SINGAPORE — The push to preserve local hawker fare has never been more obvious than in the last few years. And the latest notable brand to make the news is Roxy Laksa, which has recently relocated from Roxy Theatre in East Coast Lagoon Food Village to hip seven-month-old gastro-park Timber+ in Ayer Rajah. Originally located at Roxy Theatre in 1952, this is the same Nyonya-style laksa stall that famously inspired the term “Katong Laksa”.

It is still helmed by chef Michael Lim, the grandson of the original creator of Roxy’s signature laksa recipe that was created 64 years ago, who has decided to partner with another avid advocate of the hawker scene, Wild Rocket’s Chef Willin Low, in the hopes of securing brand’s authenticity for future generations. Rest assured, the outlet at Timbre+ will continue to cook the dish from scratch to ensure artisanal integrity. “If we do not preserve our favourite hawker foods and culture, we will lose everything,” explained Low, who added that innovation plays a key role.

To ensure continuity of such good hawker dishes, the chefs have invested in a production kitchen that is aimed at making such foods on a scalable level while maintaining their traditional flavours. Cutting-edge technology is utilised to prolong the shelf life of the dishes without harming the nutrients of the ingredients. Such pastes are already available in the market but Low believes the idea is underexplored. That said, when launched, it will be the first time consumers are able to replicate Roxy’s authentic flavours at home. Roxy Laksa will spearhead this project, and, if successful, other potential hawkers will be able to use the same business model for their own hawker trades. There is no confirmed date on when the Roxy laksa paste will be available at the moment.

For now though, the stall is dedicated to preparing the dish from scratch. “We want to keep that going as long as we can,” shared Low, a regular patron for more than 20 years, who had spent more than three months learning the recipe and techniques. He described Roxy Laksa’s flavour as uniquely flavourful yet less cloying than most. “It’s more feminine while most are more masculine,” he said, affirming that while there is the possibility to open more stalls in Singapore and overseas, the focus is on recreating the success at its new home at Timbre+. “How to have more than one artisanal stall,” he quipped, but added that he and Lim are also working on recreating traditional recipes for mee siam and mee rebus that would eventually make it on the stall’s menu.

These, though, are not the only traditional hawker dishes Low is looking to make more conveniently available to the mass market. He is looking to launch a range of convenient (chilled) foods under the &Will brand, starting with his version of nasi lemak, which he aims to make available at Cheers stores at select Esso service stations by the end of the year. “It will feature turmeric fried chicken, fried egg, ikan bilis and roasted peanuts and my special sambal with basmati rice, which has a lower GI (glycemic index),” Low shared.