Laksa (Singaporean)

The Scottish celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay, challenged 328 Katong Laksa in Singapore for this dish. The secret lies in the Rempah or mixed spices. Rempah is a nonya ingredient made from fresh herbs and dried spices, mainly from dried chillies, fresh chillies, galangal, lemon grass and tumeric. Ginger, garlic, shrimp paste (or belachan), coriander seeds, dried shrimps, candle nuts, bean paste and other herbs. In the Laksa, there are dried prawns, coconut milk, chicken stock, prawns, clams, thick rice stick noodles, bean sprouts, tofu puffs, hard-boiled eggs, fresh daun keson or Vietnamese mint (aka laksa leaves). Preparation tool is the mortar to pound the dried prawns til crumbly.