A Helpful Guide to Penang Assam Laksa
If you have questions about Penang Assam Laksa - as a traveler to Penang or a local - this blog post is for you!
We get a lot of questions about this world-famous dish. So we’ve written down (almost) everything we know below.
There are a lot of assam laksa lists out there on the internet, so this isn’t one of those. Instead, we wanted to give you a lot more detail about the culinary and cultural identity of this dish. It’s almost synonymous with Penang after all.
If you want to know what assam laksa is, how it’s made and other details about this beloved noodle dish, read on!
A simple question with a suprisingly complex answer!
In Malaysia, the term laksa refers to quite a few different noodle dishes that are loosely related. There are over a dozen different types of laksa dishes around Southeast Asia.
If you aren’t from Southeast Asia, you’ve probably heard of laksa from Anthony Bourdain or CNN’s World’s Best Food List (it’s number 7 ).
In general, laksa usually describes a soupy seafood-based broth with thick rice noodles. The broth is often fish-based, with many versions including coconut milk as a key ingredient. The broth can be clear, dark or creamy based on the ingredients - and is usually tied to the local flavour of the dish.
Travelers to Penang are often familiar with curry laksa which is the version popularly served in Australia and in the West. This is not to be confused with assam laksa as they are two completely different dishes.
It is helpful to think of laksa as a family of dishes that have some similarities, but are unique to different regions and communities in Southeast Asia. Penang assam laksa is a Penang thing and it is quite rare to have an accurate version outside of the state.
The different laksa recipes each have their own personality - a flavour profile special to that particular type of laksa. This is created by the ingredients and technique used to make it.
If you’re a laksa fan, you probably know that every great laksa vendor has their own style and recipe. Not every vendor uses the same means to an end. But there are some evergreen ingredients that go into a satisfying bowl of Penang assam laksa.
The Stock
Kembong Fish (a type of local Mackerel)
Tamarind & Asam Gelugor
Lemongrass, Laksa Leaf & Bunga Kantan (Torch Ginger Flower)
The stock of the assam laksa establishes all its foundation flavour notes - umami (meaty), sweet, sour, tangy, gingery, slightly acidic.
Fresh fish and good quality tamarind are key ingredients here.
The fish is deboned and the meat is coarse-pureed while the head and bones are boiled in the stock.
The tamarind (either in paste form or freshly processed) must be fruity, sweet with just a few sour and salty notes. If it’s too much of the latter, the stock will not taste top quality.
Asam gelugor is an ingredient most locals are familiar with (we use it in some curries and sauces too) but is hard to find outside of the region. There isn’t really an English name or equivalent. But they are sold in most morning markets and grocery stores (what we call sundry stores.) The asam gelugor adds fruity, sweet notes and layering to the sour notes.
Lemongrass and laksa leaf are actually quite easy to come by, as they’re used in Thai and Vietnamese cooking as well. Laksa leaf is also known as Vietnamese mint or praew leaf and you could probably get some from the store.
Bunga Kantan is a whole other ballgame though. It’s also known as the torch ginger flower and is quite hard to come by even here. You’ll find them in neighbourhood morning markets but we haven’t heard of any ways to get them outside of SEA (let us know if we’re wrong about this!)
Unfortunately, there isn’t much that can replace the complexity of the bunga kantan. It has a floral, gingery, spicy, fragrant flavour that is essential to the penang assam laksa experience.
This underscores why we need to protect local ingredients and ensure food security. Some things just have no replacement. But that’s a whole different blog post!
The Garnish
Mint Leaves & Cucumber
Chili & Pineapple (!)
Chinese Lettuce
Bunga Kantan Shavings
Looking at the ingredient list, something may have struck you.
Sure, mint leaves and cucumber make sense for a little bit of minty coolness. It nicely plays against the flavours of the stock.
Chinese lettuce? Gotta have those greens. And Bunga Kantan is already a big part of the laksa stock. The shavings give a nice little gingery floral crunch.
We gotta take a moment to talk about the chili. A lot of people get nervous about the slices of chili on the top. They don’t necessarily have to be super spicy. Mellow chili species are often preferable. They don’t distract from the complexity of the laksa flavours.
But pineapple?
This choice will seem completely normal to locals. It’s a sweet-savoury, acidic fruit. There’s a lot of creative things you can do with that in terms of flavour.
But for many, pineapple is a cursed object used to haunt the nightmares of pizza traditionalists.
No such hang ups here. Pineapple is a sought after fruit that represents prosperity to many Chinese households. It often underscores the difference in cuisine between wealthier and working class Penangites. The latter couldn’t afford pineapple before. But today, almost every bowl of Penang assam laksa comes with pineapple.
The Secret Sauce
Hae Ko/Heh Koh (Fermented Prawn Molasses)
Hae Ko or Heh Koh is a type of fermented prawn molasses that is used to add flavour to a variety of dishes, but is most popularly seen in Penang Assam Laksa as well as Rojak.
It’s made using prawn heads and either brown sugar or dark palm sugar. The quality of heh koh can differ wildly, owing mostly to how it is processed and what ingredients are used. In general, using more shrimp head and high quality dark palm sugar gives it a rich, meaty, pungent and sweet taste.
The Heh Koh is poured into the bowl just before serving, while the broth is still hot. This releases the flavour and helps it bind the various elements in the laksa together. The result can be spectacular.
The Noodle
Rice Noodle
Laksa almost always uses rice noodles but the size, consistency, thickness and flavour can be very different depending on the style of laksa and region.
In general, Penang assam laksa favours a thinner, translucent noodle with a more neutral flavour. It is usually served in the bowl uncut. Don’t worry, it is acceptable to either slurp up all the noodle strings or bite them to a more manageable size.
The Secret to Great Assam Laksa
The most important thing to remember is this: If you want a really great bowl of laksa, using fresh ingredients is very important.
If you live near a morning market, getting ikan kembong from there can make a huge difference to the flavour. This is also true of Bunga Kantan or torch ginger flower. The essence of the flavour is when the bud is still fresh and pink.
Unfortunately, some of these ingredients are not available outside of Southeast Asia - at least, not affordably or in small volume.
There are some ways to get a “laksa-inspired” flavour, but the real good stuff can only be found here.
A good strong stock is also essential to making a great bowl of laksa. This is a dish that is celebrated for bold, fearless flavour. Having a limp stock simply will not do.
Watch the masters of laksa and you’ll notice that they often have a special approach to plating and serving the dish. You don’t want to simply boil all the ingredients together - that would not give you the contrasting, bright flavours that we relish.
Like good Chinese tea, there is a process of “waking up” the broth and ingredients.
You’ll see vendors with bowls of garnished noodles on standby. When an order is made, they’ll ladle the stock onto the bowl, pour it back out into the pot, and then finally ladle the stock back into the bowl before serving.
Why these specific steps? It maximises the release of flavours from all the ingredients and keeps the bubbling stock tasting fresh.
The hot broth “wakes up” the garnish in the bowl and heats the noodle, and pouring it back into the pot ensures the broth keeps gaining flavour and is being rotated.
You’ll see this technique being used by many Chinese noodle vendors and this is one of the many contributions from the Chinese community to local techniques and flavours.
Each laksa dish is unique in its own way, because it is a reflection of the community - their history, migration, trade and taste.
For example, Southeast Asian cuisine often makes use of coconuts which are common, cheap and nutritious. The flavour of coconut milk is ubiquitous in everything from curries to desserts and kuehs.
However, Penang Assam Laksa does not use coconut milk. This sets it apart from its culinary cousins in the region.
For many international foodies, chefs and culinary-ly curious the Penang assam laksa is a holy grail of flavour, history and ingenuity.
It’s often said that the best-tasting food is made by people trying to make the best of a bad situation. That’s certainly true in this case. This dish has a tangled, mysterious history that spans the poorest to richest members of colonial Malayan society. This is reflected in the diverse flavours in each bowl we enjoy today.
Penang assam laksa is an orchestra of flavours that engages almost every taste.
The broth lends umami, sweet, sour, fruity, tangy, gingery and floral flavours. It is rich, complex and, when fresh fish is used, has a strong ocean-salt and earthy flavour. It almost perfectly encapsulates Penang - both the island and mainland.
The garnish plays on these notes - accentuating and complementing some, while balancing out others. The brilliant addition of pineapple and Heh Koh is a good example of balance and counterbalance in action. The sweetness of the pineapple is both complemented and contrasted by the salty-sweet-umami of the Heh Koh.
This relationship of accentuating and balancing plays out across all the ingredients in the dish and what you get is something so unique, people will buy a plane ticket just to taste it.
Why is Penang assam laksa so different from its contemporaries? Why doesn’t it use coconut milk when so many other laksa versions do? And while we’re at it, where does it come from in the first place?
It’s probably no suprise to anyone that dishes don’t just magically appear out of thin air.
Most cuisines are inspired by a variety of cultures, often through many varieties of ways.
For example, trade and migration were huge factors in creating, re-creating and transforming food. The movement of traders & migrants, as well as ingredients, created fertile ground for flavours and cultural tastes to intermingle, change and adapt.
Historical events such as colonialism, which had a huge effect on the movement of goods and people (cough), can also completely alter the culinary landscape of a place.
Add to this things like development, environmental and economic events, politics (yes, it truly does affect everything) and the scene has been set for the emergence of the modern Penang assam laksa.
Despite what the aunties will tell you, there isn’t really one authoritative history to why we have Penang assam laksa. But we can make some guesses.
Where does Penang Assam Laksa Come From?
Answering this question is a bit like untangling a 200-year old knot. We’re going to try to give a probable answer.
With many traditional dishes it’s hard to come by an authoritative, single origin or source. So much food is a result of change and evolution. And the older a dish is, the harder it can be to trace all the influences.
We can try to guess using the ingredients used in making this dish.
We do know that the Penang Assam Laksa has strong Hokkien Chinese and Javanese-Malay influences. The modern version has been strongly influenced by the Chinese Peranakan or Baba Nyonya community, who themselves embody hundreds of years of Chinese integration into Southeast Asian communities.
Penang had an important port during the colonial era, located in the capital of George Town. Though it wasn’t the most important maritime port for the East India Company, it was an important overland trade route for many local communities and kingdoms.
This put it in the perfect position to absorb influences from different places and make the most of ingredients that would otherwise be too expensive or unavailable.
Noodles were almost certainly a Chinese contribution
Tamarind may have been introduced to the Malay communities via trade with Southern Indian kingdoms. Though the plant itself likely originates from the southern part of the African continent.
Chilies, so common in Asian cooking, were introduced by the Portuguese.
The various garnishes like lemongrass and bunga kantan are likely a regional contribution as they are most widespread in Southeast Asian cooking.
The modern version of Assam Laksa we enjoy is almost certainly a combination of different varieties that have fused.
From a nutritional perspective, it’s an extremely efficient and energy-rich dish. This is something that is common to a lot of traditional street food. It’s also extremely good at using every part of the fish, ensuring minimal waste.
However, ingredients like pineapple wouldn’t have been affordable to most people before canning became widespread.
The kitchens of the wealthy Chinese Peranakan may have been an important flash point in the creation of modern Penang Assam Laksa
In the expansive kitchens of the wealthy Baba Nyonya families, laksa may have been served very much like French fine dining - luxurious versions of popular favourites, made especially for the extremely privileged.
Over the years, these two culinary extremes may have fused into what we are familiar with today.
Ironically, the ingredients that were expensive before are now cheaper. But the ingredients that were plentiful are now rarer and much more expensive.
But this is just one probable (at least, to us) origin. Like many traditional dishes, there are many myths surrounding the origins of assam laksa.
Many vendors will swear the dish is a Southern Chinese invention, brought by the migrants and refugees who moved to Penang throughout the 19th and early 20th century.
Others tell fantastical stories of laksa originating from the Hindu-Buddhist kings of India and Burma. People who believe this story often point to the word laksa sounding similar to the Sanskrit word lakshya, meaning one hundred thousand.
It’s a nice story, but correlation is not causation, and unfortunately there’s little evidence to support these tales. If you asked nicely, you’ll probably hear a few more - each more fantastical than the last.
Food can often inspire myths. Many traditional foods don’t have a recorded history, if any at all. Tracing their origins can be very difficult and sometimes all we have are the stories people tell.
It can be frustrating. But it can also be a lot of fun. And it does make our jobs more exciting.
Why Doesn’t Penang Assam Laksa Use Coconut Milk?
There are two ways to answer this question. The first is simply that if it did, it wouldn’t be Penang assam laksa.
The second is a lot more fun - food is like a story book. It can tell you a lot about how people lived through the ingredients that ended up in a dish. So let’s explore a possible answer.
Coconuts used to be prevalent in plantations in Penang during the pre-colonial and colonial era. They grow quite easily in Southeast Asia and that’s why they’re used so much in local cooking.
However, the residents of Penang also had access to seafood. In fact, many of the residents of Penang (and its pre-colonial Kedahan city, Bagan) made their livelihoods as fishermen. Therefore, fish was cheap and plentiful at the time.
But fish were not an easily transportable commodity, due to lack of refrigeration. Coconuts, in contrast, could be transported and therefore traded. As a result, locals preferred using fish as it was cheap and readily available, unlike ingredients like coconuts which were hoarded for trade and profit.
Many foods evolved to make use of and preserve seafood, including fish. The Penang assam laksa is one such example. Another useful example, although not specifically from Penang, is belacan.
There is however another Penang laksa that does use coconut milk. The Penang Laksa Siam or Laksa Lemak does not make many appearances on international foodie lists. It’s a rarer dish, but a local favourite nonetheless. This variation of the dish has strong Thai flavours (Thailand was formerly known as Siam and is sometimes still referred to as such, especially in North Malaysia.)
So is there any merit to the idea that locals developed recipes to make the most of seafood, hence creating the Penang assam laksa? Or maybe it simply evolved that way and no one wanted to fix something that wasn’t broken?
Unfortunately, we’ll never know a definitive answer. But learning new things by investigation is its own reward!
Ok so we said we weren’t going to do a list.
There’s no lack of listicles out there with the “best” laksa in Penang. We’ve been seeing the same list over and over again for over a decade. So we won’t repeat them here.
We try to avoid using the term “best” when it comes to food.
What’s “best” can be very subjective - some like stronger shrimp flavour, while others prefer a more balance in their bowl. There really isn’t an objective best, just the one that’s your favourite.
But we know you’re going to ask anyway. So we’ve included some of our personal favourite laksa spots below.
Pasar Air Itam Laksa & Laksa Bisu
If you’ve been googling laksa then you’ve likely come across the Pasar Air Itam laksa - Anthony Bourdain’s favourite laksa spot in Penang.
We wrote about this place way back in the before-times of 2016, in our Great Laksa Shootout. Since then it has developed an exalted status with travelers whilst the locals have formed contrasting opinions.
It’s still one of our favourites but some prefer a stall right opposite called Laksa Bisu. The general consensus is that it’s less shrimpy and more balanced. Others claim that fame has changed the flavour of the Pasar Air Itam laksa and now this is where the “real, authentic“ flavour resides.
We just think it’s a great excuse to order two bowls of laksa instead of one.
If you are visiting Laksa Bisu though, bear in mind that the owner is hearing and speech impaired. His sister takes orders or he’ll put up a sign you can point to when ordering .
Kim Laksa in Balik Pulau
Ok we kind of break our own rule here, but we were just super super excited. We wrote about this place in our Untouristy Penang Day Trip Ideas post, and we said the b word: best.
Here’s the thing: when a really local or traditional dish finds mainstream success, it can be really great for the vendors who’ve poured their heart and soul into it.
But it can also mean a parade of pretenders, sometimes brazenly bad at what they do, trying to cash in on the hype. We’ve had bowls of laksa cobbled together from cheap canned fish, tomato sauce by the gallon and a gossamer prayer that visiting tourists won’t know any better.
So, when we do find a place that excites us, we tend to become enthusiastic advocates.
Kim Laksa is one of these places. If you’re hunting some of the best laksa we’ve had, absolutely pay this place a visit. Best (bestest?) part: you can get both the assam laksa and siam laksa here.
Vegan Assam Laksa
Vegan laksa is a relatively new addition to the laksa family. It’s mostly being pioneered by small cafes or restaurants trying to offer vegan options of local favourites. And the results are actually pretty good.
A couple of our favourite vegan laksa places are Pin Xin and Yu Shan Ge. Their vegan laksas are delicious and satisfying, though obviously very different from the traditional flavour. Both these places have attempted to replace the shrimp and fish flavours with fruitier, mintier notes that are completely vegan. And honestly, we’re here for it.
Life is Short but Laksa is Long
So there you have it, pretty much everything to get you started on your Penang assam laksa journey - from how it’s made to where it comes from to where to find it.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned though - laksa, like life, is less about arriving and more about the journeying. Discovering new places, trying new flavours and realising that some things (like vegan laksa) can still suprise you is part of the fun.
Until next time, we wish you good health and great eating.