08/10/2024

Singapore Traditional Local Food

Beef Noodle (Kway Teow) since 1948
Famous Scotts Square Beef Noodle Stall Now At Jalan Besar

Hwa Heng Beef Noodle is something of a foodie legend. The stall has been operating since 1948, and with its origins as a street hawker stall selling Hainanese beef noodles next to the old Odeon Theatre. Three generations of the founding family have taken over the reins at Hwa Heng, but their signature recipes still remain the same.

Beef noodle fans will surely know of Hwa Heng Beef Noodle, a stall that spent over 30 years on Orchard Road, including a longstanding stall at Scotts Square’s Picnic Food Court, and ION Orchard’s Food Opera. They’ve since quietly made a comeback at Jalan Besar‘s Earnest Restaurant, a 24/7 kopitiam located next to the Jalan Besar Sports Centre.

At the Jalan Besar outlet, you can get your beef noodles either dry or with soup. A bowl starts at $6 for sliced beef, or with just beef balls. If you’d like both beef balls and slices, a bowl will set you back $9. If you’re ideal bowl comes with tendon, then be prepared to fork out $12. Beef stomach is also available as an add-on.


75 Yrs-old Nasi Padang
Warong Nasi Pariaman: Possibly SG’s oldest surviving nasi padang stall, dating back to 1948

Close to 20 years before Singapore became an independent republic on 9 August 1965, Warong Nasi Pariaman started selling authentic nasi padang from a humble coffee shop at the corner of Kandahar Street. The year was 1948, and Singapore had just gone through the Japanese occupation in World War II.

Let’s skip to the present. 74 years later, Warong Nasi Pariaman can still be found at its original coffee shop, and just like it did in the past, this family-run nasi padang stall is still dishing out authentic Padang dishes to its loyal customers, many of whom have been frequenting it for multiple generations. It’s believed that Warong Nasi Pariaman is the oldest surviving nasi padang stall in Singapore. Even the National Library Board’s article says so! Warong Nasi Pariaman was established by Isrin bin Ibrahim and his wife, Rosna binte Zainal Abidin. They migrated to Singapore in the 1940s and operated their nasi padang business from a street stall, before renting a shophouse in 1948 (the very same one at the corner of Kandahar Street) and named the business after their hometown of Pariaman, a city in West Sumatra.

According to the NLB article, Warong Nasi Pariaman was so popular in the 1990s that they prepared between 50kg to 60kg of rice per day! Isrin and his family were sticklers for tradition, and insisted on quality ingredients and authentic cooking styles throughout the past decades, including the Minangkabau tradition of cooking rendang over a charcoal fire.


Bak Chor Mee in the 1920s 肉 脞 面

There’s a bak chor mee stall that resides in a quaint Eunos coffee shop I often frequent, drawing a line of customers who want to get their hands on a warm, soupy bowl of bak chor mee. The signboard above reads ‘Famous Eunos Bak Chor Mee’. Though this sort of clued me in on why the queue made sense, little did I know that behind this humble facade lay a long family history of pioneering bak chor mee in Singapore. In fact, it’s one that dates back all the way to the 1920s─about 100 years ago.

The origin of bak chor mee - Some would call famous Eunos Bak Chor Mee one of the original bak chor mee sellers in Singapore. The founding father sold bowls of noodles around the district of Kampong Chai Chee on foot in the ‘20s. Back then, times were simple but tough. There wasn’t a brick-and-mortar stall; just a hardworking street peddler who precariously carried his makeshift portable kitchen on a bamboo pole. The noodles he sold were coined hunchback noodles, because of the literal burden on his shoulders that strained his back to the point that it developed a hunch. That man was the great-great-grandfather of Ler Jie Wei, a 35-year-old millennial who is currently the fifth-generation running the Famous Eunos Bak Chor Mee business.

The recipe has been handed down from generation to generation. Jie Wei shared that today, there are actually 10 bak chor mee businesses, apart from Famous Eunos Bak Chor Mee, that have descended from the same founder. They’re all somewhat related to each other because of their connection to this core recipe. This includes the popular Bedok 85’s Xing Ji and Bedok 511’s Tian Nan Xing, both run by distant relatives of Jie Wei. Jie Wei is in charge of most of the business─retail, human resource, production, and marketing. Prior to this, he was in the banking industry for a couple of years, before he decided to switch careers and commit to the family business wholeheartedly.


Traditional Teochew Cuisine 潮 汕 林
Oyster omelette (蚝 烙)

Chaoshan cuisine, also known as Chiuchow cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine or Teo-swa cuisine, originated from the Chaoshan region in the eastern part of China's Guangdong Province, which includes the cities of Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang. Chaoshan cuisine bears more similarities to that of Fujian cuisine, particularly Southern Min cuisine, due to the similarity of Chaoshan's and Fujian's culture, language, and their geographic proximity to each other. However, Chaoshan cuisine is also influenced by Cantonese cuisine in its style and technique. Chaoshan cuisine is well known for its seafood and vegetarian dishes. Its use of flavouring is much less heavy-handed than most other Chinese cuisines and depends much on the freshness and quality of the ingredients for taste and flavour. As a delicate cuisine, oil is not often used in large quantities and there is a relatively heavy emphasis on poaching, steaming and braising, as well as the common Chinese method of stir-frying.

Chaoshan cuisine is also known for serving congee (糜; mí; or mue), in addition to steamed rice or noodles with meals. The Chaoshan mue is rather different from the Cantonese counterpart, being very watery with the rice sitting loosely at the bottom of the bowl, while the Cantonese dish is more a thin gruel. Authentic Chaoshan restaurants serve very strong oolong tea called Tieguanyin in very tiny cups before and after the meal. Presented as gongfu tea, the tea has a thickly bittersweet taste, colloquially known as gam gam (甘 甘; gān gān). A condiment that is popular in Fujian and Taiwanese cuisine and commonly associated with cuisine of certain Chaoshan groups is shacha sauce (沙 茶 酱; 沙 茶 醬; shāchá jiàng). It is made from soybean oil, garlic, shallots, chilies, brill fish and dried shrimp. The paste has a savoury and slightly spicy taste. As an ingredient, it has multiple uses: as a base for soups, as a rub for barbecued meats, as a seasoning for stir-fried dishes, or as a component for dipping sauces. In addition to soy sauce (widely used in all Chinese cuisines), the Chaoshan diaspora in Southeast Asia use fish sauce in their cooking. It is used as a flavouring agent in soups and sometimes as a dipping sauce, as in Vietnamese spring rolls. Chaoshan chefs often use a special stock called superior broth (上 汤; 上 湯; shàngtāng). This stock remains on the stove and is continuously replenished. Portrayed in popular media, some Hong Kong chefs allegedly use the same superior broth that is preserved for decades. This stock can as well be seen on Chaozhou TV's cooking programmes.

There is a notable feast in Chaoshan cuisine called jiat dot (食 桌; shízhuō; 'food table'). A myriad of dishes are often served, which include shark fin soup, bird's nest soup, lobster, steamed fish, roasted suckling pig and braised goose. Chaoshan chefs take pride in their skills of vegetable carving, and carved vegetables are used as garnishes on cold dishes and on the banquet table. Chaoshan cuisine is also known for a late night meal known as meh siao (夜 宵; yèxiāo) or daa laang (打冷; dǎléng) among the Cantonese. Chaoshan people enjoy eating out close to midnight in restaurants or at roadside food stalls. Some dai pai dong-like eateries stay open till dawn. Unlike the typical menu selections of many other Chinese cuisines, Chaoshan restaurant menus often have a dessert section. Many people of Chaoshan origin, also known as Teochiu or Chaoshan people, have settled in Hong Kong and places in Southeast Asia like Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia and Thailand. Influences they bring can be noted in Singaporean cuisine and that of other settlements. A large number of Chaoshan people have also settled in Taiwan, evident in Taiwanese cuisine. Other notable Chaoshan diaspora communities are in Vietnam, Cambodia and France. A popular noodle soup in both Vietnam and Cambodia, known as hu tieu, originated from the Chaoshan. There is also a large diaspora of Chaoshan people (most were from Southeast Asia) in the United States - particularly in California. There is a Teochew Chinese Association in Paris called L'Amicale des Teochews en France.


The Peranakan Cuisine

Peranakan is Malay for “born here”, which refers to the Straits-born people of Chinese and Malay/Indonesian heritage. The Straits Chinese lead vibrant lives that comprise of many Chinese and Austronesian facets. Male Peranakans are addressed as “Baba”, while females and the culture in general of this matriarchal community are referred to as “Nonya”.

Peranakan architecture is known for its ornate fixtures and adornments, and can be experienced at establishments like Candlenut, PeraMakan and National Kitchen by Violet Oon. These establishments boast Peranakan dishes adapted from Chinese, Indian, Malay and Eurasian tables.

“In the old days, young Peranakan girls had plenty of opportunities to learn the Peranakan crafts like beading and cooking from their mothers,” explains Kathryn Ho, who owns the popular restaurant chain PeraMakan. “In Peranakan households, there are always guests to feed, so matriarchs have lots of opportunities to cook, bake and create elaborate dishes that are not only delicious but colourful, artistic and creative.”


Hainanese chicken rice in the 1920s 海 南 雞 飯

Hainanese chicken rice is a dish of poached chicken and seasoned rice, served with chilli sauce and usually with cucumber garnishes. It was created by immigrants from Hainan in southern China and adapted from the Hainanese dish Wenchang chicken. It is considered one of the national dishes of Singapore and is most commonly associated with Singaporean cuisine, being widely available in most food courts and hawker centres around the country. Variants of the dish can also be seen throughout Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia and Thailand, where it remains a culinary staple.

Hainanese chicken rice is a dish adapted from early Chinese immigrants originally from Hainan province in southern China. It is based on a well-known Hainanese dish called Wenchang chicken (文昌雞), which is one of four important Hainan dishes dating to the Qin dynasty. The Hainanese in China traditionally used a specific breed, the Wenchang chicken, to make the dish. They would usually cook rice with the leftover chicken stock to create a dish known as "Wenchang chicken rice". The original dish was adapted by the Hainanese overseas Chinese population in the Nanyang area (present-day Southeast Asia). Almost every country in Asia with a history of immigration from China has a version. The San Francisco Chronicle says, "the dish maps 150 years’ immigration from China's Hainan Island to Singapore and Malaysia, where the dish is often known as Hainan chicken rice; to Vietnam, where it is called "Hai Nam chicken"; and to Thailand, where it has been renamed "khao man gai" ("fatty rice chicken").

In Singapore, the dish was born out of frugality, created by servant-class immigrants trying to stretch the flavour of the chicken. The first chicken rice restaurants opened in Singapore during Japanese occupation in World War II, when the British were forced out and their Hainanese servants lost their source of income. One of the first was Yet Con, which opened in the early 1940s, There were also sources stating that Wang Yiyuan, a street hawker first started selling "chicken rice balls wrapped in banana leaves " in Singapore during the 1920s. The dish was popularised in Singapore in the 1950s by Moh Lee Twee, whose Swee Kee Chicken Rice Restaurant operated from 1947 to 1997. Hong Kong food critic Chua Lam credits Moh with the creation of the dish. Hainanese chicken rice is considered one of Singapore's national dishes. It is eaten "everywhere, every day" in Singapore and is a "ubiquitous sight in hawker centres across the country".


Bak Kwa in the 1900s 肉 干

Bak kwa, also known as rougan (肉干), is a dried savoury sweetmeat that traditionally takes the form of thin square slices and is usually made from pork. Bak kwa and rougan, meaning “dried meat” in Hokkien and Mandarin respectively, also refer to barbecued pork or pork jerky. Originating from China, bak kwa has become a favourite local snack in Singapore, with its popularity peaking during Chinese New Year, as evidenced by the long queues at the branches of famous bak kwa chains during the festive period.

Bak kwa is thought to have derived from a meat preservation and preparation technique used in ancient China. It is considered a Hokkien delicacy as it originated from Fujian province where the consumption of meat was considered a luxury usually reserved for Chinese New Year. Pork was preserved by slicing the meat into thin sheets and marinating them with sugar and spices, before air-drying the slices and cooking them over a hot plate. When this delicacy found its way to Singapore and Malaysia, it took on local characteristics. For example, after the meat is air-dried, it is grilled over charcoal, which imparts a smokier flavour. The local version is also sweeter than the original version.

The oldest bak kwa shop in Singapore is Kim Hock Guan, which was set up by two brothers in 1905 with the first outlet on Rochor Road. Other major players in the local bak kwa business include Bee Cheng Hiang, Lim Chee Guan, Fragrance and Kim Joo Guan. The bak kwa business is so competitive that bak kwa companies zealously guard their marinade recipe and refuse to divulge sales figures or the amount of raw pork purchased for making bak kwa during Chinese New Year.7 The marinade is likely to consist of salt, pepper, sugar, honey, soya sauce, rice wine, five-spice powder and fish sauce


Bak Kut Teh in the1920s 肉 骨 茶
Ong Say Bak Kut Teh 李旺世肉骨茶 founded in the 1920s is the oldest known bak kut teh brand in Singapore

Bak kut teh together with Hainanese chicken rice is one of the iconic dishes of Singapore. How did the unique Singapore style of pork bone soup come about? How did it become world famous? Making soup with pork bones is not unique to Singapore, indeed it is ubiquitous throughout China since time immemorial. Everywhere there are Chinese communities, there is some form of pork bone soup. But, the Singapore style of bak kut teh - the most famous of all pork bone soup in the world - is a fairly recent creation. The demand for manpower by the flourishing British free port of Singapore coincided with wars and famine in China, bringing largest waves of Chinese immigrants from the 1850s to 1920s. Mostly from the southern China provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, many worked as coolies at the thriving port.

For the poor coolies, there was little to eat. No pork (meat) soup but soup made of garlic cloves, soy sauce and pork bones with scraps of meat on special days, maybe. In the early 1900s, some hawkers began selling pork bone soup at Ellenborough Market known also the "New Market" 新巴刹 or "Teochew Market" 潮州巴刹. New Market because there was an Old Market or Lau Pat Sat at Teluk Ayer. Teochew Market because it was located in the Teochew enclave at the mouth of Singapore River. This was the ideal place for pork related businesses as the abattoir was also located near here. Pork bones with scraps of meat could be had for cheap. (Not to be mistaken for pork ribs which is synonymous with bak kut teh of today.) The pork bone soup was popular with coolies as it was desired as a kind of essential "energy tonic" for their back breaking work in Singapore's blistering tropical heat. Bone marrow was also believed to fortify the immune system. The dish was called Coolie Tea 苦力茶.

Meat bone soup was never really a coolie's dish. Only towkay or bosses could afford meat bone soup regularly, even if it was only scraps of meat on bone. As Coolie Tea, the meat bone was just cooked with garlic cloves and dark soy sauce. With growing affluence, two streams of bak kut teh emerged in Singapore. The Hokkien folks added Chinese herbs like dang gui and liquorice, and spices such as cinnamon and star anise to the garlic and soy sauce. Ong Say Bak Kut Teh 李旺世肉骨茶 founded in the 1920s is the oldest known bak kut teh brand in Singapore. Their popular shop at Nankin Street was packed to the rafters and customers spilled out onto the five foot way during their heydays. Unfortunately, it closed in 1989 when the shops here were demolished to make way for China Square.


Char Kway Teow in the 1920s 炒 粿 條
Chaoshan fried rice noodles

For the history of fried kway teow 炒粿條 in Singapore, we have to start from Chaoshan char kway teow 潮汕炒贵刁 far away in Guangzhou, China of today. Chaoshan is a region in the southeastern part of Guangzhou province of China where Teochew speaking people live.

Chaoshan fried kway teow is flat rice noodles, chive, bean sprout, pieces of pork with skin and fish sauce stir fried in sizzling pork lard in a hot wok. That's all, it's that simple. No egg, no lup cheong (Cantonese wax sausage), no fish cake, no blood cockles, no prawn, no chili sauce. No crab, no lobster nonsense. It is best enjoyed while the pork lard enveloping the rice noodles or kway teow is still piping, smoking hot. The kway teow's subtle sweetness is complemented by the savoury toasty taste of caramelised sauce forcefully seared onto the strands of rice noodles. So simple, simply so good that it connected people through generations.

Of course, even in Chaosan there are variations in char kway teow. This stall still uses wood to fire the wok. The chef uses goose lard instead of pork lard. The kway teow is fried with eggs, bean sprout, chive, chye poh (preserved turnip), optional chili sauce and small pieces of pork (optional). The host tried 3 plates with different options and he felt that the basic version with only egg, bean sprout, chive and chye poh is the best as there is little to interfere with the flavour of goose lard.


Alhambra Satay: A 60-yr-old Satay Stall
A brief history of the Satay Club (and Alhambra Satay)

The very first Satay Club was formed in the late 1940s, and could be found just off Beach Road. It was there that Encik Saiful’s father opened what would come to be known as Alhambra Satay. Encik Saiful himself worked alongside his father, learning all the tricks of the trade in the process. “Beach Road got 26 stalls, some selling mee rebus, some selling drinks, but most selling satay,” Encik Saiful noted. “Customers sit on wooden stools. We charged them by how many sticks they had left. Eat first, count later.”

Encik Saiful’s somewhat frail appearance belied his bubbly personality. But when talking about the Beach Road site, he was even more animated than usual. Perhaps this was because it was in a particularly memorable location—it was close to a restless bus terminal and the Alhambra, a popular movie theatre that eventually made way for the Shaw Towers. “I liked to go to Alhambra after work,” Encik Saiful recalled. “They show old Hollywood and Chinese movies there. My favourite was The Ten Commandments.” Since he was friends with the ticket attendant there, he was often allowed to sneak in for screenings. “Of course, when he (the ticket attendant) come to my stall, I have to let him eat satay for free also!”

The Satay Club and Alhambra benefitted one another. After screenings, cinemagoers would often walk down the street to have some satay with their friends, and those who were there for satay might be drawn to the larger-than-life allure of the movies. The third element of this equation, however, was troubling—being situated near a bus terminal meant that accidents occurred one too many times. And so in the mid-1950s, the Satay Club moved to a field between Dhoby Ghaut and Prinsep Street, before relocating for the final time to its Esplanade location in 1971. While there were several spin-offs after its dissolution in 1995, this would be the last true Satay Club with all 26 long-time members. The site where the Esplanade Satay Club once stood is now wholly unrecognisable. In its place, the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay and the Nicoll Highway extension were built, depriving us of an iconic piece of cultural history.


Chai Tow Kway 菜 头 粿 in 1950s
Bukit Merah View Carrot Cake is a legendary 70-year-old stall

“My grandparents started selling carrot cake some 70 years ago, and were later succeeded by my parents,” said Mr Ng. “I’m the third generation of this carrot cake tradition.” Since his family’s business stretched back to before hawker centres were a thing, I was curious to learn how the dish had changed and developed over the years.

“Back in the day, the popular carrot cake looked very different from how it looks now,” Mr Ng explained. “The black and white styles we know today didn’t exist. Carrot cake was deep-fried and sold in triangular pieces for about two cents. Two cents!” A few stalls, such as Chai Chee Cai Tou Guo, still offer such old-school chai tow kway. But they’re no longer widespread, and that’s down to the carrot cake revolution that culminated in the 1980s. “Somewhere along the line, the idea of adding dark soy sauce to cut up pieces of carrot cake caught on. So, white carrot cake was created to provide a healthier, less sweet alternative. By the 80s, most stalls were selling both options.”

Another major change is how the “carrot” component is made. For those who don’t know, fried carrot cake has no carrot at all—it usually consists of shredded radish and rice flour. In the past, hawkers had to mill the rice grains themselves, so for the sake of convenience, most have switched to exclusively using rice flour instead. Not Mr Ng, though.


Teochew Muay 潮 州 糜 in 1950s
Loved by locals, Teochew Porridge is a wonderful comfort food for both breakfast and dinner time

Teochew Porridge is a popular rice dish in Singapore. It is usually served with various side dishes, such as meats, fish, and vegetables. One of the most popular sides in probably braised pork (lor bak). However, salted egg, braised tofu, and omelette are typical side dishes as well.

What makes Teochew Porridge dishes special is the emphasis on the original and natural taste of the ingredients. Hence, the dishes are only seasoned sparingly. The Teochew Porridge itself is usually rather plain and unsweetened, as the side dishes tend to be salty. Some versions of the porridge might include sweet potatoes.

Where is the best Teochew Porridge:

Hock Lam Street & Odeon Beef Kway Teow
Hock Lam Street Beef Kway Teow: Traditional Teochew Recipe since 1911

My Beef Kway Teow list would be incomplete without the inclusion of this famous stall which has been around for almost a century. Hock Lam Street is famous not only for its traditional Teochew Beef Kway Teow recipe, lately it has also become well known for having the most agreeable looking Beef Kway Teow Stall vendor in Singapore (As far as I know).

When you venture into the stall, you are greeted by a young lady whom you think could be wearing a Sarong Kabaya. When starts speaking, you’d probably wonder why she’s not wearing a Citibank uniform instead. The fact of the matter is this fourth generation Beef Kway Teow vendor just happens to be an Australian Degree Holder to gave up her $10K bank job to take over the family business! So you can actually buy a bowl of Beef Kway Teow and talk about the BULL market at the same time!

Tina is adament that the receipe be preserved in its original Teochew form, so it comes with salted vegetables and plenty of ground nuts and WITHOUT the familiar Chinchaluk (shrimp sauce). The sliced beef was nice and very tender. Tina tells us that all the beef is still sliced by hand and no tenderizer is used. The stewed beef and tripe were both very good. The beef balls were nice but they no longer make it themselves. I felt the sauce could be more Shiok, but Teochew food tends to emphasize more on the freshness of the ingredients, so Teochew sauces tend to be a little more bland when compared to the other dialect groups, Definitely one of Singapore’s heritage hawkers and one cannot discuss Beef Kway Teow without including this famous Zhao Pai (Signboard). I am glad that Tina is ensuring that future generations will still get to savor their age-old recipe.


PROSPEROUS YU SHENG FISH SALAD

Singaporeans believe the seventh day of the Chinese New Year (Renri 人 日) marks the occasion for people to gather and enjoy Lo Hei Yu Sheng, a tasty fish salad and popular specialty served every Chinese New Year on the Lion Island. It is associated with the hope of enhancing luck and good things in the New Year. Yu Sheng in Chinese stands for a prosperous life, indicating wealth and longevity.

It is a salad dish made with pieces of salmon, julienne-chopped radish and carrot, grapefruit wedges, roasted peanuts, roasted sesame and plum sauce. Each ingredient is prepared carefully for them to bring good luck and wealth. Fish indicates prosperity of the upper class; grapefruit indicates good luck and wealth; white radish indicates a successful business and a promotion; cooking oil indicates cash inflow.

The raw ingredients are put in a large bowl alongside seven more representatives of good wishes for the New Year including great happiness and advantages prosperity for the whole year, achieving thousands of desired things, wealth and prosperity, and so on. Family members or business partners stand around a table and use chopsticks to mix and tumble the ingredients for the dish as high as possible and speak their wishes for the New Year out loud. This mixing is known as ‘Lo Hei in Singapore, meaning prosperity’. Lo Hei Yu Sheng fish salad expresses the wish to thrive and experience prosperity in the New Year and has become an indispensable dish at every spring welcoming party organised by Singaporeans.


Traditional Local Teochew Bean Paste Pastry Worth Queuing Up For
Loong Fatt Tau Sar Piah At 630 Balestier Road

The Place This traditional local Chinese pastry shop is going through a revival in recent times as queues which were rare just years back is now a norm when you visit Loong Fatt Tau Sar Piah store along Balestier Road. Nothing much has changed in the store all these years, with the only recent addition of safe distancing markers on the floor.

An institution of Tau Sar Piah in Singapore, with the OGs including the likes of Poh Guan at Hong Lim Complex, Tan Hock Seng at Telok Ayer, Thye Moh Chan (a brand now under Breadtalk Group), and the other 3 cake houses at Balestier, including 603 Tau Sar Piah, House of Tau Sar Piah and the now-defunct 611 Tau Sar Piah. A little bit of history, Loong Fatt is the original shop that started baking the Teochew-style Tau Sar Piah in Singapore, though it added more butter to the traditional pastry making it gained popularity back in the late 1960s.

The Food At Loong Fatt, they have kept it to the 2 original flavours – Salty and Sweet Tau Sar Piah. You will notice that the pastry here is thinner when compared to the version by other cake houses, though do not underestimate how much oomph it packs. With a thinner crust, the bean paste here has a stronger buttery taste and retains the moisture well – as opposed to the dry and flaky Tau Sar Piah usually done by mass commercial baking houses.


Sungei Road Laksa Vs Katong Laksa
Sungei Road "Kek Sng Kio” 结 霜 桥 Laksa

Sungei Road got its name because it runs along the banks of the Rochor River (Sungei Rochor), hence its Malay name sungei meaning “river”. The road was also known as “Kek Sng Kio” in hokkien dialect or “结霜桥” in Chinese, which was made in reference to the Singapore Ice Works which used to exist in the precinct.

Sungei Road Laksa is a humble stall in a coffee shop. There is a long queue when we got there. The stall is manned by 3 ladies when we went on a Sunday morning. One of them was busy filling the bowls with ingredients, another one was busy taking orders while the aunty was filling each bowl of laksa with the gorgeous broth, fueled by a charcoal burner which I believe to be one of the last few existing stall which is still using charcoal.

The laksa is served like a typical Katong Laksa style, with only spoon and no chopsticks. The laksa has a beautiful orange gravy, topped with generous amount of cockles and green laksa leaves.


Teochew Satay Bee Hoon 潮 洲 沙 爹 米 粉

Teochew satay bee hoon is the fusion of Chinese bee hoon / yellow noodle with Malay / Indonesian peanut and spice satay sauce but no one now knows who created it, where and exactly when. Nevertheless, it is generally accepted that satay bee hoon is a Teochew creation, while credit for Chinese pork satay is given to Hainanese.

Teochew Satay Bee Hoon is not a pretty dish but it is uniquely Singapore and sadly is part of our disappearing Nanyang food heritage. One of the oldest Teochew satay bee hoon stalls still operate at Tanjong Pagar Plaza Market & Food Centre.

Sprightly and cheerful Mdm Lee who is in her 80s now started her street side stall in the 1960s around today's Jalan Kukoh. She moved to Tanjong Pagar Plaza Market & Food Centre when she was offered a stall here in 1977 and has been here ever since.


Kway Chap With Over 50 Years Of History

Kway chap ranks top on my list when it comes to comfort food. I don’t crave it often, but when I do, it’s great to know that there still are affordable options in Singapore, such as Feng Ji Kway Chap in Jalan Batu. Another stall that recently caught my eye was Covent Garden Kway Chap, which has been around for close to 60 years.

Founder Mdm Chua, a 90-odd-year-old hawker, started selling her Teochew kway chap in the early 1960s. Till today, she’s said to run Covent Garden with her two sons, though she wasn’t at the stall during our shoot. The family-run business specialises in kway chap with all the fixings: intestines, pig skin, braised egg, tau pok and more.

The affordable prices are the highlight here; a one-person portion starts from just $3. You get a standard platter of pig intestines, pig skin, tau pok, and half an egg, plus a decent serving of kway. The other way to order is to specify the items you want and indicate the number of diners. The beauty of kway chap lies in its customisable options. If you want more of a particular item, simply request extra liao and pay a small top-up.


Curry Puffs: A Taste of Singapore’s Past

The curry puff is often considered a local invention unique to Singapore and Malaysia though variants of it can be found in Thailand and the Philippines. The origins of the curry puff are clouded, but it is often attributed to European colonial influence, its pastry having similarities to the Cornish pie or the Portuguese empanada. The curry puff’s spicy meat and potato filling point to an obvious Indian connection.

A scan through digitised British newspapers of the early 20th century show that the curry puff and its indubitable partner, the sausage roll, were often served in cafes in England, Australia and India. The filling was often cold curry leftovers which were then “encased in a flakey pastry”, sealed into a triangular shape, then baked. One of the earliest references to the curry puff was an article in a local newspaper about the snack being served to underprivileged children during charitable Christmas parties in the 1930s. At these annual parties, the curry puff was packed along with other colonial staples, such as an apple, a tin of milk, chocolates and cake, and given as gifts during a day out with dodgem car riding at the Great World Amusement Park. The curry puff was not merely poor man’s fare as evidenced by the Special Dinner and Dance supper menu served at the Adelphi Hotel in 1932, which included the puff alongside dishes such as mayonnaise de saumone, roast chicken and roquefort cheese.

The famous Polar Cafe is believed to have created the first baked curry puff in Singapore. The recipe for the spicy chicken curry filling supposedly came from an Indian merchant while the flaky and buttery puff pastry was a British influence. The resulting Polar curry puff was a product of the ingenious marriage between colonial and colonised taste buds. Founded in the mid-1920s by Hong Konger Chan Hinky, who arrived in Singapore with little money, the Western-style café along High Street sold baked goods and ice cream, which soon became popular with the parliamentarians, lawyers and the rich who worked and lived around the Supreme Court and Parliament House.


Kim Choo Kueh Chang in Joo Chiat for since 1945

Talk about having a rich history: Kim Choo Kueh Chang, a Peranakan delicatessen, has been faithfully serving handmade Nyonya dumplings and kueh for 77 years. Located about 10 minutes on foot from Eunos MRT Station, locals and tourists alike flock to this beloved store for a taste of nostalgia and tradition.

Kim Choo Kueh Chang’s humble beginnings date back to 1945, when their founder Madam Lee Kim Choo sold her Nyonya rice dumplings under a banyan tree. Through the years, they have preserved the traditional flavours of their delicacies, serving as a bastion of Peranakan cuisine in Singapore. They were even selected to manage the Singapore Visitor Centre of Katong and Joo Chiat, because of their rich heritage and legacy.

Till today, all their rice dumplings and kueh are house-made on the premises, in the kitchen right behind their counter, where you’ll get all their products, only available for takeaway.


A GUIDE TO ZI CHAR 煮炒
ZI CHAR DISHES EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT

Zi Char (also known as Zhi Char / Cze Char/ Tze Char / Zhu Chao) refers to comforting Chinese home-style dishes cooked upon order, usually eaten at humble local eateries and coffee shops in Singapore.

Every Zi Char stall has different selections of a la carte dishes, and it is perfect for communal dining. The idea is to order a few dishes (or many), and everyone digs in together.

From butter pork ribs, prawn paste chicken wings to spring onion deer meat, here is our Guide to Popular Zi Char Dishes that you will commonly find in zi char stalls across Singapore:
  • BUTTER PORK RIBS
  • CEREAL PRAWNS
  • CHILLI CRAB
  • CRAB BEE HOON
  • CURRY FISH HEAD
  • DEEP FRIED CRISPY CHICKEN
  • FISH HEAD STEAMBOAT
  • FRIED SOTONG
  • FURONG EGG
  • HOTPLATE TOFU
  • NGOH HIANG
  • HAR CHEONG GAI
  • SALTED EGG YOLK PRAWNS
  • SAMBAL KANG KONG
  • SAMBAL STINGRAY


Famous Duck Rice With 44-Year-Old Braise In Geylang
Sia Kee Duck Rice has famous braised duck rice since 1979

Sia Kee was founded in 1979 by Oh Kim Seng, after gathering over a decade of experience at a Teochew braised duck stall. He quickly made a name for himself, as you’ll find via old newspaper articles carefully printed out and pasted on the stall’s glass window, showing the retired master at work. These days, the famous stall is run by his sons Albert, Lawrence, and Ron, who themselves have their own newspaper feature on display alongside their father’s.

As a side note, you might find the stall’s name being listed as Sean Kee Duck Rice online and on their storefront, the brothers joked that this was the stall’s Christian name, with Sia Kee being the pronunciation of the stall’s name in dialect. Believe it or not, the brothers say that Sia Kee’s sauce dates all the way back to the stall’s very beginning, when their father stewed it in a large clay urn over charcoal fire, topping up the master sauce with more herbs and water when the pot ran low. If you didn’t know, the more a sauce is cooked and used, the richer it becomes.

Sia Kee’s sauce has been cooking for 44 years, which is impressive but also begs the question if there’s even an iota of the original sauce left in the brother’s cauldron. My first thought upon tasting it was that the braise would definitely make you believe you had just ingested the essence of a 44-year-old sauce. It’s incredibly savoury, with a more complex and strongly herbal flavour as compared to other plates of duck rice I’ve had, but I also felt that the richness of the viscous sauce made it pretty jelak.


Teochew Lor Mee 潮 州 卤 面
This Popular Lor Mee Stall Has Been Around For More Than 50 Years

Lor mee aficionados, Amoy St Lor Mee is now open in Bendemeer Shopping Mall, just outside Boon Keng MRT Station! This newest stall adds to their growing list of locations, spanning Amoy Street Food Centre, Whampoa Drive Food Centre, Jurong East, Fernvale Hawker Centre, Ubi, and Senja Hawker Centre.

The new stall, like its other branches, only serves one item: Lor Mee ($4.50), though it also comes in a Jumbo Lor Mee ($5.50) version. Of course, you can then customise your bowl of the stewed noodles with any of their add-ons. Choose from Noodle ($0.50), Mee Hoon ($0.50), Braised Pork ($1), Batang Fish ($1.50), Mixed Fried ($1) and Onsen Egg ($1). Getting the basic $4.50 bowl means you won’t get the jammy-yolked marinated egg, but you’ll still be served a portion of everything else. If you’re wondering what Mixed Fried refers to, here at Amoy St Lor Mee, it includes ngoh hiang, that’s said to be house-made!

Unlike at other lor mee stalls, the viscous, savoury lor gravy here is thickened not with corn or tapioca starch, but plain flour. This switch makes it such that the gravy doesn’t turn watery as you dig in, and is meant to be less heavy on the stomach as well. Choose to have it with thick yellow Hokkien noodles, thin bee hoon, or a mix of both. Then tweak the flavours with vinegar, sliced red chilli, minced fresh garlic, and fresh coriander!

Teochew Kueh 潮 州 粿

Kueh is a broad term that refers to morsels that resemble dumplings. And it is most commonly used in countries tied to the Southeast Asian region such as Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. These bite-sized treats can be both savoury or sweet, depending on the preparation. While the Indonesian and Malaysian kuehs have the tendency to teeter on the sweet side, the Chinese or more specifically Teochew kuehs, are more savoury.

Some of the more popular Teochew-style kuehs including soon kueh (stuffed with bamboo shoots, jicama and dried shrimps), png kueh (stuffed with an aromatic mixture of pork, mushrooms, shallots, peanuts and diced dried radish), ku chye kueh (dried shrimps and Chinese chives) and ang ku kueh (sweet dumplings made to resemble tortoises filled with a variety of fillings from sweet mung bean to peanut, yam to coconut).

While there isn't a bad time to be consuming these little parcels, they're more commonly had for breakfast. Here are five spots that start hawking their Teochew-style kuehs early:

Yu Cha Kway since 1920s 油 炸 粿
Spanning 4 Gens: How This 100-Year-Old Family Biz In S’pore Makes 10,000 Youtiaos A Day

Homegrown dough fritter (youtiao) maker Xi De Li is one of the pioneers of the youtiao and dough food industry in Singapore. Now helmed by fourth-generation owners Adrian Koh, Valerie Koh and Pathom Koh, Xi De Li’s history actually dates all the way back to the 1920s.

Starting out as a push cart stall helmed by their great-grandmother, Xi De Li now runs a central kitchen that can produce up to 10,000 youtiaos a day. Today, the Xi De Li brand spans over 60 standalone and franchise outlets across Singapore, raking in a few millions of revenue a year. It started out as a pushcart stall along Chin Swee Road by their great grandmother in the 1920s. Along with the tradition of hand-kneading the dough, the stall was passed down to their grandmother in the 1940s. Subsequently in 1966, their father — who created the signature ‘butterfly bun’ as a token of love for his wife — took over the reins of the business. “Last time, there were only youtiao and ham chim peng (salty dough fritters). Our mother wanted a version in the shape of a butterfly so my father created it for her. It was a profession of love for her and I think it was very sweet,” said 41-year-old Valerie.

The family then decided to add the ‘butterfly bun’ to their product line-up. To date, they have retained the original recipe and taste of the butterfly bun. In 1980, they shifted to a Clementi food stall which is still operational today. It was formerly known as Jing Wen Tai You Tiao. A few decades later in 2006, the siblings — together with their younger brother — took over the business and rebranded it to Xi De Li. The name is derived from their father’s name “Xi” and the English word “Deli”.


Ngoh Hiang 五香 Lor Bak
This hawker stall which has been operating for over 80 years has a large fanbase for its handmade Hokkien-style Ngoh Hiang

It is with a heavy heart that the hawkers behind the legendary stall China Street Fritters in Maxwell Food Centre announced their last operating day as 2 Jul 2023. Rising rental prices, health problems, the absence of a successor willing to stand for hours behind the hawker stall, and a lack of appreciation from the younger crowd for traditional food items— these are the reasons we have heard from iconic hawker stall owners who have ceased operations. This combination of reasons has resulted in the permanent closure of China Street Fritters.

The hawker stall which has been operating for over 80 years has a large fanbase for its handmade Hokkien-style Ngoh Hiang. Other fan favourites include their Liver Roll (S$0.90) and Egg Slice (S$0.80). As with so many other traditional hawker stalls, the hawkers are required to stand for extended periods of time. This has inevitably taken a heavy toll on their health.

This is not the first time that the brand has considered closing permanently. In Mar 2022, they attempted to sell their business recipes for S$1 million dollars but there were no takers. They continued the business, but with shorter working hours. Halving the price to S$500,000, the owners are still looking for buyers interested in the recipe. Previous tentative handover arrangements have fallen through due to conflicting interests between the parties involved.


Teochew Pig Trotter Jelly & Shark Meat

It is so difficult to find Pig Trotter Jelly (or Pork Aspic) nowadays because this traditional teochew cold meat is very labour intensive that very few places are willing to do it. I am so glad to have visited Lao Liang because it is one of the very few hawker stalls that sell only pig trotter jelly and shark meat now.

Lao Liang has been around for more than 50 years. Stall owner said, making pig trotter jelly is a complicated procedure. They have to first remove the fats and bones from the pig trotter, before marinating it with a variety of spices and stew for more than 10 hours to bring out the gelatin from the trotter. It is then refrigerated to until it becomes jelly. Lao Liang Pig Trotter Jelly is best eaten with their homemade chili sauce, which is sour and spicy.

Teochew people are very particular about the freshness of food. Hence, you can assure the quality of this plate of shark meat. It is served unseasoned but the meat is very fresh with no stench at all. Most importantly, don’t forget to dip the shark meat into their homemade plum sauce for the extra oomph. The lady boss says they used preserved plums to make into plum sauce and it takes 2-3 years for it to turn into plum sauce! This is a dish that is expected to be “extinct” very soon. If you have never try it before, visit this stall quickly before it’s gone! Each plate costs $5 onwards.


Thunder Tea Rice (擂茶饭) In Singapore

The most memorable aspect of Lei Cha Fan would be its almost fluorescent green soup that is quite the eye catcher. Often touted as health food, lei cha fan or Thunder Tea Rice repels those who scoff at vegetables and more wholesome eating options.

Chock full of basil, mint, long beans, a whole lot of other greens, peanuts and dried anchovies (ikan bilis). The word “lei” means “grind” in Chinese but, also “thunder”.  Traditionally, ingredients for the tea soup was ground up and pounded using a large motar and pestle which gave the dish its “thunder” moniker. “Cha” on the other hand means “tea”, and refers to the tea soup. However, soup also contains tea, nuts, sesame and herbs like mint and basil, giving it that unmistakable green hue.

With the growing popularity of healthy rice and grain bowls as the choice meals among weary office workers, it begs the question of why isn’t lei cha fan more massively consumed? Instead the dish has been relegated to something of an underground cult following. The medley of ingredients create a flavourful meal-in-a-bowl, although some people think it to be bland. Not everything has to be smothered in heavy seasoning.

Peranakan Buah Keluak Inspired Food

When 8days.sg arrived at four-month-old Peranakan-Western hawker stall Pangi Nut, it was swamped with hungry students from the nearby Ang Mo Kio Secondary School. And that’s just how restaurant chef-turned-hawker Jarrod Poh, 53, likes it. After all, the proud Peranakan opened the stall because he wanted to ‘school’ Singaporean kids about heritage food.

Pangi Nut, another name for buah keluak, is located at the new-ish Thye Guan Eating House at Ang Mo Kio Ave 1. Sixty percent of Jarrod’s menu features regular Western dishes like Rib-Eye Steak. But it is his unusual Peranakan-inspired offerings that are drawing foodies’ attention despite their higher prices. There’re Buah Keluak Chicken Chop, Rendang or Buah Keluak Burgers and Assam Pineapple Grilled Salmon, among other dishes.

Noticing a lack of Peranakan-Western hawker stalls in Singapore, he opened Pangi Nut in April. He inherited his “agak agak” recipes from mum and scaled up with proper measurements, to keep the flavours consistent. Ayam buah keluak is a staple at Jarrod’s family’s annual CNY feast. At his stall, Jarrod buys deshelled whole buah keluak from a supplier. He uses 6kg each time he cooks, adding turmeric, lemongrass, onions and other aromatics to make a piquant sauce.


Nasi Rawon since 1946

Nasi Rawon is a popular Javanese dish usually sold at Malay stall.

It consists of Rice with the Rawon soup made from buah keluak which is the main spice. The buah keluak is grounded with shallots, garlic, ginger, candlenut, red chilli, turmeric and salt and sauteed with oil. The sauteed ingredients into boiled beef stock with diced beef slices.  Lemongrass, galangal, bay leaves, kaffir lime leaves are added as seasonings.

The rice is usually eaten with sambal sotong, paru, begedil and fried chicken. Top 5 Places Serving Nasi Rawon:

Belacan: Caviar or Vile?
Sambal Belacan - 参巴峇拉煎酱

Sambal belacan is the foundation of many Malay dishes. Learning how to make this crowd pleaser will definitely earn you some points with friends and family.

Now, what do we look for in a good jar of sambal belacan? It is crucial to toast the belacan paste until it emits a strong smell - after you get through the initial “stink up the kitchen” stage, what follows is an immense fragrance! Add some fresh chilies, aromatics and fresh lime juice to the mix and you’ve got yourself a wonderful keepsake! 

This lovely condiment can be kept in the fridge and used in stirfrys, as a topping for soup dishes or even as a condiment. Go make yourself a jar now!


Tourists confused after trying local carrot cake for first time
Singaporeans are all too familiar with the savoury carrot cake, which can easily be found in pretty much any hawker centre across our little red dot. But the dish's name has proven to be a little misleading to those unfamiliar with it, including travel vlogger Ken. The German national recently visited Singapore and has been documenting his experiences here on YouTube and his social media platforms.

Upon receiving their food, Ken and his friend were still a little confused by the dish. "What actually is it? I'm still not sure what it is," he asked, adding that it looks like an omelette. And they also couldn't see a sliver of carrot in their food. "So, carrot. Just to get it right, it's this orange vegetable, right? But I don't see anything that looks like the carrot that I know," Ken said. But while they both really enjoyed the dish, they had yet to discover any carrots. A few more Google searches later and Ken realised that carrot cake in Singapore is also known as "chai tow kway" and originated from China. He also learned that the dish is not made of carrots, but rather radish. "So there's no carrot inside. This is a radish. But why is the name carrot cake, then? There's nothing to do with actual carrots," he questioned.

According to Visit Singapore, carrot cake indeed does not have any carrots in it and the core ingredients are rice flour and white radish, which some also call white carrot. The dish also does originate from China and was brought to Singapore by Teochew immigrants. "There, it is known as 'chao gao guo' (fried starch cake) which is made mainly with rice flour," explained Visit Singapore. In the comments, helpful netizens said the same thing and explained to Ken that the dish includes radish, which is also known as white carrot.


Prawn Mee In The 1920s
Beach Road Prawn Noodle House in East Coast with 100-year history

Chances are you’ll have heard of Beach Road Prawn Noodle House, AKA Beach Road Prawn Mee, even if you’ve not had the chance to try it. In spite of its name, however, it’s not at Beach Road, but located on East Coast Road instead.

Once upon a time in the 1970s, Beach Road Prawn Mee did call Beach Road home when second-gen owner Mr Lee Seng Hoon set up shop in a kopitiam along Haji Lane. Today, the brand is in the hands of this hei mee dynasty’s fourth generation—a long way from their Fujianese forefather who hawked his prawn noodles out of earthen pots balanced on a shoulder pole along the five-foot way at Blanco Court.

I’d always heard so much about the supposedly fantastic prawn mee here, and the long queues they’re renowned for, so I was eager to finally get around to tasting it. My dining companion and I started with Prawn with Pig Tail Mee ($6.50/$9.50/$12.50), which I ordered for the unique addition of pig tail. You’d typically find prawn noodles with pork ribs, so this was out of the ordinary. My dining companion found the skin of this kind of tough instead of gelatinous and soft, which he was left feeling disgruntled about. We had no qualms about the prawns; they were fresh, meaty, and not overcooked. It was also appreciated that they came sliced in half for convenient eating. Metal bowls for the shells were also provided.


Tai Hwa vs Tai Wah Pork Noodle
Bak Chor Mee Face Off: Tai Hwa Pork Noodle vs Tai Wah Pork Noodle

Bak Chor Mee is the quintessential Singaporean food, similar in status to the Hainanese Chicken Rice, Chilli Crabs and more. When it comes to opinions on which Bak Chor Mee is the best in Singapore, the amount of arguments it generate can span generations.

Which brings us to Tai Hwa Pork Noodles and Tai Wah Pork Noodles. While similar-sounding, Hill Street Tai Hwa at Crawford Lane has earned 1 Michelin star, while High Street Tai Wah at Hong Lim Food Centre earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

Earlier this month, the owner issued a statement via a newspaper advertisement to highlight that they are "the one and only" 1-Michelin starred Tai Hwa Pork Noodle, possibly in response to High Street Tai Wah aggressive expansion around Singapore.


Herbal Turtle Soup since 1940s
9 Herbal Turtle Soups in Singapore That Are a Dying Tradition

Often viewed as a delicacy, turtle soup is said to help lower blood pressure, improve kidney function and boost virility. In fact, it is a dish often served to Chinese emperors to boost their libido! If you’re cringing at the thought of eating turtle meat, rest assured that endangered or wild turtles are not used at all. The meat comes from farms and they are prepared exclusively for consumption. While not commonly found, the dish has been around for several decades. Today, it is a dying tradition, with just a handful of stalls left serving the dish:


Ye Lai Xiang Hot & Cold Cheng Tng (1939)
Bedok Food Centre, 1 Bedok Road Stall 31, Singapore 469572

Cheng Tng, Tau Suan, Orh Nee: the old-person dessert trio that I refused to eat as a kid. But now I regret every bowl I’ve swapped out for ice cream and cake.

Ye Lai Xiang Hot & Cold Cheng Tng has been around nearly 80 years, drawing customers in droves with their SINGLE menu item served hot or cold, small or large. Their winning concoction has the basics down pat: lotus seeds check, honey dates check, dried longan, Chinese barley, white fungus, red dates check.

You’ll also find dried winter melon strips, sweet potato, dried persimmons, and tau suan floating around in this amber-coloured dessert. Perfect to stay cool – like the coolies in the olden days – in our mad weather.


Century egg 皮蛋 A Traditional Delicacy
Century Egg: Origin, Taste, Benefits & Preparation

Century egg (or hundred-year egg) is a Chinese delicacy of preserved duck, chicken or quail eggs. They become black in appearance with a dark green yolk after being processed for weeks or months in a clay, ash, quicklime mixture along with salt. There is a common misconception that century eggs are hundreds or thousands of years old. They are more commonly just a few months old after preservation. Century egg has an intense taste, interesting serving traditions and fascinating origins. Here’s everything you need to know about Century Egg.

Where Did Century Egg Originate? Century eggs are said to have originated in Hunan, China during the Ming dynasty some six centuries ago. The most popular story goes that a man discovered them during the construction of his home, when he saw duck eggs that had been lying in the slaked lime for two months. He ate them and enjoyed the taste, so he added salt to improve the flavour. Another, more romantic story, is of a man who left eggs in the garden of a woman he wanted to court, however she didn’t discover them until she cleaned the ash pit half a month later. Thus, leading to the creation of the century egg.

Despite a batch of fascinating monikers such as Century egg, Millennium egg, 100-Year egg and so on, the so-called ‘Century’ egg is, at most, a few months or usually weeks old. It’s also called the ‘pine-patterned egg’ because some of them have pine branch-like patterns on the egg white. This Chinese dish is not only famous in China, but throughout East Asia where they have their own names for it. Most likely, this dish was created during the need to preserve eggs in the past, so they were coated in alkaline clay which led to the creation of century eggs.


Fish head curry since 1940s
Mr M.J. Gomez with his wife Mariyamma, daughter Philomena and son John in a photograph taken in Singapore before the family returned to India in the 1960s. PHOTO: COURTESY OF DESMOND GOMEZ

While many have savoured the fish head curry dish in food-obsessed Singapore, the man often credited with its creation has always been a bit of an enigma. Just who was Mr M.J. Gomez? And where did he disappear to? The quest to hunt down Mr Gomez started in 2010 but hit a roadblock soon after. All that was known was that he had given up his business and returned to his native Kerala in the 1960s.

Then came a post on Facebook last year with a photograph of Mr Gomez and a brief description of the fish head curry he had created. The trail soon led to Mr Gomez's grandson Desmond, a dental surgeon working in Bahrain. His father, Dr John Gomez, was then working in Muscat, Oman. It turned out that Mr Gomez, on his return to India in the 1960s, had settled in my ancestral hometown, Kollam, and had lived there till he died in 1974. Dr John Gomez shared his father's story in an interview in Kollam. Mr Marian Jacob Gomez, the eldest of seven children, started working at the age of 17, after his father died.He came to Singapore from Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala, in the 1930s before returning to get married. After the birth of his first child, a daughter, he returned to Singapore, only to get caught here during the war. When the war ended, Mr Gomez went back and spent a few years in India. That was when his son John was born.

Mr Gomez then came to Singapore again, and later brought his family over. They lived in Sophia Road, where he started his restaurant, Gomez Curry, which later moved to nearby Selegie Road. Mr Gomez, known for his spicy dishes, came up with an idea to make fish curry more appealing to Chinese customers. "Fish head was not particularly an Indian delicacy. Understanding it to be a favourite with the Chinese, Gomez tried this dish to please his Chinese customers," says the National Library Board's Infopedia website. It clicked, eventually leading to various versions of the dish and its iconic status today.


Chilli crab since 1950s
The best chilli crabs with a thick savoury sauce just like those served at hawker stalls in Singapore is rather easy to prepare at home. This flavourful dish is popular with the locals in Malaysia too. Follow the steps to keep the meat sweet and juicy!

Look no further for an easy crab recipe. Authentic chilli crabs like those in Singapore can be recreated in your kitchen, anywhere in the world. This amazing dish is made using a paste which has all the five basic flavours namely sweetness, spiciness, sourness, saltiness and umami.

Understandably, there is a reason why it is listed #29 under CNN World’s 50 Most Delicious Food in 2017. Despite its name, this dish is actually not spicy. It is cooked in a gravy which is thick, sweet and savoury with only a slight tinge of spiciness. It is normally accompanied by deep fried or steamed Chinese buns also known as 'mantao'.

The gravy must be thick and flavourful, with strings of egg in it. It should be balanced in sweetness, savouriness and spiciness. That’s why, taucu and blended fresh ingredients are key ingredients to make the best sauce! Adding fresh chillies, ginger and chillies gives an extra kick to the sauce. Most importantly, the blended ingredients must be sautéed until fragrant or else it will taste raw and leave a bitter flavour.


Singapore Traditional Desserts

The craziest reinvented traditional dessert I’ve had is probably the Mr Bean cocktail from local bar Jekyll & Hyde. While I was impressed by how the cocktail made with Lao Ban beancurd, vodka, kaya, and Frangelico tasted, it’s not something I’d crave for all the time, unlike a good old bowl of red bean soup or cheng tng. For these old-school treats, here are the stalls where you can get the best traditional desserts in Singapore:


Teochew Orh Luak

When I was young, I was always confused with the many dialet terms used for Fried Oysters. It’s only till I visited a Fried Oyster stall in Malaysia, then I found the answers: 
  • For Pan Fried Oysters = 蚝煎: pronounced as Hao Jian in Mandarin; Orh Jian in Hokkien 蚝烙: pronounced as Hao Luo in Mandarin; Orh Luak in Hokkien Meaning: Oysters are mixed in a flour paste to form a gooey sticky base 
  • For Oyster Omelette - 蚝旦: pronounced as Hao Dan in Mandarin; Orh Nurng in Hokkien Meaning: Just the oysters and the egg. It is usually found at zi char stalls and uses bigger-sized oysters 
  • For traditional Fried Oysters - 唐山炒: pronounced as Tang Shan Chao in Mandarin. Meaning: It is the traditional version of fried oyster which we seldom see it here in Singapore. Oysters are added to sweet potato flour, texture is softer and less crispy.
The boss Uncle Tan (63 years old) is actually a Teochew. Uncle Tan’s brother came from China, so he learnt this dish from him. He has been selling Fried Oysters in this hawker centre for more than 40 years and was featured as one of the Hawker Legends in Makansutra in 2005. I like my fried oysters with a heavy egg ratio. And if its sides are crispy with a little burnt marks, it will be perfect. To cook a plate of Fried Oysters, you really need some skills. The ingredients for this dish is always the same. We have eggs, flour, oil, oysters and fish sauce. So what makes a stall different from the other is probably the batter.

It must got the right mixture of flour to get the perfect texture of chewy and crispy starchy bits. The plate I ate here is moist and a little touch of crispiness. Not too oily nor dry, which makes me feel less guilty for eating such a sinful dish (ok, I’m just consoling myself). The plump and succulent oysters here came from Korea, not as big as I expected but definitely juicy and fresh. Each plate is topped with loads of coriander leaves, dipping it into the watery chilli sauce, shiok! If you don’t fancy oysters, the boss also has prawn omelette. Each plate of fried oysters starts from $4 onwards.


Pig's organ soup since 1955
The Painstaking Labour Behind Pig’s Organ Soup

Though this sounds like the start of a cliched horror story involving witchcraft, the organs in question are pig offal—ingredients for a young hawker’s pig organ soup (猪杂汤) and glutinous rice intestine (糯米肠). And Thomas is the 3rd generation hawker of Koh Brother Pig’s Organ Soup (许兄弟猪什汤), a family-run hawker business that started in 1955 as a push cart.

But why are stalls like Koh Brother so scarce? Why are they the only ones left selling glutinous rice wrapped in intestine? Offal is often thought of as “unwanted” or “discarded”, given that intestines are associated with bowel movements. And much like other organs like liver, they boast a texture that doesn’t feel quite the same as meat, making it a bit of an acquired taste. Likewise, when I spoke to a kway chap stall owner in Ang Mo Kio and another selling chicken feet (both declined to be named) about the perception of these rarer and more ‘divisive’ ingredients, both felt that the items they sell are dishes youngsters “don’t know how to eat”. The chicken feet seller suggested that “pork chops with pepper” would sell better, probably referring to the frequent crowds a Western stall in the same hawker centre receives.

So it was perhaps a little surprising to find Koh Brother with its fair share of loyal customers on a random weekday afternoon. While not the hour-long queues you find at Michelin-starred hawkers, you wouldn’t say that business isn’t good either. Using this crowd as a reference, you might actually say that Chinese Singaporeans love offal. And so I couldn’t help wondering: why do people really like these divisive ingredients? Is there some kind of a secret to unlocking one’s love for offal? Perhaps the best way to understand is to try the food for yourself.


Best Hawker Food in Singapore

58 Best Hawker Food in Singapore - Which Is Your Favourite:
  • Ayam Penyet - Ayam Penyet a fried chicken dish flattened with a wooden pestle, the action helps to make the chicken more tender and easier to consume.
  • Bak Chor Mee - Singapore’s Bak Chor Mee 肉脞面 is a hawker dish we can be proud of, with a Michelin star in the bag, and once listed as the top world street food by World Street Food Congress.
  • Bak Kut Teh - Bak Kut Teh must be one of Singapore’s most iconic food, in which many celebrities from overseas are huge fans of.
  • Ban Mian - Ban Mian is the kind of food that would send you loads of comfort and warmth in the belly, especially when taken during the rainy days.
  • BBQ Seafood - Talk about BBQ Seafood, then perhaps hawker centres such as Changi Village, Chomp Chomp, Newton Food Centre, and Pasir Panjang Food Centre will come to mind.
  • Beef Noodles - While the original name with “Odeon Beef Kway Teow” cannot be used anymore, you can still find that nostalgic taste at Hwa Heng Beef Noodles at Bendemeer Market & Food Centre.
  • Bee Hoon (Economic) - There is almost always at least one Economic Bee Hoon stall at a food centre.
  • Char Kway Teow - Char Kway Teow 炒粿条 which is essentially stir-fried noodles with rice noodles, is one of those local hawker dishes that I appreciate more as I get older.
  • Char Siew (Roast Meats) Rice - Traditionally sold by displaying them hanged in glass cases by the entrance, char siew and other roasted meats are visually appetising.
  • Chendol - After CNN named “Cendol from Singapore” as one of the 50 world’s best desserts, there was an uproar on social media about the dessert’s origin.
  • Cheng Tng - One of Singapore’s most popular local desserts is Cheng Tng 清汤 (sometimes spelt “Ching Teng”), a bowl of sweet and refreshing treat to beat the summer heat.
  • Chwee Kueh - Chwee Kueh 水粿 while being a relatively known breakfast dish in Singapore, is also fast-diminishing.
  • Chicken Rice - Talk about one of Singapore’s most iconic hawker dish and it would be Hainanese Chicken Rice, something that would still taste good after dabao (takeaway).
  • Claypot Rice - In our modern Singapore society where everything is about being fast, fast, fast… having a meal of Claypot Rice can certainly test the patience of many.
  • Congee - Congee, called ”chog” in Cantonese , is a Chinese rice porridge dish added with ingredients such as meat, fish, eggs, peanuts and even seafood.
  • Curry Chicken Noodles - Just how did poached chicken and curry come together again? While Singapore is the land of Hainanese Chicken Rice, the other much over-looked dish is Curry Chicken Noodles.
  • Curry Puff - These deep-fried (some baked) Curry Puffs of pastries with curried fillings, potatoes and chicken make such as comforting, semi-filling treat. I start with both ends of the crimping, then go towards the centre.
  • Duck Rice & Noodles - Duck Rice can be the ultimate comfort food to many Singaporeans.
  • Double Boiled Soups - Soups of the typical Double Boiled Soups offered include Buddha Jumps Over The Wall, Ten Tonic Ginseng Chicken Soup, Herbal Ginseng Black Chicken Soup, Lotus Root Peanut Pork Ribs Soup, Old Cucumber Pork Rib Soup, Watercress Pork Ribs Soup, and ABC Chicken Soup.
  • Fish Soup - Sliced Fish Soup 鱼片汤 has become a popular hawker dish to have especially during days when we want to eat healthier.
  • Fishball Noodles - There are many Fishball Noodles stalls in Singapore, but not many serve hand-made fishballs and fishcakes anymore. So, I really treasure one if I come across any.
  • Fried Carrot Cake - Carrot Cake is well-loved local hawker dish, also known as Chai Tow Kway. For foreigners reading, this is not to be confused with the slices of sweet “Carrot Cake” with cream cheese.
  • Fried Oyster Omelette - Oyster Omelette 蠔煎, commonly called “Orh Jian” or ”Orh Luak” consist of starch (typically potato starch), egg batter and small oysters fried together, usually enhanced with a spicy chilli sauce with lime.
  • Hokkien Mee - Hokkien Mee 福建炒蝦麵 is admittedly one of my favourite local hawker food, and I know of people who enjoy dapaoing (takeaway) this dish.
  • Hor Fun - Fried Hor Fun is typically found in zi char stalls in Singapore, offering variants from Seafood, San Lou, to Beef with black bean sauce.
  • Ipoh Hor Fun - While the dish of Shredded Chicken Flat Rice Noodles is more commonly known as Kai See Hor Fun” (Cantonese) in Ipoh, we usually simply call it “Ipoh Hor Fun” in Singapore.
  • Indian Rojak - Siraj Famous Waterloo St Indian Rojak at Albert Food Centre is known is known to be the “Original Waterloo Street Rojak Since The 1980s”.
  • Kopi & Kaya Toast - The tradition of kaya toast and kopi in Singapore can be attributed to the Hainanese, and one of the first was Kheng Hoe Heng founded in 1919 which was later renamed to “Killiney Kopitiam” in the 90s.
  • Kway Chap - Kway Chap comes in two parts – the rice noodles accompanied with braised sides.
  • Laksa - Laksa must be one of Singapore’s most iconic hawker food, and “Katong Laksa” has become synonymous with this bowl of spicy and coconuty rice noodle dish.
  • Lor Mee - Lor Mee 卤面 is a popular Singapore hawker noodle dish with Hokkien origins.
  • Mala Xiang Guo - This dish might not have been included a couple of years ago, but now you would spot a Mala Xiang Guo stall in almost every hawker centre, even food courts and coffee shop.
  • Mee Rebus - Mee Rebus is one of the iconic hawker noodles dishes in Singapore, of yellow noodles served with thick and spicy potato-based gravy.
  • Mee Siam = Mee Siam which means “Siamese noodle” in Malay, is a local hawker dish which makes for an ideal breakfast type of food.
  • Mee Soto - Mee soto is a spicy Indonesian-style noodle soup dish – “soto” refer to Indonesian soup.
  • Mutton Soup - Do the young even drink Mutton Soup nowadays? But we don’t even see many of such stalls around nowadays.
  • Nasi Biryani - Briyani (also called “Biryani” depending on region) is a type of mixed long-grain Indian rice dish flavoured with spices such that it is rich and flavourful; with the word derived from a Persian word “birian” which means fried before cooking.
  • Nasi Lemak - Nasi Lemak is one of Singapore’s most popular hawker dish, known for fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf.
  • Nasi Padang - For those who are unfamiliar, Nasi Padang consists of steamed rice served with various choices of pre-cooked dishes, typically with a window display with rows of stacked food.
  •  Ngor Hiang - “Ngoh Hiang” is the Singaporean version of five-spice pork rolls wrapped with beancurd skin, though this can represent a type of stall selling similar deep-fried items such as prawn fritters, fish cake, sausages, beancurd and more.
  • Pig’s Organ Soup - Koh Brother Pig’s Organ Soup at Tiong Bahru Food Centre began in 1955 by a pioneer hawker named Koh Kee with a secret recipe and a push cart.
  • Popiah - Popiah 薄餅 which is one of Singapore’s most popular hawker dishes, was actually traditionally eaten during the Qingming Festival Period.
  • Prawn Noodles - When people go for Prawn Noodles aka Hae Mee, it has to be flavourful, brimming with seafood-goodness, with tinge of sweetness, and most importantly taste gao-gao (intensely rich).
  • Putu Piring - These Malay desserts look like the Chinese kueh tutu, but the origins are said to be from India.
  • Rojak - Funny how we often use the word ”Rojak” in our colloquial language, yet the dish has somehow gone under-the-radar in the recent few years.
  • Roti Prata - For those who do not know what Roti Prata is, Roti means ‘bread’, and Prata or paratha means ‘flat’ in Hindi language.
  • Satay - Satay, spelled as sate in Indonesia and Malaysia is a Southeast Asian dish of seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce.
  • Satay Bee Hoon - Ugly, messy, gooey, and warms the cockles of your heart. Satay Bee Hoon is one of those fast disappearing hawker food in Singapore, that only a handful of stalls still serve them as it is labour-intensive to prepare the sauce.
  • Soya Sauce Chicken - One of the 2 hawker stalls in Singapore with a Michelin star. Liao Fan Hawker Chan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle at Chinatown Food Complex sells Soya Sauce Chicken Rice, Soya Sauce Chicken Noodle, Roasted Pork Rice, Char Siew Rice, and Char Siew Noodles are unbelievable prices of $2 – $3.
  • Tau Hway - Tau Hway, also known as Tau Huay or Douhua, is a popular dessert in Singapore. It’s a Chinese dessert made of soft tofu that has been coagulated.
  • Teochew Porridge - Teochew porridge 潮州糜 or ‘Teochew Mui’ is a type of rice soup similar to the Chinese congee but in a non-gooey and non-mushy way. Compared to the Cantonese-style congee, it has a waterier texture.
  • Thunder Tea Rice - Thunder Tea Rice is a Hakka style dish which comparises of two parts – the rice part which comes topped with generous servings of vegetables and sometimes preserved radish; and the bowl of tea.
  • Vadai - The Prawn Vadai offered from The Original Vadai is quite different from those found in India, said to be a fusion or Singapore originated dish.
  • Vegetarian Bee Hoon - Vegetarian Bee Hoon is a Singaporean-style hawker noodle dish which comprises of cooked topped with vegetarian items such as cabbage, spring rolls, fried tofu skin, and mock meats made from gluten.
  • Wanton Mee - A good plate of Wanton Mee in Singapore would certainly be the most debatable, because there are just so many styles.
  • Western Food - When we talk about “Western Food” served in hawker centres in Singapore, it is not the American steaks or European fancy dishes that some would imagine.
  • Yong Tau Foo - Yong Tau Foo is a Hakka Chinese delight that is available in most of the hawker centres and food courts in Singapore, due to its variety and perceived healthiness (you don’t go pick all the deep-fried food and pour all the sauce within lah).
  • Zi Char - There is just something about “Zi Char” (or Tze Char 煮炒) that is very comforting, especially when the dishes come served piping hot with that strong wok-hei (wok-heat).


10 Places To Get Chwee Kueh In Singapore
From Jian Bo, Bedok Chwee Kueh, Taman Jurong, Ghim Moh To Sembawang Hills Shui Kway

Chwee Kueh 水粿 while being a relatively known breakfast dish in Singapore, is also fast-diminishing. With the exception of a couple of famous brands opening up branches or franchises around, indie stalls are getting hard to find. This is because the older hawkers are finding it hard for the younger generation to take over this labour-intensive work.

The Teochew dish comprises of steamed rice cake topped with preserved radish known as chai poh, and served with chilli sauce. While traditionally made with pork lard, many stalls are replacing with healthier alternatives. One main characteristic of Chwee kueh is that the rice flour mixture are steamed in silver small bowl-shaped containers, and scooped out fresh when ready-to-serve.

There are several others which are actually under the same umbrella as Bedok Chwee Kueh, so I didn’t include them in:
  • Bedok Chwee Kueh 勿洛水粿 - Bedok Chwee Kueh is a popular stall with branches island-wide (Clementi 448, Chong Boon Food Centre, Chong Pang Food Centre, Lorong Ah Soo, Chinatown Food Centre, Ang Mo Kio Ave 4 etc) in Singapore, famed for its soft, light and supple chwee kuehs.
  • Jian Bo Shui Kueh - Jian Bo Shui Kueh has become quite synonymous with Tiong Bahru Food Centre, with many calling it “Tiong Bahru Chwee Kueh” unofficially.
  • Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh 李老三 - The stall 李老三 at Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre #01-54 is run by Mr. Lee who has been making Chwee Kueh since he was 8, helping his mother and brother in pushing their street food cart.
  • Taman Jurong Chwee Kueh - This Chwee Kueh stall got into some limelight due to “Hawker United – Dabao” and Zermatt Neo’s “INSANE 100 Chwee Kueh Challenge”.
  • Sembawang Hills Shui Kway - While most are familiar with the Tiong Bahru and Bedok Chwee Kueh, could try this stall for something different.
  • Pek Kio Handmade Chwee Kueh - This stall at Pek Kio Food Centre got me stopping in my tracks because they serve up both the usual Chwee Kueh ($1.50 for 5 pieces) and a LARGE piece ($1.50 for one).
  • Singapore Shui Kueh 新加坡水粿 - If you are at Whampoa and hungry that early in the morning, Singapore Shui Kueh starts operations at 4:30am supposedly.
  • Xiang Xiang Chwee Kueh - There are two stalls of Xiang Xiang Chwee Kueh, located at Whampoa Market and Bedok South.
  • Kovan Chwee Kueh 口味水粿 - While the stall is called “Kovan Chwee Kueh”, it is located at Bendemeer Food Centre and enjoys a steady stream of customers.
  • Tiong Bahru Chwee Kueh - Not to be confused with Jian Bo Chwee Kueh, Tiong Bahru Chwee Kueh is located at the basement of TANGS, and managed by Fei Siong Group.

12 Must-Try Congee In Singapore
From Sin Heng Kee, Ah Chiang’s Porridge, Zhen Zhen To Chai Chee Pork Porridge

It must be the gradually-cool weather in Singapore that made me crave for some good-old comforting congee.

Congee, called ”chog” in Cantonese, is a Chinese rice porridge dish added with ingredients such as meat, fish, eggs, peanuts and even seafood. While there are many variations such as the Teochew muay, this food guide will focus on the thicker Cantonese style.

A smooth, delicious bowl of congee is the perfect food that warms the belly. Here are 12 places in Singapore where you can relish some of the best congee around:
  • Zhen Zhen Porridge 真真粥品 - There are several stalls famous for congee at Chinatown and Maxwell Food Centre, such as Tiong Shian Porridge Centre and Hoe Kee Porridge, but many have a soft spot for Zhen Zhen Porridge.
  • Sin Heng Kee - When I did a poll on the most recommend congee in Singapore on IG Stories, Sin Heng Kee easily came up tops.
  • Ah Chiang’s Porridge (Tiong Poh Road) - Ah Chiang’s Porridge at Tiong Bahru (not the Toa Payoh branch, which is…) has been my regular favourite since the good-old days, though I must say they used to be better – say 2-3 years back when there was visibility more ingredients.
  • Xian Ji Porridge - This is quite an under-rated congee stall, though it is frequently sold out early in the morning.
  • Mui Kee Congee Singapore 妹記生滾粥品 - Known for its Cantonese style congee, Mui Kee Congee 妹記生滾粥品 from Hong Kong) has opened a permanent space at Shaw Centre under the Les Amis Group.
  • Yin Ji porridge 银记肠粉店 - Yin Ji 银记肠粉店 which originated in Guangzhou in the 50s, has set up its Singapore flagship at Far East Square.
  • Ri Ji Porridge - This congee stalls goes back to 1976. It was first started by Mr. Wong, and the family recipe has been passed down since then with innovations and improvements to bring its regular patrons the best-selling Cantonese porridge in the area.
  • Chai Chee Pork Porridge - Chai Chee Pork Porridge is one of those stalls that you would usually find people queuing at the 85 Fengshan Market.
  • Li Fang Porridge 丽芳粥品 - Li Fang Porridge has a number of shops around Singapore. The main outlet is at Queen Street Albert Centre, with other branches at 20 Ghim Moh Road, ABC Market, 115 Bukit Merah View, 407 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, 293 Yishun Ring Road, 207 New Upper Changi Road and 208D New Upper Changi Road.
  • Congee 88 - 88 粥品 (88 Zhou Pin) at Toa Payoh serves up a familiar yummilious taste of Hong Kong styled congee, the quality kind that you would find along the roads of Nathan Lane. On a fine breakfast outing, the single bowl relieved my cravings for Kowloon street food.
  • Johor Road Boon Kee Pork Porridge - A slightly under-the-radar stall (at least on the social media sphere), but don’t be deceived as this Hainanese porridge stall attracts a constant crowd and often sold out way before closing time.
  • Canton Paradise Marina Bay Sands - The consistency of this Cantonese style Handmade Meatball Congee ($9.80) should stand out. As I scooped up a spoonful, I could tell by appearance that it had a velvety smooth and silky texture.


Traditional Claypot rice 煲仔饭
From Lian He Ben Ji, New Lucky, To Sembawang Traditional Claypot Rice

Claypot Rice 砂锅饭 is a time-consuming dish requiring cooking to be done over a charcoal stove, give the rice distinctive flavour. Typically added with chicken, Chinese sausage, vegetables, dried salted fish and served with thick, sweetened dark sauce. In our modern Singapore society where everything is about being fast, fast, fast… having a meal of Claypot Rice can certainly test the patience of many.

I am talking about the traditional Claypot Rice cooked over charcoal from scratch, which is fast disappearing. At the popular stalls, be prepared to wait anything from 45 minutes to more than an hour. So what is it about Claypot Rice, since most of the ingredients such as chicken, lup cheong, salted fish and sometimes Chinese mushrooms are about the same? It is the skill in cooking and managing the fire, and of course the type of dark soya sauce, oil and chilli given to enhance the flavours. Not forgetting about the ”guo ba”, when the charcoal cooking leaves a nice charred layer of rice sticking to the bowl waiting to be scraped off once the bulk of the rice is gone. Yums.

Here are 10 Claypot Rice recommendations:
  • New Lucky Claypot Rice - Opened since 1979, the stall used to be located in Bukit Merah and Clementi, but has since moved to its current location in Holland Drive.
  • Lian He Ben Ji Claypot - Mdm Lim runs Lian He Bin Ji with her sisters (and also a cousin), hence it earned the moniker “Sisters Claypot” or “Three Sisters’ Claypot Rice”.
  • Geylang Claypot Rice 芽笼瓦煲饭 - Do not be confused, Geylang Claypot Rice is located at 361 Beach Road (opposite The Concourse) and not Geylang Lor 33 anymore. After a wait of several months, the popular Geylang Claypot Rice has moved from a humble coffeeshop, and reopened to a modern swanky shop with 3 shop spaces.
  • Yew Chuan Claypot Rice - Close to 40 years in the claypot rice business, this couple team is still going strong at its original stall at Golden Mile.
  • Sembawang Traditional Claypot Rice - Sembawang folks will know about this Claypot Rice shop, which also serves up other zi char style items such as Salted Egg Pork Ribs, Claypot Curry Chicken, JB-style San Lou Bee Hoon, Claypot Seafood Da Lu Mian and KL Hokkien Mee. (If you are from somewhere else and drive, parking can be tricky during weekends.)
  • He Ping Claypot Rice - With over 40 years of history, He Ping Claypot Rice located at Geylang (near Lor 19) serves up Claypot Rice from $8 onwards. The Claypot Rice is prepared the traditional way with charcoal, so be prepared to wait 30 minutes or more if you did not reserve before hand.
  • Yuan Yuan Claypot Rice - Yuan Yuan Claypot Rice sells authentic claypot rice at $10 for a 2 person portion. The rice comes with tender meat (depending on which one you order) that is marinated in a special spice mix over 5 hours, and other generous amount of toppings including Chinese sausages and salted fish.
  • Tai Liok Claypot Chicken Rice - The stall used to be located at Level 2 of Margaret Drive Food Centre, and has moved to Alexandra Village Food Centre. A lot of regulars have continued supporting this stall.
  • Fu He Delights 福和 - Fu He Delights at Berseh Food Centre may be more known for its Turtle Soups (one of the two stalls left selling this at the hawker centre), but many customers were also ordering their Claypot Rice ($7, $15, $20).
  • Jade Palace Restaurant - While the above 9 Claypot Rice are mainly found in food centres or stand-alone eateries, I thought I should include Jade Palace Seafood Restaurant since they are famous for their traditional Claypot Rice.


Teochew Orh Nee 潮州芋泥

This beloved dessert is ingrained in our culture and has become an occasion for us to savor the pleasures of our shared heritage. Let's delve into the origins of orh nee and share a few intriguing facts about this delectable treat.

Orh nee, also known as yam paste, is a classic Teochew dessert that has graced the tables of Singaporean households and local restaurants for generations. Its roots can be traced back to the Chaoshan region in Guangdong, China, where the Teochew people originated. Like many culinary treasures, orh nee has traveled across borders and evolved over time to suit local palates, becoming an indispensable part of Singapore's food culture. The preparation of orh nee is an art form in itself. It starts with the humble yam, skillfully peeled and steamed until it reaches a velvety texture. The yam is then painstakingly mashed and transformed into a smooth paste, combining it with fragrant pandan leaves, rich coconut milk, and a touch of sweetness from sugar or condensed milk. The result is a luscious dessert with a harmonious blend of flavors and a melt-in-your-mouth consistency that delights the senses.

Orh nee is often enjoyed on auspicious occasions, particularly during festive celebrations such as Chinese New Year or important family gatherings. It symbolizes prosperity, abundance, and the continuation of family traditions. Just as our nation thrives on unity and the strength of our diverse cultures, orh nee serves as a reminder of our shared values and the importance of cherishing our heritage.


Traditional Yong Tau Foo 釀豆腐
Leslie and Lisa uncovers the Yong Tau Foo story

When you think about Yong Tau Foo (YTF), what comes to mind is probably a smorgasboard of items stuffed with fish paste and served in soup or drenched in sweet sauce.   Then there is Hakka YTF which is supposedly the original version which has minced meat stuffing instead of fish paste.  But just how did YTF evolved to become what it is today? This was the question that intrigued us when we visited the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre exhibition and got us to embarking on our journey to find out more about the story of Yong Tau Foo.

Let’s ask the Hakkas - Our first stop was a quaint little Hakka restaurant called Plum village, where we met with Mr Lai Fak Nian, the owner of one of Singapore’s oldest Hakka restaurants.  Mr Lai told us that - Long ago, the Hakkas started migrating Southwards in order to flee the war in Northern China and through a series of migrations, finally settled Southern China. Because they couldn’t get hold of wheatflour to make dumpling skins during the festivals, they started using tofu instead. The word “Nyong” in Hakka describes the action of filling the tofu with the stuffing and hence “Yong Tau Foo” was born.”

The original Yong Tau Foo is just minced meat paste stuffed in tofu and served in a soup made with soy bean.  Accompanying the Yong Tau Foo is a common staple of egg noodles served with minced meat. Mr Lai then told us that when the Hakkas came to the Nanyang region where there was an abundance of seafood, they began adding some fish paste to the meat which helps to prevent shrinkage of the minced meat.  Fishballs also made its appearance because of the Teochew influence.  They also started to deep fry the tofu and serve it with oyster sauce which is a condiment that only became available when they migrated to coastal regions.


Madeleine's Original Portuguese Egg Tart to shutter after 26 years
'We have decided to retire': Will cease on 15 Aug 2024

After 26 years, Madeleine's Original Portuguese Egg Tarts, located in Tanjong Katong, is closing for good. On Wednesday (July 17), the stall took to its social media channels to break the news that it "will cease operations after Aug 15".

The in-video caption read: "It is with mixed emotions that I announce the retirement of our business after 26 years of dedicated service, we have decided to retire and close the business." "This decision was not made lightly, but after much consideration, we are confident that this is the right step for us at this point in our life," the notice read.

The owner then went on to thank both customers and employees for their support through the bakery's 26-year run. Supporters of the business took to the comments section, expressing their dismay in response to the news.


Nasi Padang stalwart Sabar Menanti since 1920
Sabar Menanti’s nasi padang is literally worth the wait - from beef rendang to ayam bakar

For my next food adventure delving into Singapore’s delicious history, my sights were set on Kampong Gelam, an area renowned for its many nasi padang restaurants. Named for its West Sumatran city of origin in Indonesia, the Minangkabau dish of steamed rice served with a variety of pre-cooked dishes is a popular choice for time-crunched Singaporeans in need of a satisfying meal. But what is a quick and convenient meal for diners begins with long hours of preparation and cooking.

At nasi padang stalwart Sabar Menanti, the laborious commitment is anchored by a strong dedication to preserving their family’s culinary legacy. It was a happy coincidence then that my colleague and fellow foodie, Class 95 producer-presenter Catherine Robert is a friend of the third-generation owner. Iszahar Tambunan (Isz) had us meet him at Kandahar Street for a history lesson before we got to taste his family’s famous nasi padang. From what he knows, Sabar Menanti began as a humble pushcart run by his grandparents on that very street corner, opposite a masonry shop that carved tombstones. “In Malay, we call it ‘batu nisan’. A lot of our customers from overseas didn’t know how to describe the nasi padang so they called us ‘the tombstone nasi padang’, which is ‘nasi padang batu nisan’,” Isz explained.

Contrary to its morbid nickname, “tombstone nasi padang” thrived as word-of-mouth spread. But its present name came from a customer who gave them a sign to display at their bourgeoning food business. It ended up serving two brilliant purposes – one, as their identifying name and two, for crowd control because Sabar Menanti means “wait patiently.” This came in handy as business and the lines of customers grew. Eventually, the family were able to move from peddling nasi padang on the street into a shophouse on the same street. “This was probably back in the late 40s, early 50s,” Isz mentioned. For the next few decades, Sabar Menanti flourished in that restaurant on the corner of Kandahar Street. I marvelled at how that small patch, no bigger than a basketball court, held all of his family’s food history.


Eating Insects: Cricket smoothies, anyone?
A spoonful of edible cricket. Some types of crickets are among 16 insect species the Singapore Food Agency has reviewed for human consumption. (Photo: iStock/casketcase)

Crickets could be available as snacks in Singapore. New laws in the works to regulate insects for human consumption in Singapore means Asia Insect Farm Solutions can one day bring its cricket powder - currently only available for sale in Europe - to market here.

The firm is looking at venturing into the snack market because there is a perception that such foods are not healthy, said its co-founder Yuvanesh T S. “We thought with edible insects being high in protein and other vitamins and minerals, we can also create products that are nutritious but still tasty,” he told CNA. A 100g serving of crickets contains 65g of protein, more than twice in a similar serving of chicken breast.

While people may find the insects off-putting in their whole form, they may be more comfortable with them in powder form, said Mr Yuvanesh. “We are trying to think of ways where we can introduce edible insect-based products in a way that people are comfortable,” he said, citing smoothies as an example that people may find acceptable. CNA journalist Chloe Choo, who tasted a peanut butter and kale smoothie made with the powder, said that people are unlikely to taste the alternative protein’s presence in their drink.


Nostalgic Rickshaw Noodles 拉车面

If there is anything that reminds me of my grandmother’s cooking, it would be thick yellow egg noodles in soup. I always thought it was just casual fare for the older generation and didn’t probe much into the name and history of it. It was only until I came across Dong Fang Kan Chia Mee, a stall that sells rickshaw noodles (拉车面), that my interest in this dish was piqued.

As it turns out, this dish was a staple for rickshaw pullers in the past as it was inexpensive and filling. Today, it is something that most of the older generation would know of while the young ones like myself simply eat without knowing much about its history. I would say that the rickshaw noodles of old can be likened to instant noodles of today.

The noodles were soft and broke apart easily when I bit into them . The humble bowl consists of a thick gooey soup and simple ingredients such as vegetables and some dried shrimps. The soup had a very alkaline taste which was derived from the egg noodles. I can foresee myself craving for this when I want something healthy and simple.


Devil's Curry aka Kari Debal (why is it so evil?)
Devil's curry - how to make authentic curry debal (Eurasian Kristang cuisine)

Devil’s curry is the name given to traditional dishes from Malacca’s Portuguese community. It is another name given to the Debal curry, which is usually served during Christmas. The word Debal means leftovers in the local Kristang language, as the dish is made from holiday leftovers in the past.

Nowadays, foods are more accessible, which means we are using fresh chicken, sausages and other vegetables to prepare. The curry is supposed to be very spicy (which I toned down the heat in my recipe), and the color looks fiercely hot and spicy, which is why it is fondly called Devil’s curry.

The star of the curry is the sauce which is made with a multitude of spices. The heat from the chili-fueled spiciness will linger on but will not numb your tongue as the Szechuan-style ‘mala” effect.


Singapore Hawker Dishes
Singapore chilli crab - go ahead, get your hands dirty!

If there’s one dish that tops the “must-eat” list of visitors to Singapore it’s chilli crab. Whether you eat it in a hawker centre or a posh seafood restaurant, digging into a whole crab swimming in sweet and spicy sauce is the most memorable (and messy) meal that Singapore has to offer.

Unlike most hawker dishes, which originated in countries like China or India, the chilli crab is a true Singapore creation and the recipe was only developed in the 1950s. There is some debate about exactly who created it, but the credit is generally given to Palm Beach Seafood Restaurant. Needless to say, the dish was a hit and the Singapore chilli crab has become so iconic it can be found on postcards and souvenirs.

The appeal of the chilli crab is all in the addictive sauce: a mix of tomato, egg and lots of spices. Though one of them is definitely chilli, the other ingredients balance it out and chilli crab is not overwhelmingly spicy. The crab is then stir-fried in the delicious sauce and served with rice or man tou (Chinese fried buns) to mop up every last drop. If you’re interested in mastering the art of chilli crab, a few cooking schools in Singapore offer lessons. The crab shell is only partly cracked, so you’ll need to get your hands dirty to get to the good stuff inside. Do not wear your favourite white shirt to a dinner of chilli crab and, if eating at a hawker centre, remember to bring some tissues for wiping the red sauce from your mouth and fingers!

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