Laksa Asam Penang

Penang's Asam Laksa — a sour, fish-based soup made from mackerel simmered in a tamarind broth with lemongrass, galangal, and torch ginger flower, then served over thick round rice noodles and topped with raw onion, pineapple, prawn paste, and mint — was ranked seventh in CNN's world's 50 best foods and is the most polarisingly flavourful soup in Malaysia: its intensity of sour, fishy, sweet flavour produces either immediate addiction or permanent aversion, with little middle ground.