- Laksa after having a dig in. Sorry forgot to take pic first!
Finally, I managed go get a bowl of Laksa, Penang Laksa, that is. I need to have this before I return to the UK. Without doing this my trip is incomplete!!
You see, Laksa in other parts of Malaysia means a curry based noodle dish with toppings. This, we Penangites call curry mee, or curry noodles.
In Penang Laksa means a noodle dish with a fish-based soup. The soup is rather thick and contains fish, assam (tamarind), assam keping ( Garcinia cambogia / atroviridis) shallots, lemon grass, Vietnamese mint and garnished with shredded lettuce, onions, touch ginger flower, pineapple, mint and hea ko (pawn paste), amongst the many types of herbs and spices. Oh yes, and not forgetting the chilies and belacan that are added to the soup.
This dish is synonymous with Penang. Laksa is actually a very healthy dish. It has no fat added, unlike curry-based Laksa in which the spices are fried in a lot of oil there by giving it a lovely red colour – which is actually the red chili-infused oil floating on the top.
Note: assam keping is not to be confused with Garcinia mangostana which is the mangosteen. I always crack up at all the so-called health food / alternative food reports that tout the goodness of Garcinia Cambogia, then puting the photo of mangosteen!! How can I trust their articles when they cannot get their facts right. Mangosteen is also considered as a super food. I will dwell more on that in another post.
The Laksa that I had was Ah Cheng Laksa in Subang Parade. You might pooh-pooh that it is commercialized. The gravy was balanced with enough sour taste and tempered with saltiness and sweetness. Of course the addition of a big squeeze of the prawn paste helps to bring the taste together.
There you go. One satisfied customer.
P.S I have returned to the UK, and have just ‘woken up’ from the jet lag.
I will need time to organize the contents and share them with you.
