Hello, hello
So, Claudia's had a really long day at work today
because it's children's day, which means that she sees, like...
forty-four children, I think she saw this morning
'cause that's normal
and, obviously, when she's had a really long day I want to cook something for her
that I know she will absolutely love and will make her feel great
and, really, what makes you feel better than the food of your mother?
You always want to eat your mother's cuisine when you're feeling bad
It's true.
As you know, Claudia's mother was from Malaysia,
and I absolutely love Malaysian food as well
so, double bonus for me -
I get to make some really nice Malaysian food
but with a FODMAP twist so I can actually eat it
without my tummy hurting
Yay!
So, I've taken lots of different flavours; going to blend them all together
and hopefully we'll come up with some really good chicken laksa that is FODMAP-friendly
So, the very first thing that we're going to do is make some laksa paste
Yeah!
And these are the ingredients that you will need
So we have here some garlic-flavoured olive oil
This is also from our wedding, look
That's what the little symbol is.
It's us, sitting in a moon!
And there's tiny Walter
It's very cute. I made that.
I've been a bit liberal with it, I'll admit.
This particular one is sugar-free, but if you like it sugary, you go for that
If you're someone who doesn't use lemon grass a lot, you probably don't want lots of it in your fridge
Try this - lemon grass paste instead.
It's really good and it lasts for a long time.
Then we have two red chilis, which we are going to de-seed, so it's not too spicy
They're not incredibly spicy, to be honest
but that's probably only for people who are very into their spice
You'll need just a small, thumb-sized piece
This is a piece I've just pulled from the freezer
Tip #1: Buy ginger in bulk and put it in your freezer
Then you can pull it out and just chop off as much as you need
Here's a really good tip for cutting up your frozen ginger:
Try using a bread knife instead
This would be so much easier if I was not holding a camera with one hand
Here we have all of the ingredients for our laksa paste
ready to go in the NutriBullet
which I have never actually used to make a smoothie
It's just an amazingly efficient, tiny blender
that I seem to need every other day
Don't worry if you missed anything; it's all in a blog post, which you'll find in the description
Warm a little oil in a large, heavy pan, over a medium temperature
then pop your paste in and let it heat up for around a minute,
stirring if necessary
Now, I have managed to de-skin all of this chicken
Dun, dun, dun!
Obviously we make more than just for the two of us
and with the skins I'm going to put them in the oven
because then you get some really nice, crispy top
Genuinely, though, is there anything better than chicken skin?
Crispy chicken skin.
It's just so good.
So, bubbling away here, and now we're going to add...some coconut milk!
Which is lovely.
By the way, don't bother light coconut milk.
It's literally just coconut milk, but with added water
You can add your own water.
So, that was 400ml of coconut milk
and now you need 400ml of water
and don't bother filling a jug!
Just fill the tin!
Added fish sauce
and a little bit of turmeric
and I'm breaking stuff!
I'm going to add some of this
It's the best brown sugar replacement - there we go -
that I have ever found
It's really rather excellent, and it's sweetened with stevia
Yay! Which means that it is FODMAP-friendly.
We're just going to be tilted, OK?
So, bring your laksa to the boil,
and then reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for thirty minutes
during which time you can...decide what you're serving it with
and go and water the garden,
just like I'm going to do now
This is our lovely garden
I'm planning on doing a little garden tour video on the next sunny day, so watch out for that
Once the chicken has cooked through and the curry has thickened
add bean sprouts and a sliced red pepper
Cook for a further two minutes
It's almost ready, so we're going to get our rice noodles done
and these are amazing, because you just have to boil some water and then pour it over them
and in three minutes, they're done!
Prepare your toppings
Claudia is home! And getting covered in puppy love.
Top with the chicken skin, sliced spring onions, coriander, mint leaves, and wedges of lime
And in Claudia's own words
"It's just like a real laksa in Malaysia"