Assam laksa
Photo: Misaochan · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Assam laksa is Penang's own answer to the coconut laksas of the south: a fish broth soured with tamarind (asam) and sharpened with torch ginger flower, a profile carried from Thai-influenced northern Malay kitchens into Chinese hawker stalls. Air Itam's stalls beside the wet market made the dish famous, and third-generation carts like Wan Dao Tou still build it on 50-year-old family recipes. The hae ko prawn paste stirred in at the table is the make-or-break step.

Book a food experience

Tours, tastings and classes that match this page, bookable on GetYourGuide.

Browse all food experiences

Common allergens: Fish, Shellfish

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 45 minTotal 1 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 600g mackerel (ikan kembung), whole
  • 1.5 litres water
  • 80g tamarind pulp soaked in 200ml warm water, strained
  • 4 pieces asam keping (dried tamarind slices)
  • 2 stalks lemongrass, bruised
  • 1 torch ginger flower, halved
  • 6 dried chillies and 8 shallots, blended with 1 teaspoon belacan
  • 400g thick round rice noodles (laksa noodles)
  • Half a cucumber, julienned; half a small pineapple, sliced
  • 1 red onion, sliced; a handful of mint leaves
  • Hae ko (black prawn paste), 1 teaspoon per bowl

Method

  1. Simmer the mackerel in the water for 15 minutes. Lift out, flake the flesh and discard bones; return heads and frames in a muslin bag.
  2. Add the blended chilli paste, tamarind water, asam keping, lemongrass and torch ginger. Simmer 40 minutes, then remove the bag.
  3. Return the flaked fish, season with salt and a little sugar, and keep the broth at a low simmer; it should be sour first, sweet last.
  4. Blanch the noodles, divide between bowls, and ladle the broth generously over.
  5. Top with cucumber, pineapple, onion and mint, and serve each bowl with a spoon of hae ko to stir in at the table.

Tip from the editors. Do not skip the torch ginger flower; without it the broth is just sour fish soup, and that floral sharpness is the whole signature.

Where to eat assam laksa

Assam laksa in Penang

Wan Dao Tou Assam Laksa ★ 4.5

$ Street foodPulau TikusCash only

Wan Dao Tou simmers its Bib Gourmand assam laksa from a 50-year-old family recipe on Jalan Gottlieb, Penang's benchmark bowl outside Air Itam.

TryAssam laksa

TipThird-generation owners still make the broth daily; ask for extra hae ko prawn paste and stir it in gradually.

Directions

Penang Road Famous Laksa ★ 4.4

$ Street foodGeorge TownCash only

Penang Road Famous Laksa ladles a sardine broth of unusual depth on Keng Kwee Street, the Bib Gourmand partner to the cendol queue next door.

TryAssam laksa

TipDo the classic double: a bowl of laksa here, then a cendol from the stall a few steps away on the same lane.

Directions

My Own Cafe ★ 4.3

$ MalaysianGeorge Town

My Own Cafe simmers a Bib Gourmand assam laksa steps from Khoo Kongsi on Cannon Street, the family-run counter Penang quietly keeps to itself.

Why locals goCannon Street's tourists stream past to the clan jetties while locals slip in here for what many rate George Town's best assam laksa.

TipOrder the crispy spring rolls alongside the laksa; the pairing is the house move and both are gone by late afternoon.

Directions

Laksalicious ★ 4.1

$ MalaysianGeorge Town

Laksalicious puts every major laksa style under one cheerful Hutton Lane roof, the Bib Gourmand shortcut through Penang's noodle-soup canon.

SignatureAssam laksa, Laksa lemak

TipOrder the assam and lemak versions side by side; comparing the sour and coconut broths is the point of the place.

Directions

All Penang signature dishes →

More cities are in research. Want assam laksa covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

Browse all dishes →