The culinary scene has changed dramatically since COVID-19 reared its insidious head. And two of the most interesting, encouraging developments we’ve observed are these: even once-deserted restaurants (especially in residential areas) have been packed to the rafters after Phase 2 began. We see people nursing coffees — sometimes beers — in the afternoons as they tinker on laptops at said eateries, supposedly “working from home”.

“All that cash usually spent travelling, but with nowhere to go — so they spend it on food,” remarks an industry insider.

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The second most obvious development is the meteoric rise of the home-based food business. Some folks do this out of necessity — they’ve fallen on hard times during the pandemic; others do it because they're bored staying at home and want to flex their creative chops in the kitchen, perhaps test the demand for their goods and get a taste of what it’s like to be a small-time towkay. After all, the barriers to entry are practically non-existent with no overheads involved. Cooking from one’s own kitchen is something almost anyone who has ever switched on the stove to boil water can do. The difference lies in the quality of the offerings, of course. Are they the result of a makan goddess in the making? Or a total amateur who has no business selling his clumsy creations? Since the Circuit Breaker, we’ve sampled plenty of these homemade bites. While most were decent with a charming homespun quality to them — only a handful were memorable enough for us to make repeat orders. Among them is the dry laksa from three-month-old biz Let’s Jiak.

Ryna Tan-Jalil, 34, does marketing for a tech company while her husband Carlos Choon, 30, worked in digital marketing consultation until his job “was made redundant at the end of last year. “With COVID-19 in the mix, job opportunities were few,” shares the bubbly Carlos, who serves as spokesperson for the biz. In July, the couple decided to sell dry laksa from their Pasir Ris flat. “This business has provided extra income for us, considering that I’ve not been able to score a job opportunity during the [initial] COVID-19 period,” adds Carlos. “We‘ve been cooking our dry laksa for friends and family gatherings since three years ago. It came about while we were brainstorming how to contribute to potluck parties. We wanted the traditional taste of laksa but with a “dry” twist — also, it’s easier to transport the dish without much hassle! So we started experimenting and soon, our friends began asking us to sell it.”

He muses: “We’ve always toyed with the idea [of selling our laksa], but it was Ryna who wanted to [take the plunge] and see how far we could go with this. The week before we decided to sell it, Ryna posted an Insta story poll asking if people would be interested if we sold our dry laksa — the response was overwhelming. We spent the next week doing R&D and eating laksa every night. At the end of the week, we sent sample portions to the people who polled “yes” on Ryna’s insta story.”

Happily for Carlos, he’d recently landed a job as a senior business development manager at Singpost and will soon be starting work there. However, Let’s Jiak will remain a weekend gig for him and the missus.

“It’s been a tough nine months, so this good news meant a lot to me. Whether or not we’ll go into F&B full-time in future, well, if that door is open, we won’t say no”.

“Ryna works her magic in the kitchen, while I handle the social media marketing side of the business. It’s a team effort,” says Carlos. “She does the frying while I do prep work the day before, like ordering the ingredients and picking them up from suppliers. I also plate the food before packing and delivering it. We’ve sold more than 1,500 bowls so far and it’s really encouraging to see that we’ve a growing number of supporters.”

'Let’s Jiak laksa was prepared with love and a lot of hae bee (dried shrimp)', chirps the label on their sturdy disposable bowls. “It’s more like a PSA for people with shrimp allergies,” laughs Carlos. “But the exact quantity we use is a secret — probably more than most other dry laksas out there. We love hae bee and we find that it really is the essence of laksa.

Besides dried shrimp, our rempah (spice blend) contains the usual lemongrass, belacan, fresh chilli, and dried chill. It took us several tweaks to get to this recipe.

Primarily, we seek fresh ingredients, which is the epitome of a good fry. Our prawns, laksa leaves, hae bee, eggs and coconut milk are all sourced as close as possible to our weekend cooking sessions, explains Carlos.

Honestly, we weren’t expecting much. We love laksa, but haven’t had a dry version as shiok as the gravy-soaked original prior to this. To us, much of the joy of eating the dish lies in slurping up its lemak gravy spiked with robust rempah. However, Let’s Jiak’s version manages to deliver fireworks of flavour from the very first forkful — without even a drop of sauce. While the rice noodles don’t look particularly attractive coated in a brownish paste, the dull colour and generous coating mean there is indeed a ton of dried shrimp blitzed into the spice blend, along with fistfuls of perfumey laksa leaves, plus both fresh and dried chillies (“dried chilli adds depth,” says Carlos). The positively umami mix is thickened with just the right splash of coconut milk for a creamy back note. This flavour onslaught weaves its way through the noodles and into the springy flesh of the perfectly-cooked prawns and fishcake, burrowing deep into every molecule of the spongy tau pok — all excellent receptacles for that power rempah.

If you’re feeding a large family, the platter is a more cost-effective option as it serves eight and works out to $8.60 per portion.

There is only one thing on the menu — no options for fancy toppings like scallop or lobster. Fine by us as the noodles are yummy enough to support Let’s Jiak’s premise. However, in response to the oft-asked question “why no hum?” Carlos says they will soon be introducing a couple of side dishes, including one with cockles.

There’s something very intimate about eating food from a stranger’s home kitchen. This pandemic has shown us that human ingenuity in times of hardship can prove both inspiring and delicious, that there are moments of joy to be found in simple pleasures. And Let’s Jiak’s dry laksa — affordably priced, modestly garnished but packed with so much flavour and love in every strand — made us very happy indeed.

Order Let’s Jiak’s dry laksa via Whatsapp at 8317-0519. No minimum orders for self-collection at Pasir Ris; min of 2 bowls for delivery (flat fee of $10 islandwide). Weekends only. www.instagram.com/letsjiaklaksa/

Photos: Alvin Teo

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