Best eats: Our top 3 picks for a bowl of luscious, lemak laksa in Singapore
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All-time eats: Our top iii picks for a bowl of luscious, lemak laksa in Singapore
In this week's installment of Makan Kakis' "national dish" mini-serial, GOLD 905 DJ Denise Tan heads north, south and east (sorry, Westies!) for some of Singapore's virtually celebrated laksa.
Gilded 905 DJ Denise Tan tries out three of the best laksa in Singapore for this week's Makan Kakis installment. (Photo: Kelvin Chia)
xiii Aug 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 03 Jun 2022 05:50PM)
I had an enthusiastic argument with a friend recently about laksa. I was so sure that likewise beingness a phonetic translation, "la sha" also meant "spicy sand" in Standard mandarin.
Not the almost palatable of comparisons, simply I was determined because laksa is indeed spicy and a good gravy frequently is shot through with so many finely minced ingredients from the spice paste and dried shrimp, that information technology does take a texture that resembles moisture sand.
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Also, sand calls to heed the sea, and the sea calls to heed seafood, the flavours of which are front and middle in laksa. Right?
Actually, I was wrong about the Standard mandarin translation, but that's my story and I'1000 sticking to information technology.
In much the same way, when it comes to where the best laksa can be found, foodie feuds and fierce debates abound – everybody has their own opinion.
So when Gilded 905 listeners voted for a National Day series featuring Singapore'southward all-time local dishes, laksa came in a solid second with several favourites coming to the fore.
To be clear, we're referring to laksa lemak – noodles in a kokosnoot-based back-scratch soup and oftentimes served in proud Peranakan homes.
Recipes may vary from kitchen to kitchen, but most hold that the spice paste, or rempah, has to take the right residuum of herbs, spices and seasoning (my mother'southward laksa lemak recipe has 15 ingredients for the rempah alone!), along with proficient quality coconut milk, hae bee (dried baby shrimp) and seafood stock (fish or prawn), to make a rich, tasty back-scratch soup.
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Tau pok (fried beancurd puffs), fishcake, cockles and beansprouts have also become standard ingredients, along with thick bee hoon (rice vermicelli) and a sambal (chilli paste) as a additive on the side. But mayhap the most of import ingredient, known for its distinctive aroma and flavour, is daun kesum. The herb is besides known as laksa leaf for adept reason.
Over the years, dissimilar hawkers constitute fame with their own special version of laksa lemak. And then whether you lot prefer your laksa without hum (cockles), or a gravy that'south thick and creamy, or noodles eaten with a spoon instead of chopsticks, here are 3 recommended places we think are noteworthy.
KATONG LAKSA
Start of all, permit's address the elephant in the room. Aye, there are several laksa stalls all bearing the name of the East Coast area from which they started, each with their own fanatical following.
But allow's not argue which is the all-time or the near original. This is only i of many delicious laksa experiences worth enjoying, especially when y'all meet the chatty man behind Katong Laksa, located at a row of shophouses along Changi Route.
George Ng is friendly and enthusiastic about his signature noodles, and even at 8.30am on a rainy day, he treats anybody similar an old friend, calling out greetings to customers as he prepares their orders.
This particular Katong laksa was started in 1955 by Ng's begetter, who learnt the recipe from i of the original purveyors of the dish, who was nicknamed Janggut, aka Disguised One.
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Ng's family has operated out of many locations in the East and were previously at Telok Kurau Road, earlier moving to their current location ii and a one-half years ago. Katong Laksa now shares the space in a coffeeshop with a drinks stall and a bak kut teh stall.
The 2nd generation bell-ringer revealed he has iii secrets to preparing laksa, based on Janggut's orginal recipe. He won't share those with anyone only he was willing to reveal this niggling nugget though: No pre-packaged kokosnoot milk.
Instead, he extracts it himself daily with a special automobile that saves him time and try. George told me proudly: "I bought it for S$8,000 from Prc. Coconut milk must always be fresh, otherwise the laksa gravy won't be equally rich or tasty."
Indeed, information technology was exactly every bit he said – a actually enticing basin of steaming hot laksa that carried the glorious fragrance of spices and shrimp. It had good color, brightened past shiny orange spheres of oil floating atop a creamy broth that was absolutely jampacked with goodies.
"Every week I take to sit down for hours and skin 20 kilograms of lengkuas (galangal in Malay), onions, all by hand," said Ng. "Everything has to be made from scratch. Turmeric has to exist fresh, non powdered. And y'all have to control how much you employ, for the right colour."
Even so, those 20 kilos only yield iii pots of gravy, which he and so has to estrus very slowly over a fire – a testament to how labour-intensive making a expert laksa is.
In my bowl, I could come across the rempah had cooked downwards, leaving a fine sediment that mixed beautifully with lots of umami basis hae bee (dried baby shrimp) to actually thicken the coconut milk. Picayune curds had formed, white specks dispersed throughout the goop, which Ng said was deliberate. "My fresh coconut has a lot of adept fats and I desire to see all those little white dots forming."
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I'grand no culinary chemist, but I did think those coconut milk solids enhanced the chunky texture of his laksa gravy.
Ng took his time to blanch his thick bee hoon in the broth before pouring lots more over. For South$v, a medium-sized basin was filled with beansprouts, four slices of prawns, a spoonful of cockles and thinly-sliced fried fishcake.
To finish, he garnished with a generous portion of fresh shredded laksa leaf and a dollop of his homemade chilli paste. It had a very pure chilli taste and a slight tang to lift the richness of the gravy. "Information technology'due south just dried red chilli, season, add a petty bit of the laksa rempah, grind to a paste and that's it," Ng shared.
I enjoyed the thick bee hoon and aromatic soup and then much, it wasn't till I'd reached the bottom of the bowl that I realised this laksa doesn't come with tau pok. I hadn't missed it though, even though information technology'south one of my favourite ingredients.
Another thing sets this Katong laksa apart from the rest – the noodles weren't cutting upwardly for eating only with a spoon. Instead, my chopsticks were put to skillful utilise, navigating through the delicious flotsam and jetsam of the outstanding gravy to excerpt delicious morsels for tasting.
Rich, creamy and super flavourful, George Ng's Katong Laksa puts the luxe in laksa. Yous don't need extras similar lobster or abalone for that touch of luxury, it'due south all in his lemak gravy, infant! Too, as he explained: "Passion. You lot don't have that, forget it!"
Located at 307 Changi Road, Singapore 419785. Opening hours from 8am to 3pm (closed on alternate Tuesdays). Call 9023 7360 to guild in advance or for pick-up.
SUNGEI ROAD LAKSA
For those who desire a lighter, milder laksa, Sungei Road Laksa is a name that really needs no introduction. Their popularity is obvious from the constant queues and barrage of signs that greet customers.
"Declaration: there is no other branch for Sungei Road Laksa." "Cocky-service." "Eat 2 hours after purchase." "Takeaway minimum $4 (Big) + twenty cents per container upon request."
"No separate packing of gravy and noodles." "No pork no lard." "No chopsticks." "No photography and videography."
Intimidating guidelines, until you realise these are answers to questions they've probably been asked likewise many times!
In contrast to their rather short signage, service was polite and efficient, honed from years of experience. Sungei Road Laksa was an extremely well-oiled machine, run with absolute precision and at-home.
The solar day I visited, iii ladies were hard at work preparing for the start of business. Bowls were being portioned with thick bee hoon, ingredients carefully laid out, big dilapidated silverish pot full of their famed gravy at the ready, sitting over a charcoal stove that was being stoked.
Guided by retractable queue barriers, complete with safe-distancing floor markers, customers had gathered even before the stall was open. We all watched the flames flare and bank in impatient anticipation.
Loyal customers will insist that cooking over charcoal makes the laksa taste superior, but I didn't detect any unique smokiness in the gravy myself. Perhaps the effect is psychological, the traditional cooking method playing on feelings of nostalgia.
I would concede though, that we eat with all our senses, outset with our eyes and nose, so perhaps the sight and smell of burning charcoal heightens the overall gustation experience.
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Served in light pink bowls on nighttime blueish trays, the Sungei Road Laksa was cut into shorter strands and eaten with a spoon. Their gravy had a thinner, soupy consistency, with a hint of coconut milk.
At kickoff, I thought it wasn't anything to shout about, but the savoury crustaceous broth base really developed in natural sweetness with each spoonful. The flavour took a more subtle arroyo, gently coaxing tastebuds awake.
Then said tastebuds came roaring to life when their hae bee-heavy chilli paste was mixed in, along with finely julienned laksa leaf, which was by far the freshest and most effluvious I had tasted.
Their noodles were very tender from several dunks in the soup pot. I watched every bit they were blanched and strained several times, allowing the soup to be fully captivated into each strand. Ingredients like cockles, thick slices of fried fishcake and beansprouts were included in generous portions.
For an additional South$1, I ordered extra cockles, which were really plump, juicy and very fresh. Those little jewels of briny-sweetness were definitely a highlight.
Ultimately, Sungei Road Laksa is a great choice if you capeesh a more delicate, less cloying experience. This is a good bowl you can slurp down to its last drib without feeling guilty or uncomfortable. And at merely S$3 per dainty serving, it was easy on the wallet and the tummy.
Located at 27 Jalan Berseh, #01-100, Singapore 200027. Opening hours from 9.30am to 4pm (closed on Wednesdays).
928 YISHUN LAKSA
Head to Yishun Central for what many say is the all-time laksa in the N of Singapore. And after enjoying ii bowls in 1 day, I accept to agree.
928 Yishun Laksa gets its name from its location at a block of flats. The twenty-year-quondam family business operates out of a basis floor space tucked abroad in a corner. You might miss information technology if non for the persistently long lines. Good affair too, because their brightly-lit signboard features desserts, not laksa.
But believe me, no one was in that location for sweets. I arrived after dejeuner at 2.45pm and there were already 11 customers ahead of me. And they just kept on coming. Fortunately, the queue moved pretty fast, considering this was clearly another tightly-run operation.
One lady took orders from queuing customers, relaying them to another in the kitchen, who prepped the bowls and by the fourth dimension I reached the cramped corner counter, my order was ready on a tray, primed for self-service garnishing.
Alert: The steely admirer behind the counter doesn't suffer fools. I was the fool who had to be told to help myself to the chilli paste and chopped laksa leaf. I was the fool who asked which bowl was large and which basin was pocket-size. I was the fool who dared to ask for a receipt.
So make sure you know your orders well and pay upwards as briskly equally they serve yous – they have a never-ending stream of customers to feed.
Counter hiccup bated, this is one laksa that is, quite simply, delicious. At just Due south$3.30 for a big basin, I was pleasantly surprised at how many ingredients they packed in.
As well the hearty portion of chewy, al dente thick bee hoon (yellowish noodles and thin bee hoon were other options), I found thick slices of fishcake, cockles, half a boiled egg, surimi (false crab stick), beansprouts and my favourite fried tofu puffs (finally!). Add together South$i for extra cockles and l cents for all other ingredients.
Their laksa gravy had the boldest seasoning of the lot, aromatic with herbs, spices and dried shrimp, which were amplified by the superb chilli paste. This was the most pregnant component, showcasing the deep, funky alkali of hae bee chased by a spicy boot. Though not as lemak equally some Nyonya laksa, there was enough coconut milk in the gravy for it to have a silky richness.
The laksa leaves, however, didn't have much flavour. They had been cut into such tiny pieces that they had shrivelled & dried upwardly. Information technology could accept been my mail-lunch timing, so I had to brand exercise with the tasteless herbal confetti left on the counter. Finishing up, I noticed that the queue had grown even longer. I fervently hoped they had replenished their laksa foliage basin for the hungry horde.
Still, the long lines tin't exist incorrect. 928 Yishun Laksa's affordable prices, punchy flavours and plentiful ingredients go along customers coming back and so would I. Even afterwards a 25-infinitesimal drive to Yishun and twenty-minute look in line, I would brave Grumpy Uncle to empty 2 solid, satisfying bowls in but x minutes once again.
Located at 28 Yishun Fundamental ane, #01-155, Singapore 760928. Opening hours from 8.30am to 7pm (closed on Wednesdays).
Grab Makan Kakis with Denise Tan every Thursday from 11am on GOLD 905.
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/dining/best-local-food-singapore-katong-laksa-259136
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