vegan laksa with jackfruit

vegan laksa with jackfruit

This vegan laksa is a spicy noodle soup full of immune boosting goodness, warm spices, and made extra hearty with jackfruit.

Course dinner, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine Asian

Keyword asian, jackfruit, soups

Prep Time 50

Cook Time 45

Servings to 6

Calories 667kcal

Author Lauren Toyota

Ingredients

seasoned jackfruit

1 (20oz / 565g) can young green jackfruit in water or brine
2 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil
1 C thinly sliced onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 2 large cloves)
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground sage
1 tablespoon vegan worcestershire

laksa

2 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
½ teaspoon chili flakes
2 tablespoon minced garlic (about 4 to 5 large cloves)
1 tablespoon finely minced or grated ginger
¾ C medium diced celery
¾ C medium diced carrot
1 C sliced shitake mushrooms
½ C halved cherry tomatoes (or use canned fire roasted tomatoes or diced vine tomato)
1 C canned pumpkin puree
4 C low-sodium vegetable stock
1 (13.5oz / 400ml) can full-fat coconut milk
16oz / 450g Thai style rice noodles
1 ½ C rough chopped lacinato kale, tough stems removed
1 ½ to 2 tbsp lime juice (adjust to your taste)
2 tablespoon gluten-free tamari or low-sodium soy sauce
sea salt, to taste
chiu chow chili oil, for serving
½ C roughly chopped fresh cilantro, as garnish

Instructions

Drain and rinse the jackfruit from the can in a fine mesh sieve. Squeeze jackfruit of excess water and pat dry with a clean tea towel. Trim any woody tough core from the pieces of the jackfruit if necessary, then break it up into a bowl with your hands until it looks shredded.
Heat a stock pot or large dutch oven over medium heat with vegetable oil. Add sliced onions and sauté for 8 to 9 minutes until they start to get slightly brown and caramelized. In this version I caramelized the onions until they were a light caramel color, which I don't normally do in the taco recipe, but I liked this better.
Add garlic and jackfruit and continue to sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, browning the jackfruit and breaking up more as necessary. Reduce heat to prevent garlic from burning, if needed. Add salt, chili powder, cumin, sage, and worcestershire and cook for about another 3 to 4 minutes. Once this looks cooked down and browned up, remove it from pot into a dish and set it aside while you finish the soup.
Keep the stock pot or Dutch oven over medium to medium-low heat - adjust so that it's hot but won't burn the spices. Add 2 more tablespoons oil and ground cumin, turmeric, coriander, garam masala, and chili flakes. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine with the oil and toast the spices for about 2 minutes. If the pot starts to smoke turn the heat down. If you are substituting spices with a curry paste you can start with the next step.
Add garlic, ginger, celery, carrot, mushrooms, and tomatoes at this stage. Also if you're using other harder veggies like bell pepper add them at this point as well. Cook for about 3 to 4 minutes stirring occasionally. If the pan starts to get a little dry you can add a bit of vegetable stock to this to help lift any brown stuck bits on the bottom of the pot.
Stir in pumpkin puree, vegetable stock, coconut milk, and curry paste if using that, and bring to a low simmer. Once bubbling turn the heat down so it's not boiling or bubbling.
Meanwhile, fill a large pot with salted water and bring to a boil to cook the rice noodles as directed, until al dente. Drain and rinse noodles well. I find with this type of rice noodle it's best to rinse off the excess starch because it negatively affects the consistency of the final soup. Set the noodles aside until you're ready to serve.
Once the laksa has come to a simmer and you've reduced the heat so it's not bubbling, you can now add kale, lime juice, tamari or soy sauce and sea salt, to taste. You can add jackfruit back in just before serving if it's still warm, or add it in with the kale to get it warmed through.
Add a portion of cooked rice noodles to a serving bowl, ladle the laksa over top and garnish with cilantro and chiu chow chili oil or another hot sauce to your taste.

Video

Notes

The amount of rice noodles listed is 2 packs of lotus foods brown rice noodles that I used. Only cook 1 pack or half the amount if you're eating 2 to 3 portions. The leftover soup (without noodles) can be jarred and frozen for up to 4 months.

Nutrition