Penang assam laksa

I had a really bad craving to eat Penang assam laksa a month ago. The small bowl I had at the Malaysian night held at Trafalgar Square 3 weeks back didn't help much. To satiate the craving, I decided that I have cook it myself. Initially, I thought it would be hard work and requires a lot of ingredients. However, after visiting Rasa Malaysia site, it didn't appear to be that hard. All you need is a little effort and time  =)

Here's the recipe from Rasa Malaysia to share with:

Ingredients:
1 lb of Mackerel fish
8 cups of water
5 pieces of assam keping
1 pack dried laksa noodles (Managed to find Lai Fen rice stick at See Woo)

Spice paste:
12 dried red chilies (seeded)
5 fresh red chilies (seeded)
8 small shallots
2 tsp belacan (I used belacan granules)
1 stalk lemon grass (use only the white part, about 6 inches)

Tamarind juice:
Tamarind (about golf ball size)
1/2 cup water (repeat 3-4 times)

Seasonings:
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp fish sauce

Garnishing:
1 cucumber (julienned)
1 bunch mint leaves (use only the leaves)
1 bunch polygonum leaves / Viatnamese mint leaves (daun kesom / daun laksa) (Omitted this)
1 bunga kantan (cut into small pieces) (Omitted this)
1 red onion (sliced thinly)
1 lettuce (thinly cut) (Omitted this)
1 red chili / 3-4 bird's eye chilies (cut into small pieces)
1 small pineapple (cut into short strips)

Condiment:
Heh ko / Prawn paste (Omitted this)

Method:
Clean the fish, remove scales and guts. In a pot, bring 8 cups of water to boil. Add in the fish and boil for about 10 minutes. Transfer the cooked fish out into a bowl and let cool. Strain the fish stock, then add in the peeled tamarind, and the polygonum leaves and continue to boil in low heat.
Wet your hands constantly with a bowl of water, pick the flesh out of all the fish and discard the bones. Break the fish meat into tiny pieces and put the fish back into the stock, cover the lid, and lower the heat.

Using a mini food processor, grind the spice paste until fine. Heat up a wok and saute the spice paste with cooking oil for about 6-8 minutes or until it smells aromatic and spicy. Transfer the spice paste into the boiling stock.

Extract the tamarind juice and add it into the stock. Strain the tamarind juice and keep the seed. Repeat it 3-4 times with 1/2 cup of water each time to make sure you extract all the essence from the tamarind. Continue to taste your Assam Laksa stock to make sure it’s sour and to your liking. For seasoning, add sugar, salt, and fish sauce.

Prepare the laksa noodles by following the packaging instructions. In a serving bowl, add in the laksa noodles and garnish all vegetables on top. Pour the Assam Laksa soup into the bowl and serve immediately with a spoonful of Heh Ko/prawn paste.

Voila..a bowl of delicious assam laksa!! Surprisingly, for a first time attempt, it turned out good! I could not believe it myself! Hehe!

I makan until puas puas this time! 3 bowls! Dinner, breakfast and lunch! No more cravings! To my friends in London who are reading this, I will try my best for a second attempt and invite you over yuh.. =)