Assam Laksa

I was given a packet of Sunbeam Assam Laksa paste recently and had my first hand cooking this Penang hawker specialty food. The instant paste really made short work of the preparation for the fish based tamarind soup as in the famous Penang laksa.

Since I couldn't find any mackerel in the market I just opened a can of sardines and kept the tomato sauce for future use.

Assam Laksa




1 kg thick noodles
1 can sardines, use only the fish
1 cucumber, shredded
1 bunch mint leaves, use only the leaves
1 big onion, sliced thinly
1 red chili, cut into small slices
3 hard-boiled eggs, cut half
2 lime, sliced into 2
2 liter water
salt, sugar
har koh (shrimp paste)

1. Mix assam laksa paste with 1 liter water in a cooking pot and boil for 5 minutes.
2. Put in the sardines and bring to boil.
3. Adjust gravy to taste before removing from heat.
4. Blanch the rice noodles in a wok of boiling water and drained well with a sieve.
5. Prepare individual soup bowl with noodles.
6. Scoop the hot gravy with sardine on top of the noodles.
7. Garnish with the shredded cucumber, mint leaves, sliced onions, chillies, hard-boiled egg and prawn paste.
8. Squeeze some lime, if desired.