In Georgetown, Assam Laksa and a Jelly Ice Treat

We've been obsessing about laksa assam.

You see, we've probably made 8 or so trips to Penang in the last three months. Penang is laksa assam ground zero. We love laksa assam. But we've consistently been coming up short.

I'm unimpressed by the famous Air Itam laksa assam. We revisited the site of a crabby old lady dishing up perhaps our favorite version ever, only to find her gone. Her replacement, a very young man who apparently knows not what it is to pour one's heart and soul into a dish, served us an insipid, overly sweet mess of a noodle.

We hit another well-known stall in a coffee shop on Penang Road. My notes read:

Not particularly sour, not particularly spicy. Thin broth, where's the fish? Not bad, not great.

Hardly a ringing endorsement.

A local directed us to an afternoons-only stall at the edge of a field opposite the well-known Padang Brown hawker center. It doesn't rate a mention. We didn't even finish our meal.

We continued our search. For a dish that's considered one of Penang's most iconic, laksa assam is surprisingly thin on the ground there. Then on Monday, as we were heading out of town, we passed a laksa assam stall on Weld Quay. It possessed all the indicators of a potentially great street food experience.

Ramshackle tables - check. Unobtrusive, to the point of entirely missable, signage - check. Vendor of a certain age - check. Gaggle of customers, some with two bowls in front of them - check. 

And an honest-to-goodness mobile set-up, attached to a bicycle - Huge. Check. This guy's been at it a while, we ascertained.

Let me say right off the bat that this version lacks pineapple and has not quite enough fresh cucumber and mint leaves for our taste. We like the zing and textural interest that the fresh ingredients add to a bowl of spicy, sour, and fishy soup.

Nonetheless, it was a laksa assam we were very happy to have made a sudden, slightly wreckless U -turn for.

The broth wasn't too thick, but deeply fish-flavored and packed with plenty of shredded fish flesh. The vendor makes his laksa assam with fresh sardines; he was pulling cooked fillets off the bone when we arrived.

No cloying sweetness here. While we could always stand for a bit more assam (sour), this bowlful had a decent enough pucker. It was plenty fiery, but not so much so as to overwhelm its other flavors.

The vendor's been dishing up his stuff for twenty years. He's proud of his product, in an understated way.

Bonus: he's parked right next to a stall selling old-fashioned shaved ice treats. We ordered one that combines clear jelly with a lychee and a piece of fresh lemon in a clear, lightly perfumed sugar syrup (pandan syrup was also an option).

What is it? I've no idea (and isn't this amazing -- after four years of steady street eating in Malaysia we're still coming across unknown-to-us specialties), but it's fabulous.

Poke the lemon slice with the side of your metal spoon, stir, and slurp. What you get is a wild combination of intense fragrance (the syrup, we assume), sharp sourness, a touch of bitterness from the lemon rind, and a textural double whammy of jagged ice clumps playing off soft, wobbly jelly. Completely refreshing.

We got back in our car and headed for the bridge, rubbing our bellies and grinning like idiots.

Laksa assam and shaved ice vendors, on Weld Quay at the corner of Gat Lebuh Aceh. 2-7pm, Mondays off.

Comments

[q]

will have to check this place out next trip :)

[han]

hi there, my all time favourite laksa at Khean Hooi Restaurant in Perak Road, opposite the Sum San Primary School. operating hours are short...like noon to 16:00 hrs and the pots are empty.

[Sputnik]

The dessert should be Ice Jelly or Ice jelly cocktail (with canned fruit), we have version of it in Singapore and it's usually with Kalamari lime...One of my fav local desserts, refreshing and made for the tropics!

[allie]

I have always wanted to try this laksa! The dessert is call O Kio :)

[J2Kfm]

truth be told, the only asam laksa (that's what we call them, in Malay) i vaguely rmbr to be good was the one in Ayer Itam market. dirty, but memorable. but that was my one and only visit.

i've since stayed away most laksa. there's one near Sunshine Square near PISA (sorry, it's been years!) that's rather good, at a shop named BB or something.

the dessert in Cantonese is called 'Wan Tau Long', or Ai Yi Ping Jelly, if i'm not mistaken.

[Account Deleted]

To me, it looks like it's missing the shredded banana flowers. But the fact that it's thick with fish makes it a winner. I'm salivating.

When are you guys coming back to Kuching?

[thenomadGourmand]

my fav! not the laksa but the dessert. u can catch her on Chulia St in the evenings.

[K L Chong]

The desert originates from Taiwan and is called Aiyu jelly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiyu_jelly

To make your own Aiyu jelly
http://protocolsnow.wordpress.com/2008/01/18/how-to-make-ai-yu-jelly/

[Rasa Malaysia]

Most Chinese laksa in Penang is sweet, but give me a bowl of laksa--whether or not it's sweet, I still love it to death. Sometimes, I do opt for the Malay version of laksa, commonly found on the coast of Tanjung Bungah and also Bayan Lepas's coastal highway. I think the best laksa is found in small neighborhoods, such as the one in Jalan Tengah, Bayan Baru. Sold by Chinese, it is sour and spicy, with just a bit sweetness.

[Pattabi Seshadri]

You're so right, the best food stalls have poor signage and middle-aged staff! Reminds me of this tiny chi tuey stall I used to go to in Taipei, where the 60 y.o. proprietor would point an old, dusty table fan at the chicken to circulate air around it. Best leg of chicken I've ever had.

[Chris]

The dessert stall has been there for at least a decade, I remember eating there in uni days :) Can't wait to go try the laksa there, it always looks packed.

[Andy]

Brings back great memories as I was in Georgetwon last month. The food there was amazing - wish they made soups like this over in the UK!!

Thanks - http://onceuponathyme.wordpress.com

[Charlotte]

I love ice jelly! But I like the sea coconut dessert more! If you have a chance, you have to try it!

[saida]

i love asam laksa to death too. fortunately have a malay friend here in Indy that makes pretty mean laksa with canned mackerel!!! growing up in the early 70s in perak we had this indian guy selling laksa all over kuala kangsar's remote villages. for 20 malaysian sen we got a bowl full of yummy laska as our daily snack!!!!!! i can't help but to compare this to my kids very unhealthy snacks of today :(

[Preeta]

You wrote:

"Isn't this amazing -- after four years of steady street eating in Malaysia we're still coming across unknown-to-us specialties..."

I grew up in Malaysia, lived there until I finished Form Five, and still discover unknown-to-me specialties from time to time :-) . Am I just biased, or would this be impossible in any region of the world other than Southeast Asia?

[Robyn]

Thanks all, for info on the jelly treat.

Preeta - Hmmm. I might broaden that to Asia in general, so that I could include Taiwan and India, which are also home to amazing street food scenes!

[3hungrytummies]

Can't get good asam laksa in Melbourne so I made some instead!

[Marts Aziz]

Laksa should be sour and not sweet, and fresh fish should be used instead of canned. The broth must be thick as well(with flaked fish) not thin and watery.

Suddenly craving for laksa after reading this.

[Rick]

Assam Laksa, what a classic. Got to be on my Top 10 Desert Island Dishes list. Have to say that we quite like the Air Itam version and usually have to eat at least one bowl there when in Penang. What do you think of the Siamese Laksa at Balik Pulau?

[Jenny]

The best assam laksa that we've had, the one that stood out even after all these years, was from this hawker stall on mainland Butterworth, on the corner of the former Chung-Khiaw bank along Jln Bagan Luar- rich, super-flavorful broth with chunks of mackerel and optional servings of fishballs. And the ice kacang stall next to it was mighty good too. I can't wait to have laksa - Penang assam laksa (none other can compare) when we visit at the end of the year! We will definitely check out the stalls at Weld Quay. Thanks for the recommendation.