Penang Assam Laksa

Penang Assam Laksa ranked at number 7 on World’s 50 Most Delicious Food compiled by CNN Go in 2011. 

In Penang, we call this dish Laksa. (Other places – Penang Assam Laksa). This dish is very unique to Penang! The stock is fish based, brewed in healthy spices, and garnished with raw fresh vegetables. What’s more – it is super delicious!

How healthy can this be? Personally, I believe this is one of the healthiest dishes you will taste. It is a marriage of sweet (from shrimp paste), sour (tamarind), spicy (chilli) and the savoury taste from the fish stock. Plus all the healthy spices bring out the delicious aroma and flavour.

When I normally cook this dish, I tend to use pure fish stock – where I would boil salmon bones for about an hour (normally from 20 minutes is sufficient), and painstakingly debone them. After that, I would use the flesh and brew it with the pastes & herbs for a few hours until the aroma of assam laksa fills the air; only then it is ready for consumption.

However, I have never attempted to cook the paste from scratch, as there is one important ingredient that you need for this dish, which is ginger torch flower. Without it, the taste would not be the same. Thus I have always used the Little Nyonya Assam Laksa paste to cook my laksa. The flavour is second to none!

Note: for this recipe I am sharing, I am using canned tuna to replace the fresh fish stock.

So with this paste and a few ingredients on hand, you can easily whip a very nice assam laksa dish in as little as 30 minutes without having to brew the fresh fish stock.

Ok, let’s go impress yourself, your family and friends.

Recipe:

Soup base: Using Canned Tuna

1 packet Little Nyonya Penang Assam Laksa paste 250g
1 can of tuna in brine 425g / or you can use fresh fish instead
1 litre of water, but add more if you prefer the soup to be more watery.
1 large onion, chopped finely
Vietnamese mint – You can get hold of it from the Chinese shop.
Tamarind peel
Sugar to taste
Tamarind puree (optional)

Garnishing:

1 teaspoon of shrimp paste (optional) and 1 teaspoon of hot water. It is optional as some people just don’t like the smell. As for me, it is not assam laksa without the shrimp paste.
1/4 Pineapple – julienned
2 shallots – slice very thinly
1 handful/bunch of mint leaves (use only the leaves)
Half cucumber – julienned
1/2 lettuce – thinly cut
3 calamansi lime / or lime (optional) – halved. Use this if you want the laksa to be more sour.

Mint and Vietnamese Mint

Other:

1 packet of laksa noodles – you can also use rice noodles.

Method:

1. Bring the water to boil, add the paste, onion, can of fish, tamarind peel and Vietnamese mint. Brew on low heat for about 30 minutes to an hour.
2. While waiting for the soup to brew, prepare all the garnishing ingredients.
3. Continue to taste the soup, to bring the flavour to your liking. Add tamarind puree if you would like it to be a bit sour, add more canned fish for more fishy taste, or chilli powder if you would like it a bit spicy.
4. As for the shrimp paste / hair kor, you will need 1 tsp of shrimp paste and mix it with tsp of hot / warm water. Mix and stir gently. One teaspoon is good for one serve.

Number of people: 4
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking: 30 minutes

Cook’s Note:

Laksa noodle and shrimp paste that I use:

Rice Noodles – Place the dried rice noodles in a heat proof container or pot, and boil 1 litre water. Once it is boiled, pour over the rice noodles and let them soak until they softens or until you are ready to cook it.

You can purchase the assam laksa pastes, torch ginger flower as well as tamarind slices from Nyonyalicious. Select the products below.

Image	Product	Description	Price	Buy	hf:att:pa_language	hf:att:pa_weight
	Boy Brand Shrimp Pastes 230g		$5.55 Original price was: $5.55.$3.95Current price is: $3.95.	Boy Brand Shrimp Pastes 230g quantity Add to cart
	Dried Sliced Bunga Kantan 50g Special		$24.95 Original price was: $24.95.$14.95Current price is: $14.95.	Dried Sliced Bunga Kantan 50g Special quantity Add to cart
	Fisherman Shrimp Paste 230g		$4.95	Fisherman Shrimp Paste 230g quantity Add to cart
	Cooked Bunga Kantan 250g		$4.75 Original price was: $4.75.$2.95Current price is: $2.95.	Read more

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