Every self respecting person with Peranakan roots will tell you that the best laksa to be had is made by their grandmother, mother or themselves. I think in my generation we all cheat with ready made paste or we vacuum pack our mother’s freshly made rempah (spice paste) along with homemade belacan.
Visiting friends are always asking me where to go for the best laksa, for a rich gravy I’d still recomment Sungei road and Katong Laksa. The latter (above) comes with lots of slice fish cake, a little too much, everyone asks for extra belacan chilli here so they charge for extra packets.
If you notice the traditional places always serve a bowl of laksa with a soup spoon and the noodles are cut up.
Well according to the Singapore Tourism Board, it’s their distinct characteristic. But, the interesting bit is historically, for practical reasons it was cut up.
In the old days, it was sold as street food from a pushcart and at one point, hawkers had to run from the police for “illegal hawking” on the streets the days before hawker centres existed. I can’t imagine standing on the streets using chopsticks trying to eat the noodles and slurp the gravy at the same time, so for practical reasons, noodles are cut up to be enjoyed with a soup spoon to shovel mouthfuls of gravy and noodles quickly.
“Its defining characteristic is the noodles: thick vermicelli cut into shorter pieces that can be easily slurped up with a spoon. At some stalls, you only get a spoon to eat the laksa – no chopsticks needed.”
Need more ideas on where to eat in Singapore? Check out this post. And my friend Ann, a food writer in St Louis wrote all about what she ate when she popped in to visit.
