Singapore: Cuisine

Hawker Culture

Hawker Centers are to Singapore what Bangkok’s famed street food is to Thailand. Hawkers are essentially market stalls of all kinds found in huge collective food and drink courts. They are everywhere in Singapore and serve some of the freshest, authentic food in Singapore at very reasonable prices. Most of the food is flash-fried before your eyes, which makes eating out a bit more of an experience as you can watch the experts work right in front of you. Each stall usually sells just one dish from a family recipe that has been honed over time and through cultural influences, something that gives Singaporean cuisine an exciting edge.

Famous Singaporean Food

• Char Siew is essentially a barbecued pork dish strongly influenced by the country’s Cantonese heritage.
• Satay, is skewered grilled meat dish usually served alongside a sauce
• Bak kut teh, another pork dish, is a much more traditional meal with the ribs being cooked in a steaming broth of herbs and spices.
• Fish – Fish Head Curry is somewhat like a stew.
• Rice – A celebration of simplicity, Hainanese Chicken Rice is a beautifully fresh, clean and inviting meal.
• Noodles – There are so many noodle dishes to choose from.
• Laksa, known the world over, is a spicy noodle soup with a coconut base.
• Hokkien Mee is more of a straightforward pan fried dish with a wonderful mix of both egg fried noodles and rice noodles, prawns and pork, vegetables and egg.
• Pandan leaf In Chendol (a sweet dessert), strips of pandan are served in coconut milk with syrup and shaved ice.
• Kuih, easily recognizable by its solid block shape and neon color, are small coconut-pandan based square cakes.