Mom's Sarawak Laksa with Homemade Laksa Paste

Laksa Paste:

• 5 small red Thai chilies (bird's eye) stalks removed
• 4 shallots or 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh galangal blue ginger, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 stalks fresh lemongrass cut into large chunks
• 6 candlenuts (or you can use macadamia nuts or a handful of cashew nuts if you can't find candlenut)
• 2 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 3 Tbsp (50g) tamarind pulp + ¾ C warm water (or if using tamarind paste, depending on how runny the tamarind paste is, use 4-6 tablespoon and omit the water)
• 2 tablespoon avocado oil or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar or brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon curry powder Malaysian-style
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoon sea salt

Soup base:

• 4 C chicken broth add more if you prefer it more soupy
• 1 can coconut milk

Toppings for laksa:

• 1 pkg rice vermicelli noodles (fine) cooked and drained
• 2 seasoned chicken breasts cooked and shredded
• 12 large shrimp/prawns boiled and sliced in half
• 4 large eggs scrambled and cooked omelette-style, cut into thin strips
• 1 pkg tofu puffs boiled and drained
• 1 cucumber julienned
• 1 pkg bean sprouts washed and lightly cooked with hot boiled water
• 2 limes cut into wedges
• laksa leaves (rau ram, Vietnamese coriander) cut into thin strips
• red Thai chilies optional
• belacan (fermented shrimp paste) optional