Having not been back in Asia since 2018, I’ve had strong cravings for certain food, one of them being Asam Laksa. For anyone living in London, Dapur near Holborn do a very lovely version and I cried tears of joy when I tucked into my takeaway Tupperware from them recently.
I fortuitously stumbled onto a simple Asam Laksa recipe on YouTube recently and after researching similar recipes online, I decided to give it a go, sans torch ginger bud. Thanks to amazon, I managed to source a Vietnamese coriander plant, the leaves of which is a key ingredient for the dish.
This is a very simple version which worked well for me and satisfied my craving without trekking into London.
Ingredients: serves 2
- 2 tins of sardines in tomato sauce
- 1/2 red onion
- 2 handfuls of Vietnamese coriander
- 1 tsp shrimp paste
- 1 red chilli plus 3 dried chillies (reconstituted)
- 1 cup of water
- 2 to 3 tbsp tamarind juice (pulp plus hot water)
- salt to taste
Method:
- Blend the sardines, 1 handful of Vietnamese coriander, onion, chillies and water
- Pour the blended mixture into a medium pot and simmer for 25 minutes
- Whilst simmering, add the remaining Vietnamese coriander, tamarind juice and salt – taste, taste and taste!! You may need to add water if the mixture is too thick and do this gradually
- The sauce should be ready in 25 minutes
- Serve with boiled egg, mint leaves, sliced red onions, sliced cucumber, a wedge of lime and udon noodles (200g, blanched)
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