Penang Asam laksa, Air Itam Market, Malaysia [SE asia trip]

After spending a couple of amazing food filled days in Singapore alone I headed over to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to meet fellow LTHer Dansch. A week later the two of us met up with another LTHer, gastrognome in Hanoi, Vietnam, which I suppose officially, puts this up in running for the most distant LTH meetup!

I’ve never been too sure how to format my travel LTH posts. In the past I had always planned on finishing up a huge post, which only ends in nothing ever being posted. Instead of letting that happen anymore. I’ll start by just posting about one or two places at once and tagging the title with [SE asia trip 2012].

This one will have to revolve around a new favorite dish of mine, Laksa. Laksa comes in many forms, but I’m mostly in love with Penang Asam Laksa. Penang is a state, and Island in Malaysia, Asam is the Malay word for tamarind, and Laksa is a fishy, herby, spicy noodle soup from the Peranakan culture. Long story short I tried a lot of Very Good laksa but none blew my mind, until, during a motorbike trip up the island hill.

We stumbled into a small town and were immediately drawn to a steamy corner shop filled with a lot of really satisfied customers, and the even more jovial laksa chefs hovering over steamy orange cauldrons of Penang Asam Laksa broth. It was called Air Itam Market, we knew this was the spot. The soup was really hardly a soup, more like a stew or gravy since it was so thick with flaked mackerel and laksa leaves (also known as Vietnamese coriander). It’s thick, fishy, funky, tamarind sour, and spicy... but the distinct flavor of the cooked Laksa Leaves really stood out as the dominant flavor of the dish. It would certainly not be the same dish without them.

The guys serving up the Laksa used a neat trick, filling the noodle filled bowl with the soup, flipping it around so the noodles were on top, straining the juice to keep the fish and leaves in then topping it up with more soup. It is then topped with the requisite garnishes: pineapple, cucumber, sprouts, greens, herbs, and shrimp paste. This is a standout dish and after trying countless bowls on the trip, I’m confident that this small town up in the hills of Penang is serving up some of the best, if not the best you can find.


















"wha..?"


With this soup on my mind recently, Dansch, gastrognome and I got together to attempt to make this soup, which we managed to recreate very closely! It was damn good, and I'll post that process and recipe soon!

They showed this stall on No Reservations tonight. It looked awesome. I was getting hungry even though I was in the middle of dinner.

I saw that as well.
Very cool.

Great pics! Can't wait to hear the details of your home Laksa making