Lik Ming Toa Payoh Laksa

Looking back at the past 47 years, it is hard to imagine that a legacy is quietly brewing in a town called Toa Payoh.

Just as everyone from Singapore to Terengganu were debating about the Island’s independence from the Malay Peninsula in 1965, a humble man from Swatow; Tan Teck had only one thing in mind; how to feed his family of five and to escape the police from catching him and his pushcart.

47 years on when Modern Singapore are concerned about whether the country will still prosper in the next 50 years, this humble laksa stall had been passed on to the next generation whom is the eldest son and has settled down in its current home, Block 93 Toa Payoh Lorong 4.

 

Singapore has seen its fair share of new, created, recreated laksa stalls popping all over town but 1 thing for sure is Lik Ming has not changed the way they make the gravy and the friendliness expressed by the owners over the years.

My first contact with this laksa stall went back to the year 1999. I dropped by this food centre which does not have many well-known stalls but I was informed of this stall. As I was never a fan of laksa, I was quite skeptical when introduced to this stall but I have never looked back since.

What makes me love this particular stall over the many out there? The Gravy…because it is not too thick and does not overwhelm me with usual over dosage of coconut milk in many of the laksa I have eaten.

The stall owner is very generous with their ‘tau pok’ and cockles with plenty of bean sprouts all over. With the ‘tau pok’ soaked in the savory gravy rested on top of my spoonful of ‘chor bee hoon, I wasted no time! In less than a second, the mouthful has gone all over my senses and without me realizing, I was into the second spoonful of laksa!

In less than 3 years’ time, Lik Ming Toa Payoh Laksa will be celebrating 50 years along with our Nation and with hawkers of historical legacy dwindling by the numbers, do drop by this stall and enjoy the history of this stall.
If you manage to catch Tan Teck and his wife who are into their 80s’, don’t hesitate to stop for a chat as they reminisced 50 years of what has and could have been.

 

Signing Off,

I Eat I Breathe,

Food ‘K’ Maestro


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