Penang Assam Laksa

Home Cook Penang Assam Laksa

Assam laksa which originates from Penang, a small town in Malaysia is not like those ordinary laksa you find in Singapore which uses coconut milk. It uses tamarind (assam) to give this bowl of noodle the distinctive sweet and sour taste with a hinge of spiciness. It is healthier too in the sense that it also uses fresh fruits and vegetables like pineapples, cucumbers, onions and mint leaves / laksa leaves (aka Polygonum leaves) as garnishing.

Ikan Kembong (Mackeral)

One of main ingredients for this bowl of noodle is the fish. Various fishes are used in making Assam Laksa such as Wolf-herring, Mackeral and Shad. According to my mum, the authentic fish for Assam Laksa is Ikan Kembong which is Mackeral.

Cooking a bowl of Assam Laksa is quite a task because there it requires lots of preparation work for the ingredients and some are not easy available in our nearest FairPrice or even wet market.

So, I was pretty excited when my mum told me she will be cooking Assam Laksa for the family and there I am with my camera and notebook taking down all the important points for this delicious bowl of noodle!

Ingredients: Serves 4 to 5
(all the measurements are rough estimations, you can gauge according to how you prefer your bowl of Assam Laksa taste like)

Thick Rice Vermicelli

Noodles:
1.5kg of thick rice vermicelli

Belacan

 Spice Paste:
20~ 25 Dried chillies
3~5 Chilli Padis
2 tbsp of Belacan
4 stalks of Lemongrass
3 stalks of Torch Ginger
1 small piece of Ginger
3 Shallots
3 cloves of Garlic
200ml of Water (for the paste to be ground efficiently)

Assam

Garnishes:
1 Cucumber (thinly sliced)
3 Onions (thinly sliced)
1/2 Small Pineapple, preferably ripped (cubed)
10 Limes (sliced at the top)
4 tbsp of Heh Ko (prawn paste), 1 tbsp for a bowl
4 petals of Mint Leaves (thinly sliced)
A handful of Lettuce (thinly sliced)
4 petals of Laksa Leaves

Lemon Grass & Torch Ginger

Soup:
1kg of Mackeral, including the bones
3 litres of Water
6 large stalks of Laksa Leaves (Polygonum)
4 pieces of Assam phoi (Tamarind)
3 tbsp of Heh Ko (prawn paste)
3 tbsp of Sugar
2 tbsp of Salt to taste

Continue to my part 2 of my Penang Assam Laksa...