Daniel Humm, well-known chef, and co-owner of the renowned restaurant, Eleven Madison Park, in Manhattan, New York, says that, “in seasoning food, acidity is just as or even more important than salt.” His most common question to his cooking staff is “where’s the acid?” He further states that “acid just makes food better.”
Sourness is one of the five basic tastes and is an indication of the degree of acidity or acid content of the food or drink you are consuming. To recapitulate, pH is a scale used to indicate the acidity or alkalinity of a water-based solution. It is a measure of the hydrogen+ ion activity in a solution. The greater the number of these ions the more acidic and sourer the taste is. On a scale of 0 to 14, acidic solutions have a lower pH, while basic solutions have a higher pH. At room temperature, pure water is neither acidic nor basic and has a pH of 7.
Asam laksa is just one of the many Malaysian favorites that emphasizes the prominence of sourness in its cuisine. To those unfamiliar with Asam Laksa, it is a spicy noodle soup dish popular in Malaysian cuisine. Asam Laksa consists of thick wheat or rice noodles served in sour piquant soup.
Sourness:
Sourness in Asam Laksa is based on two sources, i.e., asam gelugor (garcinia) and asam jawa (tamarind). Asam Jawa provides the base sour note for the gravy. It is normally sold in two forms, the wetter paste version – mainly found in Southeast Asia, and the drier compressed version – found in South-Asia and Africa. The paste version is less sour than the drier version with a hint of sweetness. How sour you want your dish to be depends on the version and quantity used. The other provider of sourness, Asam Gelugor, gives a sharper, tangier boost to Asam Laksa. Different versions of laksa present different versions of sourness, e.g., mellow, sharp.
Asam Jawa/Tamarind 
Asam Gelugor/Garcinia
Piquancy:
In my version, I use three types of chilies to achieve the level of piquancy (commonly referred to spiciness or hotness) desired. Fresh red chili and dried chili give the dish its level of spiciness but those who are addicted to the unique sensation of pain caused by chili, just add a few bird chilies for an added kick.
Sweetness:
Asam laksa comes in different versions: Malay (also variations within the Northern states), Chinese and Peranakan (Malay/Chinese hybrid). The degree of sweetness varies from totally zero to slightly sweet. My version is very tangy, and I temper the sourness with a higher amount of sweetness, using table sugar.
Savory taste:
Fish provides savory taste to the laksa and different versions of laksa uses different types of fish. The Malay version mainly uses Kembong (Mackerel) and Sardines. Senangin (Threadfin) is also very popular fish for the dish. Actually, you can incorporate any type of fish, limited only by availability, cost, and imagination. The other thing that fish brings to Asam Laksa is the degree of sumptuous fishy smell (totally not the repulsive kind) that gives the dish its unique character. You can literally smell yourself to a laksa stall from far away! It’s that alluring. And if fish is not enough, we then add the “oomph” ingredient – Belacan (Southeast Asian shrimp paste). Combine the two and you have something special, and fishy.
What makes Malaysian Asam Laksa special? It’s the combination of sour, savory, sweet and piquant tastes, and flavors that orchestrate themselves to create a truly unique noodle soup dish. I doubt Daniel Humm would ever ask, “Where’s the acid?” when it comes to Asam Laksa. He’d probably wonder about the “nice fishy smell” though.
Bon Appétit.
Raguan® 