If you love noodles and soup then here is something very special for you -The king of noodle soups – Assam laksa! Assam laksa is a fish based noodle soup which is spicy, sour, aromatic and full of flavors. The soup blends well with the spicy gravy and noodles to set your mouth watering.
Ingredients1 kg pre-cooked laksa noodles (or thick round rice noodles)
Ground spice paste15 fresh red chilies and 10 dried red chilies (or 3 tbsp freshly ground chili paste)
10 shallots
6 cloves garlic
1 inch of galangal (lengkuas)
2 cm knob of fresh turmeric
2 stalks lemongrass, minced (use the white part only)
1 1/2 tbsp belacan (dried shrimp paste), or if in block form, use 3/4 of a block
SoupFor cooking fish15 cups water
3 stalks lemongrass, lightly smashed (white part only)
1 torch ginger flower, quartered
3 inches of galangal, halved
1 1/2 kg (about 15 fish) fresh mackerel, horse mackerel, fresh sardine, or yellowtail kingfish - cleaned and gutted
1/3 cup tamarind juice (mix tamarind pulp in hot water for five minutes before squeezing it to obtain the juice)
5 pieces tamarind peel (asam keping or asam gelugor)
6 stalks Vietnamese mint (daun kesom)
3 tbsp sugar or to taste
Salt to taste
Garnishing1 cucumber, thinly sliced into strips
Chinese lettuce, sliced
1/2 medium size fresh pineapple, sliced into small pieces
2 red onions, thinly sliced
Handful of mint leaves (daun pudina)
1 torch ginger bud (bunga kantan), finely sliced
3 red chilies, thinly sliced
2 green bird's eye chilies, thinly sliced
CondimentsCalamansi lime
Sweetened prawn paste (heh ko sauce), diluted with laksa soup or water
Process* Blend spice paste ingredients into a fine paste.
* Heat a pot of water and add lemongrass, galangal, torch ginger flower. Bring to a boil and then add fish. Boil on medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until the fish is cooked.
* Transfer cooked fish to a bowl and let cool. Strain broth to remove spices. Add to the broth the Vietnamese mint, tamarind juice and tamarind peel and continue to boil on low heat.
* Break the fish meat into tiny pieces, but keep some in bigger chunks.
* Add the fish flakes back into the pot, along with the spice paste.
* When it reaches a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes to one hour. While simmering, add salt and sugar to balance the spiciness and sourness for your taste.
* Rinse laksa noodles in cold water and strain. Place one serving of noodles into a bowl, and pour laksa soup with fish flakes over the top.
* Top with garnishing, and serve with a spoonful of shrimp paste if you like.