Did you know that Katong Laksa is also the subject of an infamous ‘Katong Laksa War’? We explore the tale of three feuding laksa stall owners.
Is Katong Laksa on your list of Singapore local dishes to try when you are in town?
Claimed by many to be the national dish of Singapore, this delicious seafood noodle soup is known for its rich and spicy flavour. It consists of thick rice noodles steeped in a spicy coconut milk-based broth.
The broth is thickened with a homemade laksa paste – a chilli paste made from dried shrimp (hae bi) and flavoured with a blend of herbs and spices, including lemongrass, and galangal to give it its distinct flavour. Common ingredients include cockles, prawns, fish cake and bean sprouts.
Laksa comes in various regional styles, each having its unique taste and ingredients. The laksa most commonly found in Singapore is based on the Nonya (Peranakan) version of the dish, a marriage of Chinese and Malay ingredients.
For this reason, the most famous place to try Laksa is the neighbourhood of Katong, in the East of Singapore, an area known for its Peranakan heritage.
The story of the Katong Laksa War
But did you know that Katong Laksa is also the subject of an infamous ‘Katong Laksa War’?
This is a tale of three feuding laksa stall owners who all claim to have the original and the best version of the much-loved dish.
It all started in 1963
In 1963, the Ng brothers started selling laksa at no. 49 East Coast Road, under the tutelage of the older brother, Janggut (Mr Ng Juat Swee), a legend in laksa circles, who had been hawking laksa on the streets since the 1940s.
Then called Marine Parade Laksa (although locally known as Janggut Laksa), no 49 was extremely popular, and the only shop in the area selling laksa at the time.
So surely, this is the original Katong Laksa, no? Not so fast…
Enter Mrs Teo
Mrs Teo, the landlady of 49 East Coast Road, decided to cash in on the success of Marine Parade Laksa, and put her rental prices up in 1998. This forced the Ng brothers to move out.
The premises were taken over by Nancy Lim (now Nancy Koh), who re-named the coffee shop 328 Laksa.
Just a year later, however, the landlady Mrs Teo was back at her old tricks. She decided that she wanted to get in on the Laksa action herself. She evicted Ms Lim and renamed her coffee shop Famous 49 Katong Laksa.
Are you keeping up?
And then there were five
Ms Lim, undeterred by Mrs Teo’s actions, re-opened her 328 Laksa right across the road at no. 51. Meanwhile, the Ng brothers also returned to the area, opening up shop at no. 57.
Word was travelling fast of the success of the Laksa shops, and so two other shop owners also threw their hats in the ring, opening two more shops at numbers 45 and 47, respectively.
So all the lucky laksa lovers of Katong now had the choice of five laksa stalls at the junction of East Coast Road and Ceylon Road. Competition was fierce and people flocked from all over Singapore to see what all the fuss was about.
The original three
The newcomers were the first to back down and numbers 45 and 47 subsequently closed up shop.
For a while we were left with the original three shops, and competition remained heated. Mrs Teo remained at no.49 with her Famous 49 Katong Laksa, 328 Katong Laksa remained at no. 51, and the Ng brothers’ Janggut Laksa moved into Roxy Square, at no. 50 East Coast Road.
And then there were two
Sadly, the original shop where it all started at no. 49 East Coast Road is no longer a Laksa shop.
However, you can still visit 328 Katong Laksa at no. 51 East Coast Road, where it has been since 1999 under Nancy Koh. J
anggut Laksa can also still be found in Roxy Square, at no.50 East Coast Road, although it is no longer run by the Ng brothers, having been taken over by a family friend many years ago.
So now which is the original? And which is the best?
You be the judge!