Food

A Sort of Asam Laksa

Asam Laksa is a flavorful, tangy, and spicy Malaysian fish based rice noodle soup, which is obviously not something a vegetarian can eat. This is therefore not a recipe for purists, but it works for my family.

Ingredients
  • 1 pot of tamarind paste
  • 8 cups water (2 liters)
  • A protein, which could be omelette strips, tofu, tempeh – whatever takes your fancy
  • 12 to 15 stalks daun besom ie. polygonum/Vietnamese coriander or if you can’t find an asian store – mint/coriander half and half with a dash of lime
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 packets fresh thick rice noodles (30 oz/950g) or 10 oz (283g) dried thick vermicelli***
Garnish
  • 1 small cucumber (julienned)
  • ½ pineapple (julienned) or half a fresh mango
  • 1 red onion (thinly sliced)
  • 2 red chilies (seeds removed and thinly sliced)
  • 6 stalks mint leaves (stem removed)
  • 1 lime (cut into wedges)
Spice Paste
  • 3 tsp chilli
  • 3 red chilies (seeded and cut into pieces)
  • 2 onions(peeled, chopped)
  • 2 stalks lemongrass (bottom third only, thinly sliced)
  • 1 inch fresh turmeric (peeled) (30g)
  • 1 tbsp miso paste
Instructions:
  1. Blend spice paste ingredients with ¼ cup (60ml) water in a food processor
  2. Place tamarind in a saucepan. Make upto 2litres with hot water.
  3. Add blended spice paste, and other ingredients to . Bring to a boil, lower heat, and allow it to simmer for 20 minutes while you prepare the fish substitute such as an omelette or drained silken tofu. Add to pot.
  4. Season the soup with sugar and salt.
  5. Cook noodles in boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove and strain. Serve
  6. Place some noodles in a bowl. Top with a little julienned cucumber, pineapple, onion, red chili, mint leaves etc. Pour gravy over the noodles.
  7. Serve immediately with lime wedges.
 
Recipe Notes

**If tamarind paste is not available, 1 to 2 teaspoon (depending on taste) tamarind concentrate may be used instead.
***Dried thick vermicelli should be cooked in boiling water for a minute. Then turn off heat and let it soak for 6 to 8 minutes until soften. Remove and drain before serving.