Lau Hong Ser Rojak - Penang shrimp paste, handmade sauce since 1974

Rojak is a dish defined by its assembly, and few hawkers treat that assembly with as much deliberation as Lau Hong Ser Rojak at Dunman Food Centre. The stall has served a single dish since 1974, mixing fruit and vegetables with you tiao and beancurd puffs into a sauce built on shrimp paste from Penang. What sets it apart is the refusal to shortcut any part of the process: the peanuts are toasted and ground in-house, the chilli paste is made from scratch, and the you tiao and tau pok are grilled over charcoal to order, one plate at a time. The result is a plate assembled and tossed by hand, in front of the customer, and it is worth understanding piece by piece.

Lau Hong Ser Rojak began in 1974 and has stayed in the same location ever since, making it one of the longer-running rojak stalls in Singapore still operating from where it started. Mr Lim came into the trade through his father, who hawked rojak from the 1960s; he began by helping out as a boy and eventually took the stall over. More than five decades on, the recipe and the method have stayed consistent, and the family remains involved, with his wife assisting and his children occasionally seen at the stall. That continuity is part of what draws long-time Katong residents back, as the plate they receive today is made the same way it was decades ago.

The rojak is the only thing the stall makes, offered in five sizes from S$3 to S$8 so it can serve as a snack or a light meal. A plate brings together pineapple, cucumber, turnip and bean sprouts, cut into bite-sized pieces and folded through with charcoal-grilled you tiao and tau pok. The vegetables are prepared to hold their crunch, with the cucumber and turnip staying crisp against the density of the sauce, while the pineapple is cut in generous wedges that carry a natural sweetness through the dish.

Everything is tossed to coat evenly in the sauce before a final dusting of ground peanuts is added over the top. It is a composed plate rather than a heaped one, with each ingredient cut to a size that lets the sauce cling without turning the dish heavy.

The Handmade Sauce

The sauce is the element that separates this stall from most others, because almost none of it is bought in ready-made. Its base is hae ko, the thick, dark shrimp paste that gives Chinese-style rojak its savoury depth, and the stall sources this specifically from Penang. To that, Mr Lim adds his own chilli paste and a peanut component that is toasted and ground on-site rather than purchased as pre-made powder. The finished sauce is thick and heavily savoury from the shrimp paste, carrying a measured level of heat and a sweetness that runs through the whole plate. Because the peanuts are ground in-house, they sit somewhere between a fine powder and a coarse crumb, adding texture as well as fragrance rather than simply thickening the sauce.

Charcoal-Grilled You Tiao and Tau Pok

The you tiao and tau pok are grilled over charcoal to order, which is the reason a plate here takes longer to reach the table than at most rojak stalls. Grilling the you tiao crisps its exterior and warms it through, so it holds up against the wet sauce for longer before softening. The tau pok, or beancurd puff, is given the same treatment, taking on a light char at the edges that carries a faint smokiness into the dish. This step is done fresh for each order rather than in advance, so the two components arrive warm and toasted rather than pulled from a holding tray, which is what allows them to contrast with the cool, crisp fruit and vegetables in the same mouthful.

The Century Egg and Cuttlefish Variation

Alongside the classic plate, the stall offers a second rendition that adds century egg and grilled dried cuttlefish to the mix. The cuttlefish is grilled before being cut into the rojak, giving it a chewy texture and a concentrated savoury flavour that stands up to the shrimp paste sauce.

The century egg brings a soft, custard-like richness that is unusual in rojak and works against the sharper, fresher notes of the pineapple and cucumber. This version turns the dish from a light snack into something more substantial, and it is the natural next step for anyone who has already worked through the standard plate.

Lau Hong Ser Rojak has built its reputation on doing one thing thoroughly for more than fifty years, from grinding its own peanuts to grilling each plate’s you tiao over charcoal to order. For a dish that lives or dies on the quality of its assembly, that attention is the whole point, and it remains one of the most distinctive rojak stalls in the Katong area.

271 Onan Road, #02-14 Dunman Food Centre, Singapore 424768
Opening Hours: 3:00pm – 2:00am (Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat); Closed Wednesday & Sunday
Tel: +65 6346 6519
Facebook: Lau-Hong-Ser-Rojak