seafood laksa is such a great way to get a fabulous meal on the table quickly, using only one pan.
📋 What do we need?
For the Laksa paste
For the Curry and Garnish
📺 Watch how to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
I make my own laksa paste for this recipe. Most store-bought versions are a good alternative, but it’s pretty quick to make your own paste. Plus you can control the heat level.
I like to cook my paste ingredients before blending them. I find that cooking the paste ingredients first, gives the whole dish a deeper level of flavour.
👩🍳PRO TIP You can use ready-cooked vermicelli noodles if you like. Run them under some boiling water in a colander/sieve to heat through before placing in the bowl.
From my research, it seems that most laksa curry/soup recipes, whether from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand or Indonesia, have the same basis of noodles, with seafood or chicken in a spicy coconut sauce. There’s also a variation called Asam Laksa, that doesn’t use coconut milk, but it uses fish paste and tamarind for a more sour, rather than creamy taste.
Believed to have originated as a combination of Chinese noodle soup (brought over by early Chinese migrants settling in Malacca, Malaysia) and local spices and coconut milk, it falls firmly under the label of Peranakan cuisine.
My version came about when I was pondering what to do with leftover haddock (I’d defrosted too much after making fish burgers and matchstick fries the previous night) and some prawns that I’d forgotten to put back in the freezer.
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Seafood Laksa
Ingredients
Laksa Paste (note 1):
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 onion peeled and chopped
- 4 red chillies roughly chopped – I use fresno chillies. Use Thai chillies if you like it really hot
- 2 tsp ginger paste
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1 tsp lemongrass paste
- 1 heaped tbsp fresh coriander stalks you can use the leaves for garnish later
- 1.5 tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp paprika
- 1 tsp tamarind paste
Soup:
- 200 ml (7 fl oz) full-fat coconut milk
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 200 ml (7 fl oz) chicken or seafood stock
- 2 cod or haddock fillets (weighing approx 140g/5oz each) or any firm-fleshed white fish, skin removed
- 200 g (7 oz) dried rice/vermicelli noodles or 300g-400g of ready-cooked vermicelli noodles
- 12-16 king prawns peeled and deveined
- 200 g (7 oz) beansprouts mung bean sprouts
Garnish:
- 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 1 red chilli chopped finely
- 1 finger sized piece of cucumber chopped finely
- ¼ a small red onion peeled and chopped finely
- small handful of chopped coriander (cilantro)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan, and add the chopped onions. Cook on medium for about 5 minutes until the onions soften and start to turn translucent.3 tbsp oil, 1 onion
- Add in the rest of the Laksa paste ingredients, stir and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.4 red chillies, 2 tsp ginger paste, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp lemongrass paste, 1 heaped tbsp fresh coriander stalks, 1.5 tsp turmeric, ½ tsp cumin, ½ tsp paprika, 1 tsp tamarind paste
- While the laksa paste ingredients are frying, make the garnish. To a small bowl, add the vinegar, sugar, chilli, cucumber, red onion, and coriander. Stir together, then put to one side.1 tsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp caster sugar, 1 red chilli, 1 finger sized piece of cucumber, ¼ a small red onion, small handful of chopped coriander (cilantro)
- Turn off the heat from the frying pan and transfer the onions-chilli-spice mixture to a mini chopper or food processor. Blend together until it forms a paste (alternatively you can use a stick blender to blend the ingredients into a paste directly in the pan, but be careful of splashes)
- Add the laksa paste back into the frying pan.
- Turn the heat to medium-high and add the coconut milk, fish sauce, and stock. Stir together and heat through until just simmering.200 ml (7 fl oz) full-fat coconut milk, 1 tsp fish sauce, 200 ml (7 fl oz) chicken or seafood stock
- Add the fish, stir, and allow to cook for 4 minutes, turning a couple of times, until the fish is starting to fall apart.2 cod or haddock fillets
- While the fish is cooking, soak the noodles in boiling water until soft (this usually takes about 3 minutes) then drain.200 g (7 oz) dried rice/vermicelli noodles
- Coming back to the laksa, add in the prawns, stir, and cook for one minute. The prawns should be starting to turn pink, and your fish should be cooked.12-16 king prawns
- Finally add in the beansprouts and cook for another minute, so they're warmed through, but still slightly crisp. Turn off the heat.200 g (7 oz) beansprouts
- Divide the drained noodles between bowls and spoon the laksa sauce and seafood over the top.
- Top each bowl with a spoonful of the garnish you made earlier, and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was first published in 2014. Updated in March 2018 and then again in March 2023 with new photos and video plus some housekeeping.
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
Instead of the broth, I made a broth from the shrimp shells. I also used a full van of the coconut milk. This recipe will be on repeat! We love it, thank you!
Can, not van😂
Instead of carb laden noodles, have you tried using spiralized zucchini instead?
I had no idea what this was supposed to taste like but having followed lots of previous recipes from your site and loving seafood I thought I would give it a go. It was gorgeous. The usual lovely balance of flavours and textures in a delicious sauce. My wife loved it.
Having watched the video I decided to make mine in a big saucepan which worked fairly well to contain the rather messy bit with the stick blender, Another winner. Hunters chicken and chips next
Absolutely spot on! Had a Laksa years ago in a restaurant (think it was a Malaysian version) and have wanted to re-create but never got round to it. This recipe didnt disappoint.
The only thing I did was put 2 large red chilli’s in as my wife can’t take to much heat (I can) but felt the heat was about right for the dish. Could have been my medium heat chilli’s which differed but defiantly something to consider when making. MAKE THIS LAKSA!
Thanks Paul! You reminded me that I haven’t made this myself in a while, I think i’ll put it on the menu this weekend 🙂
Question: I am making this tonight and I found a bottle of Laksa paste at my Asian market. If I use that, how much should I use? Their recipe says use the whole jar – 400 ml and then fill it with coconut milk and then add two jars of broth? Does that work? I will do the rest of your recipe as is.
Ted
That’s a difficult one to answer – as different laksa paste brands are different strengths. My recipe serves four, so if your jar says for four people, then it should be fine to follow the jar instructions. If you find the sauce is too thin at the end, you could mix up a little cornstarch slurry (2 tbsp cornstarch with 5 tbsp cold water) and slowly stir it in at the end whilst it’s simmering. This should help to thicken it.
Hi ..We have a Saying.””THE EYE EATS BEFORE THE MOUTH “”..Thank you for This fabulous Recipe..It is beside its Healthy eating it is a piece of ART with very Live attractive Colors….Recipe saved and posted to all my social media accounts..Fiorino
This was my first ever Thai meal and it turned out really good. I just followed your video and was really happy with the results. My partner loves laksa and he was very impressed. Thank you!
What a lovely recipe. Mine did not look as nice when served as the one on your photos, but it tasted great. My kids are not that fond of prawns but they fished them all out of the soup. Thanks you for sharing.
Was looking for a non-meat laksa and found this recipe. Made it on Wednesday and OH LORDY LORD this is amazing!! There wasn’t enough, we were craving more! The memory is etched in my white sofa thanks to the slurpy orange sauce. But its really really delicious, and takes very little time! My housemate did the dishes as I cooked and so after an hour we were just smiling from the taste 🙂 Thank you!!!
So wonderful: we’ve been looking for the perfect laksa paste and haven’t yet got there. This will be next on the list.
Thanks for coming to check it out. Hope this one is a winner for you 🙂