Asam Laksa

How many of you are like me, love to eat Asam Laksa but scared of overwhelming fishy smell, and also dislike handling raw mackerel fish or Ikan Kembong, the small fish that's used to make the laksa?

The thing is, I've been craving for Asam Laksa, missing the flavourful, tangy and spicy fish broth with smooth & chewy rice noodles as well as the different textures/colours toppings for the laksa. And no, Asam Laksa is definitely not available where I stay currently (in Thailand).

I'm so glad to find Ayam Brand Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil at the supermarkets here! It has nearly no fishy smell (probably because the sardines are brined in EVOO) and so much easier to handle (fish bones are teeny tiny and can be mashed up easily, or just remove the centre bone with ease).

This is my quick and easy Asam Laksa, without having to go through the trouble of cleaning raw Ikan Kembong fish, preparing complicated fish broth or removing bones from the fish etc etc. Do note that I replaced or omitted a few ingredients as they are not available where I stay.

What I did was, blend the rempah spice paste ingredients with some EVOO brine from the can, then stir-fry the rempah using the remaining brine as well as the sardines together until fragrant. Next add water, instant fish or ikan bilis cube (yes, it's cheating but hey, I'm looking for quick & easy & fuss-free) and Thai basil, boil for 10-15 mins, season with tamarind paste, salt and sugar and viola, the asam laksa soup broth is ready!

Finally, cook some rice noodles, add toppings of choice (I add more sardine fish, chopped salad leaves, pineapple, cucumber, red onion, chilli padi, lime juice as well as Hei Ko or sweet shrimp paste (which I brought from SG last year to make rojak! Yay!) and a bowl of yummy Asam Laksa is ready!

Asam Laksa
(serves 3 big or 4 small servings)

(A) Rempah/Spice Paste

• 5 pcs shallots
• 3 dried chilli, soak in hot water till softened and remove seeds
• 2 big red chilli, remove seeds
• 1 pc lemongrass, bottom 3" only, cut into small slices
• 1 cm turmeric root, cut into small slices
• 1 tsp belachan, toasted
• 1-2 tbsp brine from Ayam Brand Sardines in EVOO

1. Add all the ingredients into a blender/food chopper and blend till smooth paste.

(B) Fish broth

• 1 can Ayam Brand Sardines in EVOO
• Rempah spice paste from (A)
• 4 cups water
• 2 pcs instant fish stock cube (or ikan bilis cube)
• 6 pcs thai basil
• 3 tbsp instant tamarind paste
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Add the remaining brine from the can, all the sardines (not necessary to remove bones) and the rempah spice paste into a pot, stir-fry the mixture till aromatic for a few minutes. Crush and mash up the sardines when frying.
2. Add water, stock cube and Thai basil, and bring to boil on medium heat. After the broth boils, lower heat to low and simmer for 10-15 mins.
3. Season with instant tamarind paste, sugar and salt (to taste) and the broth is ready to use.

(C) Asam Laksa and Garnish

• 1 can Ayam Brand Sardines in EVOO
• 200g thick rice noodles (dried ones)
• Fish broth from (B)
• 1/2 pc cucumber, julienned
• 1/4 pc pineapple, sliced into small pieces
• 1 red onion, cut into thin slices
• Handful of mint leaves
• Handful of salad leaves, chopped
• 1-2 pcs chilli padi, cut into small slices
• 3-4 wedges lime
• 3-4 tbsp hei ko / sweet shrimp paste
• *torch ginger, omitted as not available

1. Open another can of sardines, remove centre bones from the sardines if desired and tear the sardines into flakes.
2. Cook the thick rice noodles for 10-12 mins till the noodles are fully cooked, al dente. Drain and rinse in ice water. Add the rice noodles into 3-4 individual bowls.
3. Scoop the fish broth into the bowls of noodles.
4. Add desired toppings - sardine flakes, salad leaves, red onion, pineapple, cucumber, mint leaves, chilli padi, lime and hei ko. 
5. Mix well to eat and best enjoyed hot!

I'm really pleased with how my quick and easy Asam Laksa turned out! The broth is quite flavourful, tangy and spicy, but not fishy and lighter on the palate as well, love the combination of different colours and textures of the toppings. Even the hubby enjoyed it and said it was not bad at all.

Glad that I can cook this dish anytime I have cravings now. And also thinking of making more dishes with Ayam Brand Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil =D

Laksa Yong Tau Foo

[ Collaboration with Dancing Chef and Singapore Home Cooks ]
Dish 1 - Laksa Yong Tau Foo

How time flies, next week is already Singapore's National Day and my family has been away for almost 8 months! As true blue Singaporeans who love to makan, we tend to miss local food from time to time.

Premix pastes like Dancing Chef really comes in handy whenever we have cravings. Sometimes it's too much hassle to cook from scratch or there are certain ingredients not readily available. I always stock up on our favourite pastes whenever we return to SG for visits; it's great that the packs are small and doesn't take up too much luggage space.

One of the SG local dish that we miss is Yong Tau Foo! Here in Thailand, there's no YTF stall where you can pick and choose the various ingredients like beancurd, bitter gourd, vegetables, fishballs etc...
Back in SG, we used to eat YTF at least once a week, and we always ended up ordering laksa gravy as the pairing is simply shiokalicious!

Using Dancing Chef Laksa paste, all I have to do is to prepare the YTF ingredients, cook the gravy and viola, a piping hot bowl of Laksa Yong Tau Foo!!

Laksa Yong Tau Foo
(makes 3-4 servings)

Minced fish & pork filling

• 200g fish meat (I use spanish mackerel/batang), chop into small pieces
• 200g minced pork
• 10g salted fish
• 4 tbsp water
• 2 tsp corn flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 stalk spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 stalk coriander, finely chopped

1. Add fish meat, minced pork, salted fish, water, corn flour and sea salt into a food processor or electric chopper. Grind/chop the ingredients into a paste.
2. Transfer the paste into a large solid bowl, add in the finely chopped spring onion and coriander. 
3. Wear a plastic disposable glove, pick up small portions of the mixture/paste and slap it back into the bowl. Do this several times until the paste turns into very soft and smooth texture. Set aside.

Yong Tau Foo
(filling above is enough for the listed ingredients)

• 2 small or 1 big brinjal, cut into 6 pcs about 1" thick with slit inbetween
• 1/4 bittergourd, cut into 6 rings about 1cm thick and hollow out the middle seed portion
• 2 blocks tau kwa/firm beancurd, cut diagonally into 4 pcs
• 3 pcs tau pok/fried beancurd, cut diagonally into 6 pcs
• 1 big red chilli, cut a slit inbetween and scrap away the seeds
• 4 pcs ladyfinger, cut a slit inbetween and scrap away the seeds
• Pot of cooking oil

1. Wash, pat fry and prepare the ingredients accordingly.
2. Using a small butter knife, stuff and spread the fish/pork filling into the prepared Yong Tau Foo ingredients.
3. Heat up a pot of cooking oil to medium heat and deep fry the yong tau food until cooked and golden brown. Drain using kitchen towel. Set aside. 

Laksa Yong Tau Foo

• 1 packet Dancing Chef Laksa paste
• 450ml water
• 250ml coconut milk
• 400g thick rice vermicelli (laksa noodles)
• 2 bunches kang kong (water spinach)

1. In a cooking pot, add laksa paste and water and bring to boil on medium heat.
2. Lower heat to simmer and stir in coconut milk. Simmer for another 5 mins and the laksa gravy is ready.
3. In a separate pot, blanch rice vermicelli for 15-20s, drain and scoop into individual bowls.
4. Blanch vegetables for 10-15s, drain and add into the individual bowls.
5. Top the bowls with desired pieces of Yong Tau Foo and finally ladle laksa gravy into the bowls.
6. Best serve hot.

Yum yum yum! This bowl of Laksa Yong Tau Foo was so satisfying! The HB also gave thumbs up! How I wish I could have more, but alas I ran out of the Laksa paste already :( Time to go back to SG to stock up?

From 1 to 31 August 2018, purchase 3 packets of Dancing Chef™’s pastes or sauces at just S$7.85 (UP: S$2.85/packet), and stand a chance to win a pair of passes to a cooking workshop helmed by local celebrity chef Lisa Leong on 16 Sep 2017. There are 30 pairs of passes to be won.

Dancing Chef promotion is available at FairPrice supermarkets exclusively.

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