| Katong Laksa | |
| Creator: | Peranakans |
| Country: | Singapore |
| Course: | Main course |
| Served: | Hot |
| Main Ingredient: | Coconut milk, rice noodles, fried tau pok (fried tofu puffs), chili, dried shrimps, prawns, laksa leaf, and fishcake |
Katong laksa is a variant of laksa lemak inspired by the Peranakans who live in the precinct of Katong in Singapore. It has an orangey-yellow colour spicy soup stock, flavoured with coconut milk and dried shrimp, topped with ingredients like cockles, prawns and fishcake. The defining feature of Katong Laksa is that the entire dish can be eaten with a spoon alone, without chopsticks or a fork, as the noodles are normally cut up into smaller pieces.[1]
The term "laksa" may have derived from the Chinese word 辣沙 (Cantonese: [làːt.sáː]), meaning "spicy sand" due to the ground dried shrimps which give a sandy or gritty texture to the sauce. The name "katong" was used to refer to an exotic species of sea turtle that has since gone extinct.[2] It can also mean the rippling effect of the sea mirage when looking at a shoreline. Katong is a residential precinct located in the estate of Marine Parade in central Singapore. Katong laksa was so named due to its origins in the area.
The dish was first popularised by brothers Ng Juat Swee and Ng Chwee Seng, who started selling the noodles in a coffee shop along East Coast Road in 1963. Four rivals had popped up along the same stretch of East Coast Road by 1999, and many of them had names with “Katong laksa” in it.[3]