Nana shared a write up about Malaysian food in the NY Times, published in 2006. I just wanted to reproduce this bit on asam laksa:
The bowl that arrived was a master class in contrasting textures and flavors, with each ingredient striking an almost perfect note: the rich and oily mackerel, the sharp mint and spicy sambal, the sour tamarind and sweet pineapples. And the thick, round white noodles were the chewy embodiment of “q,” the Chinese analog of al dente.
Yes. The right kind of noodles is oh-so-important. Soooo glad I’m not overseas when I read this. It would’ve been a very sad post for me. Now, I’m off to get my bowl of laksa.