It was a hectic day dan lack of sleep. We left Ampang at 1.30 am for Parit on Thursday morning. It was quite a surprise to see lots of cars on the road but our journey was smooth to up north. We arrived Parit around 4 am and I immediately get right down on my project.
If you read in my past posts, I like to take charge of the kitchen on raya morning. Once in a while my sister prepares her specialty which mostly comes in pre-mixed packets which I do not favor. Since this year she did not celebrate 1st raya with us, I stepped in and offered my services. So, I decided to cook Assam Laksa. Mom didn't object. In fact she called me up to add more of the laksa noodle. All 6 kgs of them.
4:25 am - Among of the ingredients required to prepare Assam Laksa.
I prepare a mean Assam Laksa, the classic Penang style. It all started when we were staying in Penang in the late 80's. My sister and I would walk from our Green Lane house to a small housing area ( can't remember the name maybe Taman Free School?) to ta-pau Assam Laksa. The old Chinese lady must have been preparing laksa her whole life. It is the authentic Assam Laksa. Little by little I tried to recreate the original. I think I came closed several times, to my best taste bud knowledge. Please, we stayed in Penang for almost 3 years and I can tell you, we have tried so many version of Assam Laksa but we kept going back to the old Chinese aunty's laksa. We loved her laksa.
Maybe to some people, Laksa is just laksa. No big a deal, right? But to laksa lovers they will hunt down to get the ultimate laksa taste to satisfy their own craving.
Assam Laksa is my signature dish on Raya morning at mom's. It has been said countless time, when you cook, you cook with love. And that's what I did. It made me feel special that my relatives do look forward to my Assam Laksa. All day today I had so many complimentary comments like, "Wow, bestnya!", and "Macam laksa kat Gurney Dr." and lots of nodding and happy faces. Ada yang dah dapat laksa, sat quietly at one corner and dig into their bowl of laksa. Hihihihi.....Happy giler.
While trying to organize myself to start with the laksa preparation, I helped myself to my FIL's rendang manis which I brought from Ampang. I saw mom had already prepared nasi impit or "pressed rice". Apalagi bedal la.....
Nasi impit and rendang manis.
After one and a half hour, my Assam Laksa is almost ready.
Condiments for Assam Laksa.
Top view of the condiments. Left to right:cut chillies, lime and mint leaves. Next is salad leaves, sliced cucumber, pineapple, sliced red onions, and the end of the photo, chopped bunga kantan and petis udang. Laksa is not laksa without all of the above. By the way, I left out the laksa noodle from the picture.
And of course, this is Kuah Assam Laksa.
How many bowls of Assam Laksa I had? 4!
Hope you guys had a good Raya. Happy holidays!
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