Assam Laksa / Laksa In Sour Broth

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ii.  The Library : Then And Now

iii.  Pelancaran Bulan Kemerdekaan 2013

It has been a long time since I made this simple dish.  The reason behind this is because my youngest daughter does not like this dish at all; not one little bit.  I mean, she would rather eat instant noodles!  Of course she knows it has lots of vegetables, and yes she knows that there isn't a single ounce of fat in the dish, but hey, if she doesn't like it, she doesn't like it!

Whenever we tell her that we wanted to cook Assam Laksa, she would always ask us to buy Assam Laksa from the morning market but we always reply that the taste is never the same compared to cooking it yourself.  Anyway, even though she has not relented, the missus and I decided to make Assam Laksa and satisfy our longing for the dish.  And, yes, it was instant noodles for her!

This version of Assam Laksa is not one hundred percent similar to the one made by my late mother because it is missing a few ingredients (like the cashew shoots for example) and the inclusion of a few other things (like hard boiled eggs which my mother never put!) but like most things, food cannot help but evolve according to the times.  So, this is our version.

For the broth :

• 6 Selayang fish (boiled with a piece of Assam Gelugor until cooked)
• 5 bird eye chillies
• 5 red chillies
• 5 shallots
• 1 small piece shrimp paste
• 2 lemon grass, bruised
• 6 Vietnamese mint leaves
• 2 torch ginger buds, halved
• 3 tsp anchovy stock granules
• 2 pieces Assam Gelugor 

Pick all the cooked meat from the and place it into a blender together with the birds eye chillies, red chillies, shallots, shrimp paste and anchovy stock granules.  Blend with a cup of the reserved fish stock (used to boil the fish) until fine.  Place this into a large pot, together with the remaining fish stock.  Add in the Asam Gelugor,bruised lemon grass, Vietnamese mint leaves and torch ginger buds and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, lower the heat and continue to simmer for another 5 to 6 minutes, skimming off any scum from the top of the broth.  Season with salt and a little bit of sugar.

To serve / garnishing

• 500 g lor see fun 
• Sliced cucumber
• Sliced red onions
• Sliced red cbillies
• Sliced torch ginger buds
• Sliced fresh pineapple
• Some mint leaves
• Slices of lime
• Hard boiled eggs, halved

Place as much of as little of the ingredients above into a bowl, and ladle the hot broth into the bowl.  Serve immediately.

Note :  The pineapple I used this time was quite sweet, so I cubed half of the pineapple and added it into the broth together with the leaves etc.  Since the pineapple was already sweet, I omitted the sugar.