Monday, August 11, 2008

Home-cooked Assam Laksa

It’s been quite some time since I cooked Assam Laksa at home… so, when I was reminded about this fact, I decided to cook this last weekend. On Saturday morning I went to the wet market in Subang to get my fresh supplies… the vegetables, fish and noodles needed for this popular tantalising Malaysian dish!

Actually, cooking Assam Laksa is very simple… about the most tedious task is perhaps the deboning of the fish.

Here are what you need:

For the Soup:

Blend/pound together:

Paste A:
200g shallots
100g garlic
200g red chillies (or you can use Chilli Boh, ground chillies bought off the shelf)
1 piece (50g) toasted belachan

Ingredients B
3 pieces serai (lemongrass)
3 pieces bunga kantan (ginger flower)

3 bunches daun kesom

200g assam keeping (slices of dried tamarind)

200g ikan bilis

2 litres water

1 kg ikan kembong (mackerel)

1 can Sardines - deboned & mashed

To make the Soup:

  1. Saute the ikan bilis in some oil till slightly brown. Add in the water and boil for about 40 minutes. Add in the Ikan Kembong and boil for about 5 minutes till the fish is cooked. Take out the fish and let them cool down before deboning.
  2. Add Paste A & Ingredients B into the soup and boil for about 20 minutes. By this time, the wonderful fragrance of the leaves and herbs will fill your kitchen
  3. Strain/remove all the ikan bilis & leaves from the soup. Add in salt and sugar to taste.
  4. Pour in the mashed sardine - this adds colour and “body” to the soup.

For Garnishing:

Cut/slice/julienne Cucumber, Bombay Onions, Lettuce, Red Chillies, Pineapples and chop some Bunga Kantan...

Dilute some Prawn paste (otak udang) in a little water...


Top with some fresh Mint Leaves...

Use thick fresh rice noodles available from the market.

To serve:

  1. Blanch the noodles in hot water.
  2. Arrange the blanched noodles in a bowl with the deboned fish and shredded garnishings, pour in the soup, add a spoonful of prawn paste.
  3. ENJOY!

Now, wasn't that easy-peasy?

Babe in the City-KL is holding a Merdeka Open House 2008 Party, with the theme
"Mee and My Malaysia"
and I'm entering my Assam Laksa for that virtual party. Do check out her blog for details - it's going to be a fun virtual cookout!

21 comments:

mistipurple said...

*faints*
you call that easy peasy..

Anonymous said...

Ehh...not easy ahh? Just dump everything into the pot to boil only mahh!

Anonymous said...

wow! Let me show this to my wife and see if she can manage it...:P

Anonymous said...

chrisau: yes, please try this and let me know the outcome :-) Just follow the steps & with pictures to guide you, very easy nia!

Precious Pea said...

Wahh...really easy peasy wor!!

goolypop said...

Where got easy??????????????? U make for me lar.. less harkoh piss..

tasy said...

cannot come here la.. makes me hungry all the time 1.

how to diet liddat?

Anonymous said...

Pea: easy hor? Dunno why all these other ppl said not easy wor! ;)

Anonymous said...

gooly: Easy nia, dun worry - just dump everything in & boil, hehe! Eh, but i like a lot of harkoh wor. OK, next time u come back, I make!

Anonymous said...

gargies: dun worry la... this is really very healthy and non-fattening - all vege and sour summo! Just dont take too much of the noodles la... fish is boiled, no fat & full of protein goodness!

Unknown said...

can please make curry laksa this weekend ka..i fetch you buy the ingredients la

PureGlutton said...

derek: ok la...u drive and pay, i don't mind cooking, haha!

Babe_KL said...

wahhh this is so good la, step by step pics! hey can qualify for Mee and My Malaysia. care to enter?

http://babeinthecitykl.blogspot.com/2008/07/merdeka-open-house-2008-mee-and-my.html

Anonymous said...

This is the first time I see people cook Asam Laksa put anchovies. Must find one day try cook and put in. :D

PureGlutton said...

email2me: the ikan bilis adds flavour to the soup leh :)

Nate @ House of Annie said...

Good job, I like the step-by-step instructions.

I think that it's missing the shredded banana flower. But maybe that's just me. Do you think banana flower is necessary?

Little Chef said...

Thanks for sharing this recipe with us, my mouth is watering imagining the taste at this late nite hour of 11.15pm. Dunno how you say it's easy though.. preparing the fish looks tedious but nevertheless, you have the love to cook this dish alright :)

PureGlutton said...

nate-n-annie: hmmm, did u mean the very fragrant ginger-flower (bunga kantan)? I hv that in my recipe and there's a pic of them there too... together with the lemongrass. I have chopped some of it for the garnishing too! Great smell!

PureGlutton said...

little chef: it's my pleasure to share. Yes, it's a very tantalising noodle dish. Deboning the fish is about the only tedious task here, haha!

chelwin said...

" Yummy Yummy " Thank you for sharing the recipy and detail description on the spices and attach pics. Have a Prosperous Happy New Year 2009.. Chelsia Spore

chelwin said...

Hello Pureglutton.. " Yummy Yummy " Thank you for sharing the recipy and detail description on the spices and attach pics. Have a Prosperous Happy New Year 2009.. Chelsia Spore