Nyonya laksa is synonymous with Singapore laksa. The two most famous laksa brands in Singapore today are Janggut Laksa and Sungei Road Laksa. Both are Nyonya laksa and both have an unexpected Hainanese connection (which shouldn't be surprising once we look at Singapore's immigration history).
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| Nyonya in traditional kebaya dress. Image credit: Wikipedia |
Chinese traders started sailing south to the Malay Archipelago since the first Millennium to trade their silks and ceramics for spices, aromatic wood (to make incense) and hornbill casques to make ivory carvings. Their numbers peaked during the Yuan and Ming dynasties which had excellent political and trade relations with the Malacca Sultanate (1400 - 1511). A substantial Peranakan community was established in Malacca (and also in Batavia [Jakarta], Phuket, etc).
The Peranakan adopted many local Malay customs like clothing, language and also food culture. They created a unique hybrid cuisine known as Peranakan or Nyonya cuisine. Nyonya laksa is a dish in the extensive Peranakan culinary repertoire.
Peranakan are extremely proud of their cuisine and every family have their
own closely guarded heirloom recipes handed down the generations. In the
past, Peranakan womenfolk were judged in their suitability for marriage by
their culinary (and sewing) skills.
In the old days, unless you are Peranakan, you have little chance of tasting Nyonya cuisine (except being invited to a Peranakan home for dinner which few are so privileged). Peranakan as a community enjoyed relatively high social economic status in colonial Malaya. They would loathe the prospect of hawking their beloved cuisine in the streets to make a living.
How then did Nyonya laksa become common hawker fare in Singapore? Today, there is at least one Nyonya laksa stall in most Singapore hawker centres.
For the answer, we look at a later wave of Chinese immigration to Singapore in the 1800s to early 1900s.
Raffles landed in Singapore in 1819 and established a sea port after signing an agreement with Sultan Hussein and Temenggong Abdul Rahman of the Johor Sultanate.
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| Tan Tock Seng was one of the pioneers honoured during the bicentennial activities commemorating the founding of Singapore in 1819 by the British East India Company. Image credit: Wikipedia |
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| Qing Empress Dowager Cixi 1900. Image credit: Wikipedia |
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| Image credit: Wikipedia |
These new immigrants were known derogatorily as "Sinkeh" which means new guests or coarse new arrivals to distinguish them from the earlier immigrants i.e. Peranakan and Straits born Chinese.
Among the Chinese communities that came to Singapore, the Hainanese were last of the late comers, mostly arriving from the late 1880s onwards. By that time, the Teochew, Hokkien, Cantonese and Hakka were already firmly entrenched in their respective enclaves and also professions.
With most doors closed, many Hainanese found jobs as domestic helpers in wealthy Peranakan families and homes of colonial officials (ang moh lah... ). Helping out in the home kitchens, the Hainanese were exposed to Peranakan and Western cuisines. The recipes of Peranakan cuisine, in particular, were hitherto never exposed to outsiders.
What has Hainanese immigration history got to do with Janggut Laksa and Sungei Road Laksa?
Ng Juat Swee started selling Nyonya laksa around Katong in the 1950s. His short rice vermicelli noodles drenched in a fiery looking spicy soup of coconut milk infused with flavours from myriad spices became extremely popular.
As Ng Juat Swee had strands of hair growing out of a mole on his chin, his stall became known as Janggut Laksa (which in Malay means "laksa of the bearded man").
In the beginning, Ng Juat Swee sold his Nyonya laksa from two baskets balanced on a bamboo pole slung across his shoulders. Later, he operated from a coffee shop stall at East Coast Road together with his brother Ng Chwee Seng. As Janggut sold his laksa in Katong, many called it Katong Laksa.
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| Channel New Asia |
It is commonly assumed that Janggut learned the Nyonya laksa recipe from Peranakans. The original source of this assumption is lost through time due to lack of citations.
In this interview (segment 12:25 - 13:00), Ng Chwee Seng said that his brother Janggut learned the Nyonya laksa recipe in the 1950s from an unknown Hainanese man who was hawking the dish in the streets.
Ng Chwee Seng said, "有个海南人挑担卖叻沙 There was a Hainanese man who sold laksa on [bamboo] poles." Source: Mediacorp, Food Old Days, Season 1, Episode 15 Laksa.
In this interview (segment 6:40 - 9:15), 黄有宝 founder of
Sungei Road Laksa said that an unknown Hainanese man taught him the Nyonya
laksa recipe also in the 1950s.
黄有宝 said, "我以前遇到一个海南人, 他教我做叻沙. 那个海南人经常在我家出现. 他是一名船员, 在船上做厨师. 当时他五十多岁, 而我才十七,八岁."
Wong Yew Hwa said, "Long ago, I met a Hainanese man who taught me how to cook laksa. He often appeared near my home. He was a seaman who was a chef onboard a ship. At that time, he was in his fifties while I was 17 or 18 years old."
Source: Mediacorp, 本土味, 結霜橋叻沙.
Both Janggut Laksa and Sungei Road Laksa were founded in the 1950s, and
both founders who were non-Peranakan were taught by an unknown Hainanese
man. It is likely that the Hainanese men learnt the Nyonya laksa recipe
while working in a Peranakan home.
Janggut's Katong Laksa and Sungei Road Laksa were widely emulated. Nyonya laksa stalls sprung up everywhere in Singapore.
Today, Nyonya laksa stalls are ubiquitous in Singapore. Nearly every hawker centre has at least one laksa stall, most coffee shops, many hotels and some restaurants too.
We are grateful to the Perakanan for creating such a wonderful dish.
We thank the Hainanese for Hainanese chicken rice, Hainanese pork chop, Hainanese curry rice, Hainanese kopitiam. We should thank the Hainanese for making Nyonya laksa accessible to everyone too 😄✌
Janggut Laksa at Roxy 👈 click
Sungei Road Laksa 👈 click
Written by Tony Boey on 9 Sep 2020 | Updated on 3 Jul 2021 | Reviewed 6 Jan 2022
The Hainanese men in the old days elevated their cooking to such an art form, they are the ONLY ones which elderly Bibiks would trust to cater for Baba-Nyonya wedding and birthday parties.
ReplyDeleteNormally, these elderly acid-tongued Bibiks would be highly critical of other, younger Nyonyas' cooking. But when it came to the Hainanese chefs, they are full of praises.
Thank you for your interesting insight :-D
DeleteThis is the first time I have been aware of 'Janggut Katong laksa' and 'Sungei Road laksa'. This article could provide more information about the characteristics of these two variants of laksa to help enlighten readers and to provide insights on what makes these laksa dishes different-unique ingredients(taste,texture,etc)-wise.
ReplyDeleteThere is no nyonya laksa, nyonya kebaya nyonya kueh. All robbed from Malay and claim theirs.
ReplyDeleteThere is no nyonya laksa, nyonya kebaya nyonya kueh. All robbed from Malay and claim theirs.
ReplyDeleteI took pains to try and read your excellent work on tracing the roots of laksa, and the influence of hainanese although through the words of Janggut's brother. I grew up in the Katong region late 1960s and 70s though not entirely a katong boy but went to Fowlie school which is now defunct. I hung out with classmates who stayed in Ceylon Rd where the corner coffee shop Janggut ply their ware. In 1976, I was paired to sit with Lim Kah Hong whose family ran Marine Parade laksa but their stall was in Roxy (present Roxy Square then had a small corner of hawkers). Hence, beside Janggut, there was Marine Parade laksa who after katong moved to East Coast Lagoon hawkers and stayed there for a long time. They later moved to Timbre up north and there after not sure if they are still selling laksa. 328 was a very much later entrant.
ReplyDeleteThey are originated and recipe conjured by Peranakan.
ReplyDeleteThey hire hainan chef to cook for them, hence recipe has to be passed and leak to them.
And if war hits.. their wealthy tow kay ran into hiding with the British for years.. u think the hainan workers will safe guard the recipe when they can make a living out of the recipe and sell it at stalls ?
That’s my idea la. I think.. if I was the Peranakan. I will not be the type to micromanage. Oh wait.. i am a Peranakan. lol.
If from Peranakan, melaka n penang don't have katong version laksa wor
ReplyDeleteThe some fallen Peranakan probably sold it to earn a living. In Penang, Indian vendors sold nyonya kuehs. It was a shame for them to sell by themselves.
ReplyDeleteA certain paste manufacturer here actually got their recipe from the old bibiks who frequent their shop to get their rempahs made. Due to the work needed, as they grow older, they rather get others to make it for them. Little by little, the manufacturer could deduce which rempah was for which item, and then began to sell it as small pkts. This is one of the reasons why the recipe is open these days, although each family may have variations as such.
ReplyDelete