Food in Singapore
As Singapore is a cultural mix or racial mix, or in short, a country with a mixture of quite a number of cultures, races, religions and nationalities, you can find a large variety of food here in Singapore, each with their own distinct identity. Singapore is a melting pot of cuisines from around the world, and many Singaporeans are obsessive gourmands who love to makan (eat in Malay). You will find quality Chinese, Malay, Indian, Japanese,korean, Italian, French, American and other food in this city-state.
If you are a food lover, or a sucker for good food, then Singapore is the place for you. Singapore is a haven for food.
Singaporeans generally "down" tons of noddles or rice yearly. There is a huge variety of how these noodles or rice is prepared. For example, the famous dim sum (made popular by Hong Kongers), Beijing Roast Duck, Nasi Lemak, Roti Prata (from our Indian friends), Curry Fishhead etc. etc are all available here. There are fast food, Italian food, Vietnamese food, Japanese food etc. available almost everywhere, but these are usually more costly and not what the average Singaporeans eat daily. The list goes on and on, and you do not need to pay a bomb to enjoy all these good food.
A typical good meal for a local does not costs more than S$5 (including soft drinks) for one person, and even if you wish to pamper yourself, you do not need to spend more than S$20 per person for a meal, that is how affordable it can be! Most such meals are available at "hawker centres" or "coffee shops" (or 'kopi-tiam' as local would call it) where you can enjoy good food at good prices. Look around at the food stalls displaying their food, and chooses what you want. Most display their food names and prices quite clearly.
There are literally hundreds if not thousands of variety of local food here.
A typical soft drink costs about S$0.80 - S$1.50 per can/pack/bottle. A typical glass of fruit juice is about S$1.50 - S$3.00 per glass. A typical glass of hot drink costs about S$0.60 - S$1.20 per cup.
These are some famous local food in Singapore.
Chinese Food
Chinese cuisine which originated from China has made an influence in many parts of Asia which includes Singapore with Chinese as the highest number of population. Some well-known ones are laksa, bak kut teh, chicken rice, rojak and fried kway teow.
Chili crab- is a seafood dish originating from Singapore. It was created in 1950 by Singapore chef, Cher Yam Tian with her husband, Lim Choon Ngee. The couple ran Palm Beach Seafood Restaurant on Upper East Coast Road (near the present day East Coast Seafood Centre .) Mud crabs are commonly used and are stir-fried in a semi-thick, sweet and savory tomato and chili based sauce.
Chicken Rice - This is one meal swore by a large number of Singapore Chinese. It is fragrant rice (fragrance made by pandan leaves and the soup used to cook the chicken) served with chicken meat (either boiled or roasted, some offer other varieties as well, but not common) and some cucumber slices. It is usually served together with a small bowl of soup (which is the soup-based used to cook the chicken). Such servings generally cost S$2.50 to S$3.00 per plate.
Sometimes this dish is known as "Hainanese Chicken Rice" as it is usually prepared and made famous by Hainanese. It is meltingly smooth steamed chicken served with chicken-flavored rice and 3 dips- hot chilli, thick black sauce and minced ginger. Hainanese chicken rice is often considered as the "national dish" of Singapore, and is often served at international expositions and global events abroad, and in Singaporean-run restaurants overseas. In fact, Hainanese chicken rice is also one of the few local dishes served on Singapore Airlines flights.
In Singapore, Hainanese chicken rice is served at stalls and food courts. There are Hainanese chicken rice stalls that have established franchise or branch outlets, and these include Five Star Hainanese Chicken Rice, Boon Tong Kee, Tian Tian (restaurant), Loy Kee and others which have many outlets island wide. The price range is around S$2-4. Some stalls serve extras such as a hard boiled egg, chicken liver, firm tofu and kailan as side dishes, each dish usually costing around S$0.50 to S$1.50. Some may serve set meals which include these side dishes. Even canteen vendors in schools also sell chicken rice. However, this tends to be simpler in style, and comprises just sliced chicken with rice and soy sauce as a healthier choice.
Hainanese-owned coffee shops tend to serve a variety of Hainanese cuisine, with chicken rice being the main highlight. Other Hainanese dishes include pork chop, vegetables, fish, eggs and char siew. Most of these shops are air-conditioned, and are mainly concentrated at Purvis Street and Seah Street. The dish was touted popularised in Singapore in the 1950s by Moh Lee Twee, whose Swee Kee Chicken Rice Restaurant operated from 1947 to 1997.
Fishball Noodles - It is noodles served with fishball (made from fish paste, into shapes of a ball, that is why it is called fishball) and some minced pork.
It is served either "dry" (mixed with chilli paste) and soup (in soup form, soup usually made of ikan bilis (small fish) stock). Dry versions are usually served with a small bowl of soup.
The dry version is called "Ta Mee" (Hokkien for Dry Nooddle), the soup version is called "Tng Mee" (Hokkien for Soup Noodle).
WanTon Mee-The dish also comes with a generous helping of tasty, chunky slices of char siew, But somehow the burnt barbecued pork blended well with the spicy mee kia, giving it a pleasing smoky textual. The wanton, however, was rather ordinary.
Prawn Noodles (Dry/Soup) - Similar to the fishball version, the prawn noodles are a mixture of noodles and prawns, and usually with some cut learn pork as well. It is also served with soup (prawn stock).
Chilli paste for the prawn noodles are contains a little sweet taste, whereas the fish ball noodles version does not contain any sweet taste.
Ba Kut Teh (loosely translated to Pork's Bones Tea) - It is pork ribs/limbs stewed in soup served with rice.
Laska- in particular the Katong or lemak style is probably the best known Singaporean dish: a fragrant soup of noodles in a coconut-based curry broth, topped with cockles or shrimp. Note that Singapore laksa is very different from Penang laksa which is made with a tamarind-infused broth instead of coconut, and has a spicy sourish taste.
Malay Food
The Malay cuisine in Singapore is a blend of traditional dishes from Malaysia with strong influences from the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java. For religious reasons, pork is never used in Malay and Indonesian cuisine. They use ingredients such as coconuts, belacan, spices and herbs.
Nasi Lemak - is a dish sold in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and southern Thailand. In Kuala Lumpur, it is called the national dish, a national heritage of Malaysia. This is fragrant rice (made by smell of pandan leaves and ginger) boiled and served with other ingredients. A typical serving usually includes small fish (ikan bilis and ikan kuning), fried egg, cucumber, and peanuts. Together with a small serving of chilli paste (which is hot and sweet), it makes a wonderful meal.
Nasi Ayam Goreng (translated Fried Chicken with Rice) - This is just like the chinese version of Chicken Rice, but for this case, the chicken meat is deep fried. It is one of my personal favourite for the way the chicken is fried.
You can find it around the Geylang Serai area though. A typical serving costs about S$3.00 to S$4.00.
Beef Rendang-Large chunks of beef are cooked with lashings, spices and herbs to come up with Beef Rendang. It is another hearty, and very spicy, favorite among Singaporeans.
Nasi Padang-It is a name that describes a wide range of spicy meat, fish, poultry, and vegetable dishes, which had originated in the Padang district of West Sumatra.
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Indian Food
Indians make up 9% of the whole singapore population. Despite the small population, the indian cuisine has made a huge impact on the singapore's local food! Their cusine has many cooking techniques and traditional herbs and spices. Let us introduce some popular ones such as roti prata, apom, murtabak and thosai. In particular curry, which originated in India, is used to flavour food across Asia including singapore.
Mee Goreng - Fried noodles with chilli paste and with a sprinkling of mutton (small pieces) and egg. You will probably never understand how fried noodles can taste so good!
It is usually served with cucumbers (with tomato paste on top) as well. This cucumber is good for those who cannot take too spicy food (it actually acts as a coolant for your tongue, according to a Indian friend).
A serving of Mee Goreng usually costs about S$2.00 - S$3.00.
Roti Prata - A pancake shaped fried dough. It is served either with mutton curry or sugar.
Many will be amaze with the way the cook handles the dough (he will flip, flip and practically 'fly' the dough before folding it into a square shaped dough and fry it on his hot pans).
The prata (as what local calls it) taste a bit salty and taste GREAT when dipped into curry gravy provided. For those who cannot take spicy food, ask for sugar instead! If you are adventurous, try both ways of eating the prata and you will notice the difference in flavor.
Roti Prata is a local favourite fit for almost any time of the day and for almost any event. It is usually served plain, with egg and/or with onion fillings along with a side of curry and/or sugar to improve flavour. There is also a ‘paper prata’ which is made extra thin and crispy. A south Indian staple bread made by stretching dough flavored with ghee and pan-fried till crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Nice showmanship when flipping and tossing the dough. Classic roti pratas come plain or with egg and is eaten with spicy curries or sugar. There are even flavors that come stuffed with bananas, cheese, chocolate, ice-cream and even durian.
The plain prata costs about S$0.50 to S$0.80 while the prata with egg costs about S$0.80 to S$1.50 depending on locations. You should get the accompanied curry gravy for free.
Fish Head Curry
A whole huge fish head, usually a red snapper complete wit lips, eyes and cheeks, is cooked in a spicy, tangy tamarinated curry with ochra and tomatoes. Some say it is a uniquely Singaporean creation, when Gomez, an Indian cook, decided to cook the fish heads which were thrown away. The local tangy version differs from the rich Indian Bengal style which uses a river fish instead.
Chapati
Circular flat bread made of whole-wheat flour cooked on a flat griddle with no oil, Staple food of people in North India, where rice is not as popular. Dips like vegetarian dhal, minced mutton or chicken keema are usually taken with the chapati.
Indian Rojak
'Rojak' is the Malay word for mixture and Indian Rojak is a unique Singaporean creation of fried stuff like dough fritters, prawns, chilli potatoes, fried coconut dough, squid, toufu and even prawn cakes, created by an Indian cook decades ago. They all come with the all important and addictive dip made with mashed sweet potatoes and chilli.
Vadai
South Indian snacks made with nuts, flour, vegetables, beans and spices. The prawn Vadai doughnut is popular here. Sweet vadai are eaten as festival snacks and the dahl is deep fried compressed spicy nuts and vegetables
Mix
There are many foods which are made by the different races.
Soto Ayam- Is a classic Spicy Chicken Soup, commonly found in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia (”Soto” means “soup” and “Ayam” means “chicken”). The soup is yellow in color due to the use of turmeric as one of its ingredients.which is a spiced chicken stock served with chicken, beansprouts, and either potato croquette or compressed rice.
Curry Fish Head (Indian / Chinese) - served with rice, it is fish head (fish head of larger fish, about twice the size of a grown-up man's palm) cooked in curry gravy, with a mixture of vegetables in the gravy. The Indian version is generally spicier than the Chinese version.
The catch to this dish is actually the gravy, the fish eye and the bones of the fish head .There are some differences on how it is eaten, Chinese generally "scoop & drink" the curry gravy (on top of mixing it with their rice), and Indians generally mix the gravy with their rice. So the choice is yours. Tip is if you find the gravy too spicy, mix it with your rice and you will feel a whole lot better when taking to this dish.
A serving for about 3 - 4 persons costs about S$20 - S$30 (depending on where you eat, including rice), so if there is only 2 of you, remember to tell the stall so, or else you will end up wasting the food! Little India is the place to sample this.Curry fish head stall is located at Jalan Berseh Hawker Center, along Jalan Besar.
Satay (Malay / Chinese) - meat skewelled on wooden sticks, and grilled over charcoal fire. Served with gravy (for dipping) made from chilly and peanut.
Generally, the Malay and Chinese varieties are almost the same except the Chinese variety has the pork version, while the Malay does not. The different type of meats includes chicken, mutton and beef (plus pork for the Chinese version).
Also served with satay are cut onion rings (fresh), cut cucumber and rice dumplings (steam rices made into a squarish form).
A cost per stick of Satay is ranges from S$0.30 to S$0.80 (depending on locations).
One of the most well-known and popular Malay dish is Satay. Pieces of mutton, beef, or chicken are skewered over charcoal and eaten with a rich peanut sauce, sliced cucumber, onions, and chunks of compressed rice. The popular brochettes of meat sold at hawker centres and other food courts, sold with a side of spicy peanut sauce for dipping, slices of fresh cucumber and onions — the “Satay Club” at the Lau Pa Sat near Raffles Place is one popular location for this delicacy.
Dessert
Generally, Malay desserts and cakes are very rich in coconut milk and are great for those with a sweet tooth.
Ice kachang -literally means “ice bean” in Malay, a good clue to the two major ingredients: shaved ice and sweet red beans. With gula melaka (palm sugar), grass jelly, sweet corn, attap palm seeds and anything else on hand thrown in, and the whole thing is then drizzled with canned condensed milk or coconut cream and colored syrups.
Kaya Roti-Creamy, sweet and lushly fragrant, kaya's creamy custard made from eggs, cocunut milk, sugar and pandan leaves. Sometimes it is green (from pandan) in colour or brown (from gula melaka). Some folks have it on toast for breakfast and tea, with a couple of half-boiled eggs and a cup of strong kopi.
| Coffee and Tea -The term kopi (Malay word for coffee) and teh (Malay word for tea) are used for sweet coffee and tea that mixed with milk. Kopi-o and teh-o are those without milk but still sweet. And if you want black coffee or tea, you should mention them “without sugar”. |
Durian-have becomes a national icon however it is not exactly a dish but a local fruit with distinctive odor you can smell a mile away and a sharp thorny husk. Most foreigners cannot tolerate the smell or taste of the fruit, but to the majority of locals this is a delicacy. The rich creamy yellow flesh is often sold in places like Geylang and Bugis and elsewhere conveniently in pre-packaged packs. It can cost S$1 for a small fruit all the way up to S$24 per kilo depending on the season and type of durian. If you are game enough you should try it, but be warned beforehand - you will either love it or hate it. (Note: you’re not allowed to carry durians on the MRT and buses and they’re banned from many hotels. Anecdotal evidence also suggests avoiding alcohol after eating durian. This ‘king of fruits’ is also made into ice cream, cakes, sweets and other decadent desserts.)
Nonya Kueh- Straits Chinese or Nonya kueh (cakes) are made from a variety of fulsome and flavourful ingredients such as coconut milk, sweet potatoes, tapioca, palm sugar and pandan leaves.
Presented together, they make up a colourful, pleasing platter, and thus are among the most popular items to be enjoyed during tea time, as a sweet dessert, and as part of the menu at festive occasions.
Almond Jelly with longans
Cendol- mung bean jelly strips with shaved ice, coconut milk and brown palm sugar.
Burbur Cha Cha- tapioca dumplings, sweet potatoes and yam in coconut milk, served hot or cold.
Ice Jelly- jelly topped with shaved ice, lime and a choice of fruit.
Grass Jelly- herbal jelly served with syrup and a choice of fruit toppings.
Cheng Tng-a sweet soup of dried fruits, nuts and barley, served hot or cold.
Tau Suar- mung beans in sweet syrup.
Bubur Tengu- boiled white wheat berries with coconut.
Pulot Hitam- boiled black glutinous rice with coconut milk.
Or Nee- sweetened yam puree with ginkgo nuts or pumpkin.
Tau Huay- soybean custard with syrup.
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