Location: Singapore

Author: My Husband

After spending several days in Singapore to visit with family, it was time to move on to our next destination. As alluded to in a previous post, my wife and I did not do anything touristy on this trip; we spent the majority of our time accompanying our family members on shopping and eating excursions.

To wrap up this series of posts on Singapore, I thought it might be interesting to share some of the more notable hawker fare that we had, as well as our impressions of the city’s newest “gourmet” food court.

Singaporeans from all walks of life have one thing in common. No matter their station in life, the language they speak, or whether they are young or old, ALL Singaporeans LOVE hawker food. Over the years, the appeal of hawker fare has become so widespread and accessible that even first-time visitors know it is the thing to have. A case in point: when Christina and I were waiting for our flight in the Star Alliance Lounge at Charles de Gaulle, we overheard a middle-aged guy from the US, a first-time visitor to Singapore, sharing a tip with his travelling companion. He said, “My colleague in San Francisco told me that the local guys would take us to the nice restaurants for the business meals, which is all right. But to get the really good stuff – he said we have to go and eat the local street food.” Well, hawker food isn’t exactly street food anymore, but he already had the right idea.

Two of my favourite hawker dishes can be found at Thye Hong, and they have branches at most of the Food Republic locations.

Thye Hong is renowned for their fried Hokkien Noodles and Char Kway Teow. There may be better versions of these dishes at some faraway old-styled open-air hawker center, but I’d prefer to eat Thye Hong’s version in a nicely air-conditioned place.

Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodles. Thye Hong serves a slightly “wetter” version with plenty of “wok hei”. The two or three whole prawns in the dish are not much to write home about. The focus of this dish is the noodles; they absorb much of the prawn stock in which they are cooked, and the resultant flavours are simply spectacular.

Char Kway Teow. This is rice noodles (with some regular noodles mixed in) fried with Chinese sausages, cockles, eggs, and beansprouts. This dish can be ordered in either a dark (fried with dark soy) or light version. They dark soy version is slightly sweeter, and to my taste buds, a bit more flavourful.

Hokkien prawn noodles being cooked in a large wok. Part of the cooking process involves adding prawn stock, and then covering the wok to let the stock reduce and slightly thicken.

We also couldn’t resist the breakfast set at Toast Box.

Coffee and soft-boiled eggs. “Traditional” SE Asian coffee is brewed using liberica coffee beans, which are grown mostly in Malaysia. Unlike other coffees, traditional SE Asian coffee beans are roasted with some butter and sugar, which results in very dark, caramel-y beans. The flavour profile of a SE Asian coffee is also different than that made with arabica beans; while libera coffee is very aromatic and full-bodied, it does have a slightly harsher, less well rounded finish compared to arabica coffee.

Toast with kaya (coconut jam) and butter. This is a rather nice way of eating toast.

On this trip, after an afternoon spent shopping with my Aunt at Singapore’s newest “Ion Orchard” mall, she took to the new “gourmet” food court in the basement.

Food Opera is part of the group that also operates Food Republic. While Food Republics are designed with the nostalgic road-side hawker feel of days gone by, Food Opera is a lot more contemporary.

Contemporary setting.

We had the following dishes at Food Opera:

Fried Hokkien Noodles again. This isn’t from Thye Hong. This is a “drier” version, and is also pretty good.

Hakka Yam Abacus from Mei Zhen. It’s a little like the Shanghainese “nian gau”, but softer and more gooey. Flavours are pretty good, but people who dislike soft, gluey textures should probably stay away.

Fried Radish Cake. Got the “white” version this time. It can be ordered in a “dark” version that is prepared with dark soy. This is another “must try” dish for first time visitors to Singapore. The locals call this dish “Fried Carrot Cake” or “Chai Tow Kuey”.

Fried Oyster Omelette. This is very similar to the Taiwanese oyster omelette dish; the Singaporean version is not cooked with the rice-flour slurry that is found in the Taiwanese dish. I like the Singaporean version better (as I find the slurry very greasy and flavourless), and this is yet another “must-try” for visitors.

Here is a look at the cooks frying up “Radish Cake” and “Oyster Omelette”. Look at the huge burners and woks used to make these dishes – there’s no way these can be made at home and yet still taste as good.

Finally, dessert. An ice kachang (on the left) and “ching teng” or “clear soup” (on the right)

Food Opera is pretty nice. It has a different feel compared to Food Republic. The food quality and variety are pretty comparable to Food Republic’s, but the prices here are a bit higher. As things stand, I wouldn’t purposely make a trip to eat at Food Opera; for now, Food Republic remains my food court of choice.

There is a HUGE variety of hawker foods in Singapore, but the above are some of the “staples” that every visitor to Singapore should try. These dishes are ubiquitous, and can be found in the majority of food courts and coffee shops in Singapore. Trust me, you will not regret trying them.

Singapore will always have a special place in my heart, and I really enjoy all my visits to the city. It is always a treat to visit with family, and my wife and I really enjoyed the food on this trip. We hope to be back again soon, and until the next time, “zai jian” Singapore….

Here are a few shots of Singapore for our readers…

Skyline by day, circa 2003.

Skyline by night, circa 2003.

Singaporeans just can’t resist a good sale (basement of Ngee Ann City).

And only in Singapore will you see a “No Durian” sign in the Metro stations.

Our next stop? Recognize this skyline?