Hawker converts Japanese food stall to sell dry laksa, now has 45-minute queues

A new stall at Ci Yuan Hawker Centre in Hougang has been drawing long queues lately, and it sells only one dish, dry laksa, with customers waiting up to 45 minutes during peak hours to get their order.

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But up until March this year, Ah Huay’s Dry Laksa was a generic Japanese food stall called Tamako Ramen-Ya. Its young owners Xavier Teo, 34, and Jacky Luong (pictured below), 33, decided to convert the stall to sell dry laksa because it’s “something not every eatery has”. The duo had also noticed that a laksa stall at Ci Yuan had closed down, and took the chance to propose setting up a new laksa biz to the hawker centre’s management team, who approved their request.

The laksa one finds in a hawker centre usually comes with gravy. Dry laksa is essentially a stir-fried version of the OG dish, cooked with the requisite rempah (spice blend) and key laksa ingredients like coconut milk, thick bee hoon, fish cake, tau pok and prawns.

Typically, you will have to fork out more money to order dry laksa from higher-end restaurants like National Kitchen by Violet Oon, or home-based businesses like Let’s Jiak.

It is relatively less common in a wallet-friendly hawker setting, which Xavier reckons is because it requires “more steps than making soup laksa”. To make their dry laksa, he explains they have to “cook the noodles first, put it in a tub to absorb the gravy, then fry it one more time [when people order it]”. 

Jacky saw a good business opportunity in serving this unique dish, which explains why he wanted to “bring it to a hawker centre to see if people like it”. He broached the idea of opening a dry laksa stall to Xavier, his F&B pal with whom he had been working for eight years. Prior to Ah Huay’s Dry Laksa, Jacky used to work at Xavier’s Thai restaurant Nakara Thai Cuisine.

Better biz since making the switch

Ah Huay’s Dry Laksa has gotten quite a bit of traction since the hawker started selling the noodle dish three months ago. Jacky says the stall now brings in “a few hundred [dollars] more” daily averaging at about $1,000 a day, a significant jump from when it was offering Japanese dishes. He reckons it’s because “Japanese food only [appeals to] youngsters”, while laksa has a mainstream appeal and draws older customers as well.

Grandmother’s laksa recipe

Jacky tells 8days.sg that the stall is named after his granny Ah Huay, from whom he learned how to cook dry laksa. As his retired grandmother used to run a street stall selling dry laksa in Penang, he wanted to spread the popularity of her recipe in Singapore.

Dry laksa with Japanese side dishes

While Ah Huay’s Dry Laksa only offers one signature main dish ($5/$8), Jacky and Xavier kept five side dishes from their previous Japanese-centric menu. This includes Homemade Potato Salad ($3.80), Age Gyoza ($3), Mini Tako ($5.80), Ebi Fry ($5.80) and Tori Karaage ($5.80). Jacky tells 8days.sg that they decided to retain a few side dishes to “let people know we used to have this Japanese brand”.

Dry laksa, $5/$8

Instead of a bowl, our lightly spicy dry laksa was served on a plate. There is no gravy, but the thick al-dente bee hoon soaked up the rich flavour of the robust rempah paste. We wish there was a more generous coating of it, though. While we like the springy fish cake and fresh prawns, we find ourselves hankering for a little more laksa oomph. The spongy tau pok, however, catches more of that toothsome thick paste.

Homemade Potato Salad, $3.80

There is nothing to nitpick about this standard issue Japanese potato salad, which is tossed with mixed beans and mayonnaise. Yummy enough, but too carb-heavy together with the dry laksa.

Mini Tako, $5.80

An izakaya favourite in a hawker centre. The chewy baby octopus, marinated in a sweet teriyaki sauce, is slathered in a savoury black bean paste to serve. Seafood lovers would probably enjoy this side, but some may find the overpowering taste of the black bean paste a little too strong to pair with the laksa.

Age Gyoza, $3 for 4 pieces

The nicely crispy pan-fried gyoza here is stuffed with juicy minced pork, fish paste and veggies. Not bad for the price.

Bottom line 

While Ah Huay’s Dry Laksa has great rempah-infused flavour, it could do with a heavier lashing of laksa paste to make up for the comforting milkiness of soupy laksa. Make sure to tell Jacky you want more ‘sauce’.

Ah Huay’s Dry Laksa is at #01-17 Ci Yuan Hawker Centre, 51 Hougang Ave 9, S538776. Open Tue-Sun 11am-2pm, 6pm-9pm. Tel: 9685-1157. More info via Facebook.

Photos: Kelvin Chia

No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.