Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Sardines to the rescue, on a scorching Penang afternoon!

While I maintain my conviction that mackerel or kembung is the secret to real Penang Assam Laksa, I was pleasantly surprised by my encounter with laksa using the OTHER much-maligned type of fish one peckish, HOT afternoon in Penang.

Parked under a majestic tree on the corner of Weld Quay and Gat Lebuh Acheh are a couple of crowd-pullers.

Filled to the brim with surely one of the fishiest broth there is! Yes, the sardine speaks the lingo here, folks; somehow, it works.

My Sardine Hate era is officially over. One bowl, laced with plenty of shrimp paste and bird's eye chilli isn't quite enough heat, even if it's 3PM and it feels like 45 degrees celcius.
Finish off with neighbouring stall's Ai Yu Ping, the most delighfully citrusy dessert in this temperature!

Nearby we spy Tua Pui Curry Mee and I recall reading this over at Lingzie's and Allie's whipping up some very fiery looking bowls of noodles but unfortunately, heatstroke is settling in and we hurry out of there for some reprieve from the crazy mid-year sun.

18 comments:

Sugar Bean said...

Haha, hot weather with hot food, that sounds really really hot! What dessert is that? Can't really tell from the photo what exactly it is.

cariso said...

Eat laksa to spice you up and then cool body down with Ai Yu, good lah you!

ck lam said...

I never seen this laksa stall till now...what a bowl...looks good.
Will sure to look out for it.

Rebecca Saw said...

Ohh..THAT Pg trip! The stall tht sells the fried bananas etc tht i twittered ya is just across the street!!
And I luv tht "Ogio"

J2Kfm said...

yeah, ate laksa with sardines before ... somewhere.

kinda matching, dun ya think?

Sean said...

omg, i think i used to frequent this stall back during my usm days! can't be sure though, since that was like 10 years ago. i hated pg assam laksa at first, but started loving it during my final semester. no rhyme or reason for that ... these days, i miss it with a vengeance!

hApPy HaPpY said...

gOOd morning, you have just make my saliva dripping lah at the sight of the laksa.. and tummy is now calling for mummum..got to look for real food now.

sc said...

i'm not a big fan of assam laksa, but this sure looks gorgeous!

HairyBerry said...

that is WOW bowl of goodness! i like my asam laksa just warm cos that's when the tastebuds are at their best. followed by a nice dessert, hot or cold. seems like yr experience is an ideal dream of mine!!

Bangsar-bAbE said...

Dang!! That sure looks like a yummy bowl of laksa! Somemore got cold dessert...BESTnya!

Selba said...

Wow! What a wonderful laksa.. never tried assam laksa before.

Ciki said...

chili padi looks killer hot!

Lingzie said...

my fav ai yu ping!!! never tried the laksa though... craving for a bowl now. and i love the goreng pisang stall opposite! (only open in the afternoons about 2pm onwards)

backStreetGluttons said...

A KL/Ipoh connoisseur swears that a terrific laksa must have a right balance of sardine fish and we tend to agree with him. Another Perak gourmand says there are 100 ways to make a good laksa.

The laksa here has the right Top 3 color and certainly falls under the Great Pg Assam Laksa category. The whiff is quite strong :D

minchow said...

Sugar Bean, it's like jelly, not sure what it's made from but Google says it's Fig? It's really lovely, just wobbly light jelly with a lychee, crushed ice and lemon wedges! HEAVEN!

Cariso, yes yes, perfect combination for crazy weather!

CK Lam, you can't miss it! It's in that area on Weld Quay with lotsa food in the afternoons!

Nomad Gourmand, yes! When you recommended I have fried fried food on that hot hot afternoon! Actually I missed the stall altogether opposite, so have to go back when I can take the heat!

J2Kfm, it works here, but I've honestly had some pretty nasty laksa made with sardines, which explains my Sardine Hate!

Sean, so you've done Penang time as well! Yes it took me some years to actually get used to the idea to laksa, and now, when the craving hits, it's BAAAD!

Happy Happy, hope you found something good! Not laksa in the mornings, I don't think??

SC, yes I really only can take laksa in a certain mood. Most of the time, prawn mee is still my top pick in Pg!

minchow said...

Nic, isn't it a dreamy combo? I wonder where I can emulate this successful snack undertaking in KL... hmmm...

Bangsar Babe, hey maybe you can help! Where can I get the same stuff here in KL? Need to shore up my haunts for the days when the craving hits!

Selba, oh this you MUST try! At least once!

Ciki, just nice to burn before cold of the ice dessert hits! :-)

Lingzie, yes Nomad Gourmand tipped me off about the stall but I didn't see it open the other day lah. Must go back! For the curry mee too!

BSG, ooh could you smell the fish from the blog post? Am glad! :-P

worldwindows said...

This is a must try. If only the soup is so thick with meat that it could not be stirred!

ai wei said...

yum yum yum!

my uncle always 'da bao' laksa from penang back to KL for my family! love penang's laksa.

i love ai yu bing too! especially for hot days like now.