Would you believe it, if I tell you all these ingredients....approximately 20+ of them and 4 hours preparing and cooking....
....this is all you get !!??? Imagine all the hard work, and gone within seconds into the stomach !!???
....so why cook it ?
This dish is getting rare these days, eventhough you can find in some of the nyonya restaurants,...it no longer has the authentic taste anymore. I have xplore most of the nyonya restaurants in Klang Valley and not to my liking. Furthermore, for this small bowl you see will cost you about RM 15.00 to RM 18.00....now you know for all the hard work this is the price you pay for.
Why so expensive ? Well, it's like chicken and egg story ! Because it's time consuming and the ingredients are hard to find,...the price is high,....so when the price is high,....people might not want to eat this....so where does this lead to....extinction !...of it's kind ! The new generation don't even know what is this !
So, before this dish disappear from our menu, I start to learn the recipe, introduce to all my food connoisseurs....and pass the recipe around.
Try it out and share with your friends the recipe Perut Ikan.
Trust me,...no regrets !
Try to go green ???!!!! I always love green, green raw veggies with sambal belachan,...but not everyone can accept having just green without any other dish. Well, sambal belachan is tasty and a pungent dip to go with, cincalok or budu would be lovely too,....but I have tried most of it and running out of choice.
So let xplore what other choice we have ! I was in Thailand a few days ago and I came across some cute looking containers look like this...
Looks suspicious and tempting ! Let's see what can we do with this !!!???
Preparation: Dried shrimp (Soaked), Garlic, Tiny Eggplant, Thai Shrimp Paste, Chillies
Smashed the Dried Shrimp, Garlic, Tiny Eggplant, Thai Shrimp Paste and Chillies in a mortar or pestle.
Mixed all the ingredients and add in Fish Sauce, Brown Sugar and Lime Juice.
Voila ! Done !
This is how it looks like. Taste pungent, sweet, sour, salty and HOT !
Serve with steamed rice and raw veggies. Healthy stuff ! Try this for a change !
Honestly, the origin of the name "laksa" is unclear. One theory says it is referring to a type of vermicelli. Second theory says that "laksa" may also be derived from the meaning "spicy sand" due to the dried prawns which make the gravy taste extremely sandy. Well just THEORY ! There are many version of Assam Laksa depending where you are eating; Kedah, Johor, Ipoh, Sarawak...& not forgetting the famous Penang Assam Laksa.
The recipe I am sharing with you is the Penang Assam Laksa,....Nyonya Style,....this is not the Nyonya Laksa or what they called Laksa Lemak.
This recipe is from a typical nyonya auntie from Penang. Interesting !..., the differences between this Nyonya Assam Laksa and the one you get it from the Penang hawker stalls are; the is the colour is a bit yellowish, strong aroma & taste from the shallots, lemongrass, turmeric,...etc. BUT...taste good.
Try this for change !
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First prepare the laksa paste; shallots, turmeric, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, dried chillies & belachan. Blend together till become paste.
Cut and clean the fish. Bring water to boil, add the fish. Boil for approximately 5 minutes. Remove the fish and let it cool down before you flake it. Boiled the remaining bones again for another 5 minutes. Strain the fish stock into new/clean pot.
Add the laksa paste ingredient, tamarind juice, tamarind peel & polygonum leaves, and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. Then add the fish flake boiled for another 5-10 minutes. Salt and sugar to taste.
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Serve with toppings; slice pineapple, cucumber, onion, lettuce leaves, ginger flower, mint leaves & final touch...prawn paste (Har Ko).
Serving for 6paxs
Ingredients
Paste
200g (15)Shallots
10g Dried Chillies, soaked
50g Galangal
50g Turmeric
60g 2-3 Stalks Lemongrass
10g Garlic
15g Belachan
Stocks
800g Mackerel (Kembung Fish)
2Liters Water
40g Polyganum Leaves (Daun Kesom)
20g 2 Stalks Lemongrass, Bruised
150g Tamarind Pulp (Assam Jawa)
5g Tamarind Peel (Assam Keping)
Toppings
300g Cucumber, cut into thin strips
100g Lettuces Leaves, cut into thin strips
40g Mint Leaves
200g (1/2) Pineapple, cut into thin strips
50g Ginger Flower (Bunga Kantan), sliced finely
5tbsp Prawn Paste (Har Ko), mixed with hot water
300g Laksa Noodles, scalded
1tbsp Salt, or to taste
1tbsp Sugar, or to taste
