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.
Since then in Johor, laksa Johor is always proudly made with spaghetti. In 2013, laksa Johor was declared an Intangible Heritage Object by the Malaysian Department of National Heritage.
Over in Singapore, nothing changed. Laksa was still made with thick laksa cap noodles hand made with rice and tapioca flour (like udon).
"Two territories, two laksa".
Today, that old laksa from the Johor Sultanate era is called laksa Kampung Siglap or laksa Siglap because the lady who made the laksa at home lived in Kampung Siglap in the 1970s. Her laksa Siglap was the most popular and famous. A young man helped her sell her laksa Siglap, carrying two large pots balanced on a bamboo pole across his shoulders walking from house to house in Siglap.
Authentic laksa Siglap has thick sauce made with ikan parang fish stock, coconut milk, kerisik (toasted grated coconut pounded into paste), asam gelugur, asam Jawa (tamarind), dried prawns, pounded fresh ikan parang fish meat, lemongrass, ginger, galangal, dried salted fish (ikan kurau) and aromatic spices.
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 😋
Who want to invite me ah? Thick skin 😂
Date: 30 May 2020 | Updated: 29 Oct 2022
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 |
Since then in Johor, laksa Johor is always proudly made with spaghetti. In 2013, laksa Johor was declared an Intangible Heritage Object by the Malaysian Department of National Heritage.
Over in Singapore, nothing changed. Laksa was still made with thick laksa cap noodles hand made with rice and tapioca flour (like udon).
"Two territories, two laksa".
 |
| 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 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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