When you ask Singaporeans about laksa, most will immediately think of Nyonya or Peranakan laksa. It is the Malay - Chinese fusion curry laksa attributed to Peranakan (Malay for "local born"), exemplified by Katong laksa. Katong laksa has an interesting history.
Singapore has another laksa, known as laksa Siglap or Malay laksa but today, only six places sell this dish (compared to Nyonya laksa which is sold in hundreds of places in Singapore including hawker centres, coffee shops, restaurants, and even hotels).
Where to get laksa Siglap in Singapore 👉
What is laksa Siglap?
It is also known as laksa cap or chap, Malay laksa, or laksa Singapura and has many siblings like laksa Johor and laksa Pahang.
Laksa Siglap has basically three components:
Rice noodles,
Kuah (Sauce),
Garnish.
Together, the thick round rice-sago noodles are served in a pool of thick rich sauce made with coconut milk, grated coconut pulp, herbs, aromatics, spices and ground fish (ikan parang or ikan kembong).
The dish is garnished with julienned cucumber, bean sprouts, and chopped daun kesum (laksa leaf).
It is eaten with sambal.
The history of laksa Siglap is fascinating.
It is the laksa of the Johore Sultanate
The Johore Sultanate was the successor of the Malacca Sultanate which fell to the Portuguese in 1511.
The domain of the Johore Sultanate stretched from the Riau Islands, through Singapore, Johor, Pahang to the Anambas.
The base of Portuguese Malacca was centred around the fort in the city. The Johore Sultanate was at war with Portuguese Malacca until the latter was finally dislodged by a Johore-Dutch alliance in 1641.
The footprint of the laksa genre which laksa Siglap belongs traces roughly the domain of the Johore Sultanate.
The thick fat noodle is at the heart of this laksa. It was originally a rice noodle.
The sago in the rice noodle likely came later with the arrival of the Bugis in the 17th century.
After the Mollucas Islands (in east Nusantara / today's Indonesia) fell to the Dutch in the 17th century, its indigenous people, in particular the Bugis moved west to get away from the colonialists.
Many came to the Malay peninsula and the Riau Islands where they settled and integrated into the local Malay communities of the Johore Sultanate.
The staple carb of the Bugis is sago, the food culture which they brought along to Malaya and the Riaus.
We can deduce that the rice and sago blend of laksa noodles go back to the 17th century following the Bugis' migration to West Sumatra, Malaya and the Riaus.
Rice and sago flour is mixed with water to knead into dough. The dough is then pressed through a perforated mould to make the laksa noodles. Hence, the rice-sago noodles are sometimes called laksa cap / chap or pressed laksa.
This recipe for making Laksa Palembang in the Oost-Indisch Kookboek or Dutch East Indies Cookbook published in 1866. It is a recipe for rice noodle and uses no sago at all. This is evidence of the southern geographic limit of the Johore-Bugis rice-sago noodle culture.
The laksa kuah or sauce is the soul of the dish - it reflects the maritime nature of the Johore Sultanate - grounded fish, dried shrimp, aromatics, herbs and spices held together with coconut milk.
All ingredients which the maritime Johor Sultanate was richly endowed.
The dish is garnished with julienned cucumber, bean sprouts, chopped daun kesum (laksa leaf) and a dollop of sambal.
Daun kesum is a definitive ingredient to the extent that it is called laksa leaf - to laksa purists, it is not a laksa if there is no daun kesum.
Then, there is the cucumber which must be cut in a specific way.
The cutting method is tedious and time consuming, but it is transformational, making the slivers of cucumber firm, juicy crunchy.
Combining the crunchy cucumber slivers with the tender spongy rice-sago noodles gives the signature textural experience of this laksa.
A succession crisis in the Johore Sultanate in 1811 attracted colonial intervention. The Dutch backed one contender Tengku Abdul Rahman, while the English picked another, Tengku Hussein Shah.
In 1824, Britain and the Netherlands split the Johore Sultanate into two - the Riau-Lingga Sultanate under the Dutch and the remaining Johore Sultanate under the English.
The Johore empire was split but the geographic footprint of rice-sago noodles with a fish, coconut, and spice sauce still unified the Johore Sultanate and Riau-Lingga Sultanate spheres of influence.
The laksa split between the Johore Sultanate and Riau-Lingga Sultanate came in the late 19th century.
Johore's Sultan Abu Bakar ordered the switch from rice-sago noodles to spaghetti after he fell in love with the Italian pasta following a visit to Rome and the Vatican in 1885.
Laksa Johor was born and it was a spaghetti dish with fish, coconut milk and spice sauce.
In 2023, laksa Johor was gazetted by Yayasan Warisan Johor as a Heritage Food of Johor.
The idyllic Tanjong Siglap - beach, coconut palm, the sea - ideal country for laksa with a sauce of fish, herbs, spice and coconut milk.
Here in Singapore, the rice-sago laksa did not make the switch to spaghetti.
The Malay community still make and enjoy the rice-sago noodle version.
According to oral accounts, a lady in Kampung Siglap village made the dish in the 1970-80s and a man sold her dish on baskets across his shoulders.
Hence, it became popularly known as laksa Siglap today.
When enjoying a bowl of laksa Siglap, remember it is a legacy of the Johore Sultanate and it has a sibling in laksa Johor.
Laksa Johor and laksa Siglap reflect the split of the Johore Sultanate into Riau-Lingga and Johore's remaining domain in Malaya.
Written by Tony Boey on 4 Jan 2026
Who is Tony Johor Kaki?
When people speak about laksa in Singapore, the first things that come to their minds are Katong laksa and Sungai Road laksa. Not many would think of Siglap laksa. But, Siglap laksa is much older than Katong and Sungai Road laksa, and deserves a lot more recognition than it does now.
While Katong laksa is thriving commercially, Siglap laksa which has an older vintage remains relatively unknown and is in serious danger of going extinct in the foreseeable future.
[Siglap laksa is grammatically correct in English. In Malay, the correct name is laksa Siglap. In this post, I shall use the Malay name to honour it as a Malay dish.]
For the story of laksa Siglap, we first hop across the border to Johor and back in time to the era of the Johor Sultanate.
Singapore was part of the Johor Sultanate and was its capital from 1819 to 1824. In 1824, the English and Dutch signed a treaty carving control of Malaya and Indonesia between themselves. Singapore was taken out of the Johor Sultanate and put under British Straits Settlements rule together with Malacca and Penang.
During the Johor Sultanate era, there was already a laksa. After 1824, it became "one laksa, two territories".
Then, events in the late 1800s, led to today's "two territories, two laksa".
Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor who ruled from 1886 to 1895 visited Europe and fell in love with spaghetti there. When he returned to his palace in Johor, he instructed his chef to make laksa Johor with spaghetti.
It turned out that Italian spaghetti and the traditional fish, spice and vegetable sauce of laksa Johor go perfectly together. Laksa Johor was never going to be the same again, in Johor.
Singapore was part of the Johor Sultanate and was its capital from 1819 to 1824. In 1824, the English and Dutch signed a treaty carving control of Malaya and Indonesia between themselves. Singapore was taken out of the Johor Sultanate and put under British Straits Settlements rule together with Malacca and Penang.
During the Johor Sultanate era, there was already a laksa. After 1824, it became "one laksa, two territories".
Then, events in the late 1800s, led to today's "two territories, two laksa".
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| Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor. Image Credit: Wikipedia |
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| Laksa Johor |
Over in Singapore, nothing changed. Laksa was still made with thick laksa cap noodles hand made with rice and tapioca or sago flour (like udon).
"Two territories, two laksa".
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| Siglap beach in 1879. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore |
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| Ikan parang sets laksa Johor, laksa Siglap apart from other laksa |
The dish is garnished with raw onion, bean sprouts (taugeh), daun selasih, Vietnamese coriander or daun kesum, cucumber, and pickled white radish. A dollop of sambal belacan chili at the side for more spicy kick.
A bit of zest from a squeeze of fresh lime completes the ritual to start digging into the noodles. Traditionally, fingers were the cutlery for eating finger licking good laksa Siglap.
You can imagine how wonderful it tastes 😋
Read Faeez's recipe for the laksa cap noodle and laksa Siglap sauce.
Another excellent laksa Siglap recipe is by Global Gastronaut.
There's a hawker stall selling laksa Siglap in Geylang Serai hawker centre but it is not good says my buddy Adam of the halalfoodblog. I trust his reviews. You really can't blame the hawkers. It is impossible to make an authentic laksa Siglap and sell it for a profit at Singapore hawker prices capped at around $3-4. The same can be said of laksa Johor too, but perhaps the situation is not as acute there (as costs are lower and selling price is slightly higher).
So, there you have it, laksa Siglap. Probably Singapore's oldest and original laksa.
The only way to have it now is to make it yourself using Faeez's or Global Gastronaut's recipes. Or, if you are lucky enough, one of your Malay friends may invite you over for Hari Raya, wedding or other special celebration 😋
Update:
With much thanks to buddy Mark, we found a good rendition of the elusive Laksa Siglap at Warung Selera Masakan Kumpung by Kak Ani in Joo Chiat.
Date: 30 May 2020 | Updated: 29 Oct 2022
Jimmy Yap said on Johor Kaki Facebook: "If you want a good version of this type of laksa, go to the food court at the back of Joo Chiat Complex. It is sold at the stall that has ayam penyet. They use kembong. Ikan parang is too expensive. Their ayam penyet is also very good as is the sambal that goes with it."
ReplyDeleteMy mom was from kampung siglap jalan sempadan. And i was staying there til ard 1987. Back in the 50s-60s my mom and other teens around her age would sometimes ‘help’ the cooks(yes there were more than 1; in fact there were ard 3 different cooks with similar recipes) just to earn extra cash. They would be given the task to make laksa chap noodles by turning the special dispenser which sits above the pot. And they were paid according to the quantity of laksa chap that they made . Back then, the cooks would be supplying to different stalls and the demand was high. Yes, unfortunately these days it isn’t a popular cuisine amongst Singaporeans especially the younger generation. Mostly because it isn’t a common dish u would find at the hawker centre. Partly due to increasing prices (materials etc) But this dish has been passed down from generation to generation and i would still see them whenever we have family gatherings or weddings
ReplyDeleteMy mom was from kampung siglap jalan sempadan. And i was staying there til ard 1987. Back in the 50s-60s my mom and other teens ard her age would ‘help’ the cooks(yes there were more than 1; in fact there were ard 3 different cooks with similar recipes) just to earn extra cash. They would be turning the special dispenser which sits above the pot of boiling water and they would be paid according to the quantity of laksa chap that they made. The cooks were supplying to different stalls/sellers and the demand was high. Unfortunately these days, it isn’t a popular cuisine in Singapore especially amongst the younger generation. Partly because u don’t get to see it often at the hawker centre. The recipes has been passed down from generation to generation and at present i would only get to savour it at my own home, family gatherings/weddings/other special occasion
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for the wonderful insight. Appreciate much (by Tony)
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