🇸🇬 SingaporeCatalog recipe · Katong
Short-cut rice vermicelli drowned in a fiery coconut-shrimp broth with prawns, fish cake and clams — spooned, not chopstick-eaten, the way Katong's coffee shops insist.
For 4 servings.
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Peel the shrimp and simmer the shells in 800ml water for 15 minutes to build a quick stock; strain and set aside.
Blend the soaked chilies, shallots, garlic, galangal, lemongrass, dried shrimp and shrimp paste into a smooth, thick paste.
Fry the paste in a splash of oil until it darkens and the oil separates, about 8 minutes — this step decides the whole broth.
💡 An undercooked paste tastes raw and sour; keep frying past the point that feels like enough.
Add the shrimp stock and coconut milk, bring to a gentle simmer, and cook 10 minutes to marry the flavors.
Add the clams and simmer until they open, about 5 minutes, then add the shrimp and tofu puffs and cook until the shrimp turn pink.
Blanch the vermicelli separately, then snip it into short lengths with scissors into each bowl, along with the fish cake and bean sprouts.
Ladle the hot broth and seafood over the noodles, and finish with mint or laksa leaf.
Peranakan cooks in the Katong and Joo Chiat district shortened their laksa noodles into bite-sized lengths so the whole bowl could be eaten with a spoon alone, no chopsticks required — a detail still argued over by rival stalls each claiming the 'original' recipe. The coconut-rich, dried-shrimp-thick gravy sets it apart from clearer, sourer laksas found elsewhere in the region.
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