Penang assam laksa

Description:

Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup from the Peranakan culture, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay elements found in Malaysia and Singapore, and to a lesser extent Indonesia.

Country of Origin:

Malaysia

How to make "Penang assam laksa" (Recipe);

Ingredients:

1 lb Mackerel fish

8 cups water

5 pieces assam keping (peeled tamarind)

1 pack dried laksa noodles

Spice Paste:

12 dried red chilies (seeded)

5 fresh red chilies (seeded)

8 small shallots

2 teaspoons belacan

1 stalk lemon grass (use only the white part, about 6 inches)

Tamarind Juice:

Tamarind (about golf ball size)

1/2 cup water (repeat 3-4 times)

Seasonings:

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon fish sauce

Garnishing:

1 cucumber (julienned)

1 bunch mint leaves (use only the leaves)

1 bunch polygonum leaves/Vietnamese mint leaves (daun kesom/daun laksa)

1 bungan kantan (cut into small pieces)

1 red onion (sliced thinly)

1 lettuce (thinly cut)

1 red chili/3-4 bird’s eye chilies (cut into small slices)

1 small pineapple (cut into short strips)

Condiment:

Heh Ko/Prawn Paste

Method:

Clean the fish, remove scales and guts. In a pot, bring 8 cups of water to boil. Add in the fish and boil for about 10 minutes. Transfer the cooked fish out into a bowl and let cool. Strain the fish stock, then add in the peeled tamarind, and the polygonum leaves and continue to boil in low heat.

Wet your hands constantly with a bowl of water, pick the flesh out of all the fish and discard the bones. Break the fish meat into tiny pieces and put the fish back into the stock, cover the lid, and lower the heat.

Using a mini food processor, grind the spice paste until fine. Heat up a wok and saute the spice paste with cooking oil for about 6-8 minutes or until it smells aromatic and spicy. Transfer the spice paste into the boiling stock.

Extract the tamarind juice and add it into the stock. Strain the tamarind juice and keep the seed. Repeat it 3-4 times with 1/2 cup of water each time to make sure you extract all the essence from the tamarind. Continue to taste your Assam Laksa stock to make sure it’s sour and to your liking. For seasoning, add sugar, salt, and fish sauce.

Prepare the laksa noodles by following the packaging instructions. In a serving bowl, add in the laksa noodles and garnish all vegetables on top. Pour the Assam Laksa soup into the bowl and serve immediately with a spoonful of Heh Ko/prawn paste.

Cook’s Notes:

For the best laksa noodles, please use Mount Elephant brand “Guilin Rice Vermicelli” (象山牌桂林濑粉) found at Asian/Vietnamese stores. (In Vietnamese, it’s called Bun Bo Hue Guilin.) It’s very smooth and exactly like the laksa noodles back home. If you are lucky, you might even find the fresh ones.

For a good alternative, try LaiFen Rice Stick/中山濑粉 from Guangdong, China.

Fresh rice noodles or laifen/濑粉 are available in Asian grocery stores, but I don’t like the texture: they are a tad too thick and not smooth enough.

Canned sardines DO NOT make good Penang Assam Laksa. They make the soup base fishy and unappetizing. There is no shortcut to making great Assam Laksa, you just have to find certain freshest fish and make it from scratch.