Most of the world thinks of laksa as a bowl of rich coconut curry. Penang disagrees. Its asam laksa contains no coconut at all: the broth is built from poached mackerel, flaked and returned to the pot, soured with tamarind (asam in Malay) and given its heat and color by a pounded paste of chili, shallot, lemongrass, galangal and turmeric. It is ladled over thick, slippery rice noodles and finished with a heap of raw, cold things: pineapple, cucumber, onion, mint and slivers of pink torch ginger flower. A spoonful of hae ko, a thick black prawn paste with the texture of molasses, goes on last and is stirred in by the eater.

Laksa belongs to the Peranakan kitchen, where Chinese and Malay cooking met, and this sour version is now one of the great hawker plates of Penang, sold from stalls and markets all over George Town and beyond. In 2011 a CNN list of the world's 50 most delicious foods placed it seventh, a ranking Penang has never once been shy about mentioning.

It is sour first, then hot, then sweet, then fragrant, and the first spoonful tends to wake up every part of the mouth at once. That makes it a fine dish for a race weekend afternoon in the tropics, or for any grey day that needs waking up.

The spice paste

Ingredients

• 6 to 10 dried red chilies
• 3 fresh long red chilies
• 6 shallots
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 lemongrass stalks
• 1 inch (2.5 cm) piece fresh galangal
• 1 inch (2.5 cm) piece fresh turmeric
• 1 teaspoon (5 g) belacan (shrimp paste)
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) water

Method

1. Put the dried chilies in a small bowl and cover them with just boiled water. Leave them for 15 minutes, then drain them and discard the water.
2. Wrap the belacan in a small square of foil and set it in the dry frying pan over medium heat. Toast it for 2 minutes on each side.
3. Put the soaked chilies, fresh chilies, shallots, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, turmeric and toasted belacan into the blender with the water. Blend for 1 to 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides with a spatula, until smooth. Add another spoonful of water only if the blades are spinning without catching.

The fish broth

Ingredients

• 2 lb (900 g) whole mackerel
• 10 cups (2.4 liters) water
• 2 lemongrass stalks
• 4 slices fresh galangal
• 4 stalks Vietnamese mint
• 1/2 torch ginger flower
• 3 1/2 oz (100 g) tamarind pulp
• 1 cup (240 ml) hot water
• 3 slices asam gelugor
• 2 tablespoons (25 g) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt

Method

1. Pour the water into the large pot and add the lemongrass knot, galangal slices, Vietnamese mint and torch ginger flower, if using. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the fish in gently, turn the heat down so the water barely bubbles, and poach for 10 to 12 minutes.
2. Lift the fish out with a slotted spoon or spatula onto the plate and leave it to cool for 10 minutes. Keep the pot of stock on the stove with the heat off.
3. Peel off and discard the skin. Pull the flesh away from the backbone with two forks, then go through it carefully with your fingers and pick out every small bone. Break the flesh into small flakes. Put the head and bones back into the stock.
4. Bring the stock back to a simmer with the bones for 15 minutes to deepen the flavor, then pour it through the sieve into the large bowl. Discard everything left in the sieve, rinse the pot and pour the strained stock back in.
5. Put the tamarind pulp in the medium bowl and pour over the hot water. Leave it for 5 minutes, then squeeze and rub the pulp with your fingers to loosen it. Pour it through the sieve into the stock, pressing hard on the pulp with a spoon. Discard the seeds and fibers.
6. Stir the spice paste, asam gelugor, sugar, salt and two thirds of the flaked fish into the stock. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring now and then. The rest of the fish is kept for the top of each bowl.
7. Taste a spoonful. It should be clearly sour first, then hot, with a gentle sweetness behind it. Add more sugar a teaspoon at a time if it is too sharp, more salt if it tastes flat, or a squeeze of lime if it needs more sourness. Fish out the asam gelugor slices.

Noodles and garnishes

Ingredients

• 14 oz (400 g) dried laksa noodles
• 1 cup (165 g) fresh pineapple
• 1 small cucumber
• 1 small red onion
• 4 lettuce leaves
• 1 small bunch mint leaves
• 1/2 torch ginger flower
• 2 fresh red chilies
• 4 teaspoons hae ko (prawn paste)
• 2 limes

Method

1. Cut the pineapple, cucumber and onion, shred the lettuce, pick the mint leaves and slice the torch ginger flower and chilies. Arrange them in small piles on a plate and keep it in the fridge. Stir the hae ko with the hot water in the small bowl until it is smooth and pourable.
2. Bring the second pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles according to the packet, usually 6 to 8 minutes for dried laksa noodles or 1 minute for fresh. Drain them in the colander and rinse briefly under warm water so they do not stick together.
3. Divide the noodles between the four bowls. Bring the broth back to a rolling boil, then ladle it generously over the noodles so they are fully covered. Top each bowl with a small mound of the reserved fish flakes and a little of each garnish.
4. Drizzle a teaspoon of the loosened hae ko over each bowl and tuck a lime wedge on the side. Tell everyone to stir the paste through as they eat.

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