The Laksa Queen’s Secret to Good Street Food in Singapore

Madam Koh's "secrets" are not about flashy techniques but about a deep, abiding respect for the process.

The Gospel of Good Ingredients

"You cannot cheat your ingredients," That's what Madam Koh believes in. This is her first and most important rule. She speaks of waking up at 4 AM to visit the wet market, not just to buy, but to build relationships with street vendors and hawker stalls. She knows the fishmonger who saves the freshest prawns for her and the vegetable seller who understands the exact type of galangal she needs. Her coconut milk is squeezed fresh daily, never using packaged ones that lack soul. This dedication to sourcing is the foundation of all good street food in Singapore; it’s a non-negotiable starting point that separates the good from the legendary.

The Dance of Tradition and Technique

While she honors the traditional Peranakan methods she learned from her grandmother, Madam Koh is not entirely against change. The key, she says, is to understand why a technique exists before you adapt it. Her grandmother used a charcoal stove. It gave a beautiful smoky flavor, but it's not practical today. Madam Koh, on the other hand, uses a gas stove, but she have learned to control the flame to mimic that slow, even heat. She insists that the rempah (spice paste) must still be slow-fried for at least an hour to release its full aromatic potential. This step is where the flavor is born. Rush it, and your laksa will be flat. This slow-fried spice paste is similar in importance to the preparation of other iconic Singaporean food, such as bak kut teh and Hainanese chicken rice, where the chicken broth and fragrant rice are essential.

Consistency is Everything

One of the biggest challenges for any hawker is maintaining consistency. A dish must taste the same on a quiet Tuesday afternoon as it does during a chaotic Saturday lunch rush. Madam Koh’s solution is meticulous preparation and a reliance on muscle memory. She believes that customers return for a specific taste they remember, and betraying that memory is the quickest way to lose their trust. This consistency is what makes dishes like char kway teow, Hokkien mee, and bak chor mee so beloved at food courts and hawker centres across Singapore.

Knowing Your People

She pays close attention to the people who line up at her stall. She knows who likes extra cockles, who prefers less chili, and who is trying her laksa for the very first time. This intimate understanding of her community’s palate is crucial. It’s this connection that transforms a transactional meal into a personal interaction, making her stall feel less like a business and more like a family kitchen. This personalized approach is also evident in other popular noodle dishes like prawn noodles and bak chor mee, where the right balance of chili sauce, sambal chili sauce, and other condiments makes all the difference.

What Makes Singapore's Street Food Scene Unique?

"What is good street food Singapore? It's our history in a bowl." Madam Koh believes Singapore’s street food culture is distinct because it is a direct reflection of the nation’s multicultural identity. Within a single hawker centre, you can travel from China to Malaysia to India in just a few steps. This proximity creates both competition and collaboration, inspiring vendors to perfect their craft.

Unlike a standalone restaurant, a stall on a busy food street or in a hawker centre is part of an ecosystem. The energy is communal, the environment unpretentious. The focus is purely on the food. There are no fancy decorations or elaborate service rituals to hide behind. The dish must speak for itself.

This vibrant scene is where you find incredible food stalls offering Singapore food classics like Hainanese chicken rice with its fragrant steamed rice, or the iconic chilli crab served with fluffy rice and a spicy sauce. You can enjoy hawker stalls dishing out char kway teow, a stir fried noodle dish using flat rice noodles, or bak chor mee, a popular noodle dish topped with minced pork and pork lard. The hawker centres also serve Malay dishes such as nasi lemak, with its coconut milk-infused rice, peanut sauce, fried egg, and anchovies wrapped in banana leaf, as well as Hainanese curry rice accompanied by braised pork belly and braised cabbage.

The diversity extends to snacks like carrot cake made from rice flour and daikon radish, or soft boiled eggs served alongside kaya toast, a breakfast staple made with condensed milk and coconut jam spread on toast. Other beloved items include prawn noodles, fish head curry, and bak kut teh featuring pork ribs simmered in aromatic broth, often enjoyed with a cup of Chinese tea. This rich tapestry of flavors and dishes is what truly defines good street food in Singapore."