This Laksa recipe is very easy, takes about 20 minutes, and the outcome will surprise you. You will think this tastes really authentic except you haven't had to spend hours mixing pastes and making stock. This is truly the lazy chef's Laksa Recipe.

Laksa is an Asian soup dish, popular in Singapore and Malaysia. Most authentic Asian restaurants prepare it. It's deliciously spicy and hot enough to have some bite, but won't rip your head off. You can use whatever meat or seafood you like with this dish. I usually prepare it with chicken, because it's quick, tasty and easily available.

1 Large Chicken Breast (frozen)

1 440 Gram Can of Coconut Milk (or 14 Fl Oz)

1 1/2 Cups of Chicken Stock

1 Packet of Asian Home Gourmet Singapore Laksa Paste

Vegetable Oil

1 Packet of Thai Rice Noodles (or any rice noodles will do).

Serves - 2 people

Allow chicken to thaw slightly then slice chicken into wafer thin bite size pieces with a sharp knife. By the time you are ready to stir fry, the chicken will be thawed. I recommend cutting it while semi frozen because it's easier to get that wafer thin effect.

Add a splash of oil to a hot wok and stir fry chicken until cooked. I stir fry the chicken in three separate lots so the chicken cooks quickly and does not get too much water in it.

Set aside chicken and turn heat off temporarily.

Fill your kettle with water and boil. (You will use this boiling water to soak the Rice Noodles).

Add 1 tablespoon of oil (vegetable) to the wok, and stir fry the paste for about 2 minutes. This releases all the flavours of the Laksa Paste. Leave your stove heat on low while you do this as you do not want the paste to burn.

Add the can of coconut milk to the wok, mixing in the paste, and bring it to the boil. As soon as it boils, add 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock and bring to boil again. As soon as it boils, turn down to a low heat and let it simmer for ten minutes.

Grab a large bowl, empty the contents of your Rice Noodles into it and pour kettle of boiling water over the noodles. Add more boiling water if you need to. The rice noodles will soften. You can also use a fork to separate them. When ten minutes is up, strain the noodles and set aside to serve.

A minute or two before the ten minutes simmering has expired on your Laksa soup, throw the chicken into the soup to warm it. Increase the temperature if you need to, to heat the chicken through.

Grab some bowls, half fill your bowl with rice noodles, and then spoon over as much Laksa and chicken over the noodles as you think you'll eat. I suggest serving in smaller quantities as soup can cool before you get to the end of a big bowl. You can always top up your serving if you need more.

I've added Bok Choi to Laksa and it's delicious. Just finely chop a bunch and throw it into the soup a minute or two before serving.

You can also add snow peas or any vegetable you enjoy.

Mostly I keep mine plain and simple as it's very tasty without vegetables.

If you want to make a nice seafood variation, you can use marinara mix, fish, prawns or a combination.

If you make seafood Laksa, you don't need to stir fry first, just put the raw seafood into the soup about 3 minutes before you are ready to serve. Don't overcook seafood as it will turn rubbery.

If you don't like Rice Noodles, try any Asian Noodles that you like. I've used fresh Hokkien Noodles, and Vermicelli Noodles. Vermicelli is also a rice noodle but really thin.

Update: I've just tried it (see photo above) with Egg Noodles. Delish! In fact, I think I'll use Egg Noodles now because you only have to soak those in boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes.

Traditionally, Laksa recipe ingredients vary and usually many more ingredients go into the pot to enhance the taste. That said, if time is short, and you just can't be bothered spending ages preparing various spices and vegetables, I can vouch for the Asian Home Laksa Paste. It's really delicious and as good as I've had in some local restaurants.

The following video demonstrates a more complex Laksa dish using a lot more varieties of ingredients and a different spice paste. There are numerous variations to this recipe. Have fun discovering Laksa and creating your own variations. Or try my plain and simple recipe for starters if you haven't tried Laksa before. Its really is a delicious dish.