Inspired Momx1

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Homemade Penang Assam Laksa

We drove to Teluk Intan with mom in-law (her hometown) last Monday to deal with some business issues.  We stopped at Yi Ma's (mom in-law's elder sister) house. We started our journey from house around 6.10am and reached Yi Ma's house at 8.10am.  Yi Ma was going to cook us Assam Laksa for lunch and I got to peep on how it was made.  The taste was simply yummilicious but as Yi Ma preferred clearer stock, the fish was not flaked to thicken the stock.  You can see lots of big chunks of fish meat from the picture below.

My bowl of Yi Ma's homemade Assam Laksa with
undiluted prawn paste

I craved for assam laksa with thicker stock and wanted to try my own version.  I headed to the nearby wet market this morning to get necessary ingredients and started my cooking project after dropping off my son at school.

Dried Laksa Noodles


The dried laksa rice noodles need to soak in water for at least 4 hours before boiling  for another 20 minutes or until it cooks thoroughly.



Ikan Kembung (Indian Mackerel)

Bring a pot of water to boil and put in the ikan kembung.  Remove the fish after 15 minutes.  Do not overcook them as it would make it harder for deboning.  


Daun Kesom/Laksa (Polygonum leaves) - (A)

Bunga Kantan (ginger buds), serai (lemon grass),
lengkuas (galangal) (B)

Add (A) and (B) into the boiling stock and lower the heat and let it simmer.

Belacan, sliced serai (lemon grass), tomatoes, shallots,
kunyit (tumeric roots) (a)

Dried chillies, fresh chillies, shallots (b)


Put ingredients (a) and (b) into a blender and blend until it turns into paste form.


saute the blended spice paste with cooking oil


Transfer the sauteed spice paste to the stock and let it simmer


My bowl of homemade Assam Laksa

And tadaa... I have my bowl of self made Assam laksa topped with generous garnishing of lettuce, sliced bunga kantan, onions, mint leaves and cucumber and of course prawn paste (har gou) I can't go without.  I flaked all the fish meat to make the soup thicker.. and the result, it's way too thick!.. should have keep some bigger chunks of fish for garnishing..

Overall, the taste was good but aroma wise, it was somewhat lacking.  I remember passing by the Assam Laksa corner at Jusco Mid Valley and the strong aroma is something that you won't miss and never fail to pull me in to sit down and order a bowl. 

Any assam laksa experts here, mind sharing with me on the lacking of aroma part?

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16 Comments:

Blogger Nate @ House of Annie said...

Good job! I'm not sure why it didn't have the aroma you were looking for. I hope you have better success next time.

September 29, 2010 at 8:48 PM  
Blogger Hayley said...

I'm not a big fan of laksa, but if given a chance, I'd definetely wanna try yours!!

September 29, 2010 at 9:30 PM  
Anonymous mommy to chumsy said...

oh wow, everything is cooked from scratch. sure look yummylicious :D

September 29, 2010 at 10:54 PM  
Blogger Reanaclaire said...

I love Penang laksa..not so sour but of course, home made ones are the best..

September 29, 2010 at 11:12 PM  
Anonymous suituapui said...

Not a fan...but yours look really good. Not like the VERY popular at Air Itam... Yucks! Looks exactly like the water in the drain beside the stall... LOL!!!

September 30, 2010 at 7:58 AM  
Blogger smallkucing said...

can i tumpang makan?

September 30, 2010 at 9:23 AM  
Blogger Yannie said...

Too many work and effort needed to cook Assam Laksa, I guess I will just go and buy one when I crave for it. You are rajin.

September 30, 2010 at 9:33 AM  
Blogger Adrine said...

Looks yummy! You are so hardworking la....I look at the steps already want to faint. ;)

September 30, 2010 at 10:51 AM  
Blogger mNhL said...

Yours look great! I'm not a big fan of assam laksa but will crave for the sourish soup once a while.

September 30, 2010 at 2:32 PM  
Blogger Alice Law said...

Wow... your Asam laksa looked really 'gao' and delicious, making me drool and tummy rubling though!

Perhaps you should get some authentic prawn sauce, normally the taste very much depends on har gou... hrm~!

Good trying!

September 30, 2010 at 4:01 PM  
Blogger Yee Ling said...

Last time i dont touch assam laksa at all. After several tempting by hub asking me to try, now i fall in love with it.

September 30, 2010 at 4:13 PM  
Blogger Annie Q said...

Wow...so many ingredient and so much work, you are very terror. But i don't know how to appreciate assam laksa, i don't eat them. :P

September 30, 2010 at 4:46 PM  
Anonymous mott said...

I don't see Dried Tamarind... isn't it one of the ingredients? I'm a super big fan.. :D

October 2, 2010 at 11:53 AM  
Blogger Inspired Momx1 said...

Mott: Oh, yes, it wasn't in the pic but I did put both, dried and paste form.

October 2, 2010 at 1:22 PM  
Blogger eng eng said...

Don't forget u promise to cook for me ya... :p

October 14, 2010 at 11:08 AM  
Blogger Kiddothings said...

My mouth is watering just by looking at your pictures. Oh no, I think I won't be satisfied until I go out and get myself a bowl now. Perhaps more daun kesom for more aroma?

April 16, 2011 at 1:43 PM  

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