I'm so excited to share this vegan laksa with jackfruit recipe with you! This is coming in hot from my recent episode of RECIPE?! that I posted on my YouTube channel. Since self-isolation has been in full effect, I've been cooking up a storm in my kitchen. How about you?
I thought it was the perfect time to bring back because y'all need some inspo and entertainment... err distraction, from the news, right?! Last week I posted the first new episode where I improved frozen pizza, made a side salad with a dressing made from sauerkraut brine, and washed it all down with a glass of red wine.
Jump to:
This week I was inspired by Nina of Nourish Atelier. She recently posted a beautiful photo of jackfruit laksa, from her cookbook Bowls of Goodness, and the photo was so vibrant and wonderful, I DROOLED! It also reminded me that I had a shit ton of jackfruit in the fridge prepped from my jackfruit and roasted poblano taco recipe! I needed to freeze some of it and come up with new and inventive jackfruit recipes for ya. So I winged this one and it turned out incredibly flavorful and scrumptious.
what you need
- canned young jackfruit in brine or water (I like the Trader Joe's brand)
- full-fat coconut milk
- canned pumpkin puree
- low-sodium vegetable stock
- Thai-style rice noodles
- soy sauce or tamari
- vegan Worcestershire
- neutral vegetable oil
- lime juice
- onion
- celery
- carrot
- kale
- shitake mushrooms
- cherry tomatoes
- cilantro
- garlic
- ginger
- chili powder
- ground cumin
- ground sage
- ground turmeric
- ground coriander
- garam masala
- chili flakes
- sea salt
how to make vegan laksa
I suggest cooking the jackfruit the same way I do it for the tacos and I've listed the recipe this way—minus the roasted poblano. I only used poblano in my recipe for this vegan laksa because I had it in the fridge already and it needed to get used up. Cooking the jackfruit and seasoning it before making the laksa makes the jackfruit extra flavorful and you can just toss it in the soup at the end so it doesn't get soggy.
In your stock pot heat the oil and cook onions until slightly caramelized.
Add garlic and prepared jackfruit pieces and cook until browned.
Add in spices and Worcestershire and cook for a few minutes.
Remove cooked jackfruit from the pot into another dish and continue with the laksa recipe.
The broth contains warming, fragrant spices like turmeric, coriander, and cumin. You can definitely use some or all of what I use in the recipe. Note that garam masala is a mixture of cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and black pepper so if you only have that and turmeric you're good to go! I have an abundant spice rack in the hot for food kitchen, but if you don't, another way to get the flavor right is to substitute a vegan-friendly red or yellow Thai curry paste. You'll need upwards of about 3 tablespoons.
In the same stock pot heat oil with all the spices to get them toasted.
Add garlic, ginger, celery, carrot, shitakes, and tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.
I round out the vegan laksa with 1 can of coconut milk and lots of veggies like shitake mushrooms, lacinato/dino kale, and roasted poblanos. Of course, this is what was in my fridge, but you can definitely use whatever vegetables you need to use up in this spicy soup.
Add vegetable stock, pumpkin puree, and coconut milk at this stage. Bring to a simmer.
Cook rice noodles in a separate pot of boiling water. Drain and rinse.
Once the laksa has simmered, add lime juice, soy sauce, sea salt, to taste, and any greens like kale.
Add in the seasoned jackfruit to the laksa so it can get warmed through.
Because you're using rice noodles for this recipe it's best to cook them separately because they get very starchy and will affect the final outcome of the vegan laksa. You'll want to rinse them very well under cool water after you drain them from the cooking water. Add the noodles to each serving bowl and pour the hot vegan laksa on top. You can store leftovers separately and just heat up the noodles and soup on their own and then mix them together in your bowl.
variations on vegan laksa
mushroom laksa: elevate your laksa with an umami burst by incorporating a mix of shiitake, oyster, and enoki mushrooms instead of using jackfruit. Cook the mushrooms in the pot first with no oil. Allow them to evaporate most of the moisture. Follow the seasoned jackfruit recipe below, and cook the onions with the rest of the soup when you add carrot, celery, and ginger to the pot. Once the mushrooms are browned then add in vegetable oil and the spices and cook until golden. Remove the mushrooms from the post and continue on with the vegan laksa recipe. Add them back in the laksa for serving.
protein-packed laksa: swap tofu, tempeh, or vegan chicken pieces for jackfruit to get an extra protein boost. Again, you'll follow the same recipe for the seasoned jackfruit using one of the aforementioned protein-packed swaps. Once seasoned and browned up, remove it from the pot into a separate dish and continue on with the laksa recipe, sautéing onions with the carrot, celery, and ginger. Add the protein into the soup just before serving.
more jackfruit recipe ideas
Since I had SO much of this leftover seasoned jackfruit, I also have a recipe for a jackfruit kimchi melt using the same seasoned jackfruit from the recipe below. So if you have more than 1 can of jackfruit I suggest doubling that part of the recipe. You can easily freeze the mixture too if you want to just thaw it for later when you're craving this sandwich! HELLO...
You can also try MORE of my jackfruit recipes:
vegan laksa with jackfruit
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.
Chelsa Edmunds
As soon as I put the spices in the avocado, I smelled the aroma of Laksa!
I usually don’t follow recipes by the letter, but I decided to do this one and I’m glad I did.
A deeply satisfying recipe for a Monday (la luna day).
Thanks, sis!