isithalal.food · Recipes
Chicken laksa with Halal chicken
James Martin's Malaysian chicken laksa with Halal chicken: a whole bird poached with coriander seed, ginger, lemongrass and lime, the stock finished with fish sauce, soy, coconut milk and chilli, over rice noodles.
Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.
Why Halal checks matter here
The soup is a whole chicken, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered bird, poached to make its own stock; the soy sauce needs an alcohol check.
Halal-critical ingredients
- Whole chicken: Chicken is a Halal bird, but slaughter decides, and chicken without a Halal mark doesn't say how the bird was slaughtered. Here the chicken also makes the stock. Buy the chicken from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Chicken.
- Soy sauce: Some soy sauces add alcohol. Use one with no added alcohol or a certified one. See Soy sauce.
Ingredients
Stock and chicken
- 1 Halal medium chicken, jointed into pieces and skinned
- 1 tbsp coriander seed
- 3 cm piece ginger, sliced
- 2 lemongrass stalks, crushed
- 1 lime, zest and juice
Broth and bowls
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp low-salt soy sauce with no added alcohol
- 200 ml light coconut milk
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 3 red chillies, deseeded and sliced
- handful coriander, leaves and stalks chopped separately
- bunch spring onions, sliced
- 300 g cooked rice noodles
- handful mint leaves, chopped
- 1 tbsp sesame oil (optional)
Method
- Poach the chicken. Put the chicken in a large saucepan with the coriander seeds, ginger, lemongrass, lime zest and a little salt. Add enough cold water to cover, bring slowly to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and poach gently for 40 minutes until the meat starts to fall away from the bone.
- Strain the stock. Lift the chicken onto a plate and cover with foil. Leave the stock to stand for 10 minutes, skim off any excess fat and strain it into a clean saucepan. Pull the chicken from the bones and tear it into chunks.
- Finish the broth. Bring the stock back to the boil, then add the fish sauce, soy sauce, coconut milk, garlic, chillies and coriander stalks. Simmer for 2 minutes, return the chicken and cook for a further 5 minutes until warm. Add the spring onions and lime juice to taste.
- Serve. Divide the noodles between 6 bowls and use a slotted spoon to lift the chicken and vegetables into each. Season the stock and pour it over. Scatter with the coriander and mint leaves, and drizzle with sesame oil if you like.
Allergens
fish (fish sauce), soy (soy sauce), gluten (soy sauce), sesame (sesame oil, optional)
How this recipe was researched
Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Chicken laksa' by James Martin, which describes it as a Malaysian soup (serves 6: a medium chicken, jointed and skinned, covered with cold water in a large saucepan with 1 tbsp coriander seed, a 3 cm piece of sliced ginger, 2 crushed lemongrass stalks, the zest of a lime and a little salt, brought slowly to the boil and poached 40 minutes until it starts to fall from the bone; the chicken lifted out and covered, the stock left 10 minutes, skimmed and strained; the chicken pulled from the bones in chunks; the stock reboiled with 2 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp low-salt soy sauce, 200 ml light coconut milk, 3 sliced garlic cloves, 3 deseeded sliced red chillies and the coriander stalks for 2 minutes, then the chicken warmed through 5 minutes; a bunch of sliced spring onions and the lime juice added to taste; 300 g cooked rice noodles divided between 6 bowls with the chicken and vegetables, the seasoned stock poured over, finished with the coriander and mint leaves and 1 tbsp sesame oil if you like). We specified a Halal chicken and a soy sauce with no added alcohol; nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.
Photograph from our ingredient library: a bowl of Indonesian bakso, not the finished dish from this recipe.