Laksa: Pinoy style!

My father was an enthusiastic cook! He loved to try out different recipes whenever he learned of a new one. One dish he often cooked was Laksa because it is a very easy dish to make and he used to cook it without meat (he was a vegan). It is a soup common in Southeast Asian countries. You may become confused because this recipe is different from the Laksa from Singapore, Malaysia, etc. (If you will search in the net for it).This recipe does not have the curry flavor in it because we do not have it here traditionally. This dish can be found in Laguna, Quezon and Bicol, I think. It is very nutritious, because of fiber and other nutrients, but also high in fat content. But nonetheless, it is very satisfying for those who love coconut milk.

Ingredients:

1 Puso ng Saging (Banana blossom, whole heart)

250g bean thread (sotanghon)

3 cups coconut milk

250g small shrimps

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

patis

ground black pepper

Cut the banana heart into strips. In a container, put the sliced banana heart and put 1/4 cup of rock salt. Mix and let stand for 30 mins. Rinse the banana heart with water, twice. This is to remove the sap from the heart. Squeeze hard remove excess water.

Saute onion and garlic in a pot with 1 Tbsp of cooking oil. Put the sliced banana heart and the coconut milk.

Add the shrimps and let it boil until the shrimps are cooked. Remember, shrimps cook easily.

In a separate pan, cook the bean threads. I did this because I don't like my soup to disappear when cooking the noodles. The downside of cooking dried noodles is they absorb most of the liquid.

Put the noodles in the pot and let it boil. Put patis and black pepper to taste. Remove from heat the moment it boils. Serve hot!