Chinatown Stories | Updated as of June 2019
Brewing Nostalgia Singapore-style kopi traces its origins to early 20th-century Chinese immigrants. Some of the best versions can still be savoured right here in Chinatown.
The traditional coffee found at coffee shops (or kopitiams) has been a part of Singapore culture for more than a hundred years. Also known as Nanyang coffee, kopi has its roots in the waves of Chinese immigrants who sought their fortunes in Singapore, in the Nanyang (“South Sea” in Mandarin) region of Southeast Asia.
In the early 20th century, Hainanese immigrants arrived in Singapore later than most other dialect groups of Chinese immigrants. Many of these men had worked aboard British ships as cooks, so when they settled here, they recreated the food that they had made and sold them. Putting a twist on British breakfasts, they introduced their own version of coffee, toast and eggs – kopi, kaya (coconut and egg jam) toast and soft boiled eggs – to hungry migrants. Kaya replaced Western fruit preserves and jams, as the local community was poor and could not afford them.
Life those days was difficult, and the early coffee brewers had to make do with cheaper ingredients. Robusta beans were used instead of the traditional Arabica variety because they were cheap and could better grow in the Southeast Asia climate. Robusta also has a strong and bitter taste, with a higher caffeine content than Arabica, so early coffee brewers had to balance the flavour with sugar and condensed or evaporated milk (fresh milk was also considered expensive).
To extract the most flavour from the beans, coffee roasters adopted a unique roasting process by “frying” beans with sugar and margarine or butter. In the old days, Chinese immigrants also could not afford coffee appliances. So they flexed their ingenuity again by straining coffee grounds with boiling hot water through long, clean cotton socks. The black brew was then mixed with evaporated milk and sugar, resulting in a full- flavoured, fragrant and thick coffee with a strong aftertaste.
It’s interesting to note that no two brews are the same. Each kopitiam – “kopi” is Malay for coffee and “tiam” is Hokkien for shop – or kopi chain has its own unique kopi recipe and flavour, and all share their own slice of Singapore history.
Among the best known is Ya Kun Kaya Toast, which has its beginnings in Chinatown. In 1926, a 15-year-old Hainanese immigrant named Loi Ah Koon landed in Singapore and worked as an assistant at a Hainanese kopitiam. Some 10 years later, he set up a coffee stall in Telok Ayer Basin with two other immigrants before taking over the business and registering it in 1944.
Although his home was a cubicle at a shophouse across the street at 15B Cross Street, Loi was known to sleep on the countertop of his stall to wake up early and serve his first customers – they came from all walks of life, from coolies (unskilled Asian labourers) and policemen to merchants and money-lenders – at 5am.
Page 1 of 3 Chinatown Stories | Updated as of June 2019
His wife, Neam Kia Shai, pitched in at the stall and created some of its popular items that are still on the menu today. While Loi roasted coffee beans, she concocted the now famous homemade kaya to go with the toast. She was also responsible for the chain’s signature thinly sliced toast, which began as a way to cut costs.
Over the years, Loi moved his business across various sites in Chinatown before finally settling down at the flagship outlet in Far East Square, close to where Loi first started his business. Today, the chain counts more than 50 franchise outlets in Asia, from Cambodia to China.
Not a chain but just as famous is another business that began in Chinatown – Tong Ah Eating House. Started in 1939 by Tang Chew Fue, who came from Fuzhou in China, the kopitiam is now run by the fourth-generation owner and still famously uses a secret kopi recipe that involves roasting three kinds of coffee beans with sugar and butter.
Besides its kopi and kaya toast, Tong Ah is also famous for the iconic Art Deco three-storey shophouse it occupied for 75 years until 2013 at the Y-junction of Keong Saik Road and Teck Lim Road. The area was once rife with gang and vice activities, and the owners would even pull their customers into the shop and pull down the metal shutters to keep its occupants safe from street brawls. Although a hip restaurant-bar has now taken over the space, Tong Ah soldiers on, still on that same street just a few doors away at 35 Keong Saik Road.
Over at Chinatown Complex Food Centre, two other famous coffee stalls have their own devoted following. Heng Wah Traditional Coffee Stall was started by Tang Toh Lee, the grandson of Tang Chew Fue from Tong Ah. The younger Tang worked at the Keong Saik Road coffeeshop as a kopi kia (Hokkien for coffee boy) and retired in 1998. Missing the hustle and bustle of the kopitiam, he opened his own stall on the second floor of Chinatown Complex. Fans of Tong Ah will like the fact that he uses the same coffee powder supplier.
The other is The 1950’s Coffee or Wu Shi Nian Dai, a tiny yet popular Nanyang coffee stall whose name harks back to the good ol’ days. Listed in the Singapore Michelin Guide, it usually has queues forming at all hours of the day. Coffee beans are freshly ground as and when needed, while kaya toast is grilled over charcoal.
Did you know?
• Kopi cups were based on a 19th-century demitasse (“half cup” in French) design. Half the size of a coffee cup, these were made for stronger brews such as espresso and Turkish coffee.
• Coffeeshop baristas would wear pants without any pockets that prevented them from pocketing the sales.
• Takeaway coffee was once packed in recycled beer bottles, which were gradually replaced by empty condensed milk tins. Some kopitiams still use these recycled cans today for takeaway orders.
• According to a 1960s urban legend, opium was added to coffee to hook customers.
• You can still get kopi gu you, or butter coffee, at a handful of coffeeshops today. This speciality coffee uses condensed milk and has a slab of butter floating on top.
Page 2 of 3 Chinatown Stories | Updated as of June 2019
Note: Chinatown Complex was closed for renovations from 1 March to 31 May 2019.
References:
One Kopi at A Time: Retracing Singapore’s Coffee Culture by Jahan Loh
Only The Best! The ieatishootipost Guide to Singapore’s Shiokest Hawker Food by Dr Leslie Tay
“Coffee-shops in Colonial Singapore: Domains of Contentious Publics” by Khairudin Aljunied, History Workshop Journal. Issue 77, 21 November 2013
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1691_2010-07-08.html?s=Kaya%20Toast
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/travel/in-singapore-drinking-in-the-kopitiam-experience.html
https://www.singaporecoffee.org/
https://www.facebook.com/ourgrandfatherstory/videos/838641542902015/
http://yakun.com//the-ya-kun-story/history/
http://nanyangoldcoffee.com/history-culture-of-singapore-coffee.html
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/pre-war-keong-saik-road-coffee-shop-moving-out
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/an-ode-to-singapore-s-understated-heritage- gems-9108008
https://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/keong-saiks-road-vice-nice
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/an-ode-to-singapore-s-understated-heritage- gems-9108008
http://johorkaki.blogspot.com/2018/04/secret-traditional-nanyang-coffee-in.html
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