Ingredients:
1) cendol (2 cups)
2) coconut milk (2 cups)
3) palm sugar extract (1/2 cup)
4) screwpine leaves (1)
5) salt (a bit)

Directions:
The steps are - firstly, put in the coconut milk into the pot together with a bit of salt. Then, add the screwpine leaves. Stir for a while until the coconut milk boils.
After that, add the coconut milk into the cendol bowl followed by the palm sugar. Cendol is ready to be served. It can also be served cold.

Penang Assam Laksa is very addictive due to the spicy and sour taste of the fish broth. Tamarind is used generously in the soup base and hence the word Assam (means tamarind in Malay). In addition to tamarind, assam keping or peeled tamarind is also commonly added to give it extra tartness. Another secret ingredient is Polygonum leaf (marketed as Vietnamese mint leaf in the United States) or daun kesom/daun laksa. While the best Assam Laksa broth is infused with the aromatic ginger flower (bunga kantan), I made without it because I couldn’t find this special ingredient in the market. Of course, no Assam Laksa is complete without belacan and dollops of heh ko/prawn paste (the dark paste on the spoon).
Anyway, Penang Assam Laksa was spot on–hot, spicy, sour, pungent, and full of flavors. It was very delicious and as good as the ones served by hawkers in Penang. At the first taste of this Penang Assam Laksa, I felt like being home. For now, I declare my my Asian mouth syndrome sorted…*wink*






Recipe: Rasa Malaysia Penang Assam Laksa

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 (de-seeded)
5 fresh red chilies (de-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:

1. For the best laksa noodles, please use Guilin Rice Vermicelli 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.
2. For a good alternative, try LaiFen Rice Stick from Guangdong, China.
3. Fresh rice noodles or laifen are available in Asian grocery stores, but I don’t like the texture: they are a tad too thick and not smooth enough.
4. 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 scratc

The picture you see is Sarawak Laksa. When it comes to laksa, it’s all about personal preferences. Some like the laksa sold at a stall while some do not. However, if you see a majority of the crowd flocking to a laksa stall, chances are that the laksa is good, regardless of some dislikes by the minorities. How else would you explain the crowd?

Sarawak laksa tastes nothing like curry laksa. Yes, it’s spicy and a bit curry in taste but there is a special blend of belacan and prawn taste which is not too strong. These mild tastes blend perfectly together with the curry taste and exudes a delicious aroma tempting you to taste it. In my case, I normally, no, make that, ALWAYS down the soup to the very last drop. That is how much I like the Sarawak Laksa.

The mee itself comes in a variety of either bee hoon or the yellow mee or a mixture of both. Of course, you can always get creative and try other types of mee but, I do not warrant the same taste for your creativity.


Any, and I mean ANY Sarawak laksa will never ever be complete without prawns. It’s an essential part of the dish. Chicken meat is also a must. Take that with the laksa soup and you would not be talking at that moment if I spoke to you. Take the prawns with the supplemented belachan and you go MAMAMIA…

Some stalls even top the laksa up with a few slices of fried egg, which I personally like. Nowadays however, not many stalls have it anymore. To sum the whole dish up, chinese parsley or Coriander leaves are sprinkled on top (I prefer the latter) and walla, you have the Sarawak laksa!

How you eat laksa? Simple! Take the lime that comes with it, squeeze the juice and mix it with the laksa soup. Use as much lime as you need to get the sour taste to your liking. Stir well and eat!

Oh man, I am so so hungry now. I have to get someone to bring me around to get Sarawak laksa in KL