Another original yet, delicious local delight in Singapore you can’t miss is Laksa!
Known as one of Singapore’s national dish, Katong laksa, a humble dish of rice noodles, shrimps, cockles, fish cake and chilli paste in thick coconut-based broth has won over many loyal fans including expatriates and visiting dignitaries.
Recommendation: 49 Katong Laksa
Laksa is easily one of my favourite type of food simply because it is spicy! I tend to savour each spoonful with a mixture of broth and noodles. You can ask for more cockles and prawns if you love them, and more chilli if you like it even spicier! Traditional laksa stalls serve their laksa with just a spoon, so take your time to enjoy it and eat with relish!
Location: East coast road, 49
Singapore
Contact No : +65 6344 5101Opening Hour : 8am to 7.00pm
Price: $3/bowl
Hokkien Mee
Fried noodles, also called “Hokkien Mee” locally, is served in many other Southeast Asia countries and cooked in many different kinds of styles. In Singapore, its is usually cooked with ingredients like egg, thick egg noodles, thick bee hoon, prawns, vegetable, chicken or pork slices, squid, fish cake slices. It is served best with freshly squeezed lime and blended Sambal Chilli.
Reccommendation: Ah Hock Fried Hokkien Mee(Ah Hock Fried Hokkien Mee is being loved for the intense prawn stock taste.)
Address: 20 Kensington Park Road Stall #27 Chomp Chomp Food Centre
Operating Hours: 5pm - 11pm
Price: $3-6 /person
A plate of Hokkien Mee tastes the best when it is slightly wet. Squeeze the lime and mix the noodles with the sambal chilli to achieve even more heavenly taste.
Roti Prata
Prata for you? Roti Prata is a flat pancake that is cooked by heating over a flat grill plate. It is best served with curry and some Singaporeans have own preference of eating it with sugar or condensed milk. In Singapore, you can always find surprises in our food menu, which includes cheese and ice-cream prata.
Recommendation: Thasevi Roti Prata shop which is located at Jalan Kayu
Price: About $0.80 per plain prata. (Prices vary according to the different types of prata ordered)
Operating Hours: 24 hours
Location: 237-239 Jalan Kayu Singapore 799461
Another famous roti prata stall is situated along Thomson Road, close to Thomson Plaza. The Roti Prata House is a traditional indian coffeeshop serving close to 50 different varieties of pratas. The must try would be the Cheese and Mushroom Prata, Prata with Cheese and Honey and the Ice Cream Prata! If you have a bigger appetitite, you can also try its briyani and mee goreng! You can couple your meal with their ever famous Milo Dinosaur!
Bak Kut Teh
Want to have an excellent late-night supper, in Singaporean style? Simply ask any Chinese taxi driver on night shit where he goes for Bak Kut Teh!
Ba Kut Teh it is an authentic Singaporean dish created by the Hokkiens. Simple yet intensely flavourful, it consists of pork ribs and other cuts simmered slowly until tender, with herbs, pepper, garlic cloves and tasty seasonings. Essential accompaniments include white rice, Chinese fried dough fritters, and Chinese tea.
Recommendation : Founder Rou Gu Cha Cafeteria
Founder Rou Gu Cha Cafeteria provides the taste of traditional of Bak Kut Teh with the choice of having the entire rib rather than it being chopped up into smaller pieces. You should definitely visit this place if you're craving for good bak kut teh.
Operating Hours: 12.00pm - 2.30pm
6.00pm - 2.30am
(Closed on Tuesdays)
Tel: (+65) 6352 6192
Location: 347 Balestier Road - next to New Orchid Hotel
Price : approx S$ 6-15 (depending on the number of side dishes)
Bak Kut Teh is easily one of Singaporeans' favoured dish. With boiling hot herbal and slightly pepperish soup and succulent pork ribs, your meal would be completed with just a simple bowl of plain rice. Or if you have an appetitie for side dishes, you can also try the salted vegetables and also a plate of 'tao kee'. Yum yum!
Chicken Rice
Hainanese Chicken Rice has turned into a national icon when immigrants from China’s Hainan Island brought this delicacy to Singapore many decades ago. It comprises of poached chicken served with fragrant rice cooked in chicken broth with ginger and garlic, accompanied by a zesty chilli-lime sauce, a pungent ginger puree, and thick black soy sauce. There are two choice of chicken, steam and roast.
Recommendation: Boon Tong Kee
One of the few places where you get both good chicken and good rice. The chicken, which is cooked more in the Cantonese than the Hainanese style, is tender and juicy while the rice is very fragrant. With its heavenly taste, you should never miss out on it! Two thumbs up!
Address : 425 River Valley Road, Tel: (65) 67363213
Price: $3 to $6. (dependant on the number of side dishes ordered)
Both steamed and roasted chicken, I must say, tastes equally good. The steamed chicken is usually smoother in texture while the roasted chicken has a crispier skin. To give an extra taste to your chicken, dip it in traditional chicken rice sauce or/and black soya sauce.
Rojak
Rojak, which means “wild mix” in Malay, is one of the many famous dishes in Singapore. It is an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables, which may include pineapples, cucumbers, sweet turnip, water spinach, green apple, bean sprouts, water apple, green mango, guava, slivers of lime zest, and shredded ginger bud.
In Singapore, some other ingredients that are often added includes deep-fried soybean cakes, fried Chinese dough fritters and small pieces of cuttlefish. To top it all up, a generous sprinkle of finely chopped roasted peanuts is added together with a mixed dressing of seasoned fermented prawn paste, sugar, tamarind pulp, fresh lime juice and ground chilli.
Recommendation: Hoover Rojak
The killer prawn paste sauce is very thick and delicious. Crunchy jellyfish, bits of fragrant ginger flowers and succulent pieces of cucumbers, yam beans and pineapples also make the rojak here stand out.
Location: #01-641, Whampoa Hawker Centre, Block 90 Whampoa Drive.
Price: $2-$5, depending on the amount of serving for the number of people.
Rojak, often eaten as an appetizer, can also sometime include dried cuttlefish. Depending on your personal preferences, you can ask for ingredients that you like and omit those that you don't. Or if you are a fan of doughsticks, you can request for a plate of rojak that only has doughtsticks. Sounds good?
Satay
Satay is a shish kebab style dish that is said to have originated from Indonesia and can be made from cubes of either beef, chicken or mutton on long wooden sticks and BBQ over the flaming charcoal. Its eaten with onions and cucumbers, and ketupat (rice cakes) and with a special Peanut Satay Sauce, It’s a rich, thick peanut sauce filled with the aroma of roasted peanuts with a zest of lemon sauce in it. .
Recommendation: Lau Pa Sat
Location: A big food court located right in the heart of Singapore's Central Business District, not far from the Raffles Place MRT station.
Price: $0.50 cents/ Satay stick, $1/ per ketupat (rice cakes).
Often eaten as an appetizer or as a dish to end off a meal, satay itself is not very filling. If you are an avid fan of satay, there are different kinds of meat including beef, chicken and mutton. Or if you want to eat more than just satay, you can also try the malay traditional 'ketupat'. The peanut sauce is a must to be eaten together with the satays and ketupats.
Fried Carrot Cake
The carrot cake is made by stir frying radish with eggs, diced garlic, spring onion and occasionally dried shrimp. There are 2 types of carrot cake, the black (with dark sauce) and the white one (plain). They are mostly topped with spring onions to enhance the fragrances and appeal of the dish.
Recommendation: Chomp Chomp Food Centre
Price: $2-$4 approximately
Operating Hour: 5.30pm-12am, closed on alternate Tuesdays
Location: 20 Kensington Park Road
Singapore(557269)
The black carrot cake is usually sweeter due to its black sauce while the white carrot cake is not so sweet. Although a simple plate of meal, the carrot cake is also one of the hot favourites of dish in Singapore because of its fragrance and tastiness.
Nasi Lemak
Nasi Lemak is served in a banana leaf wrapping. Rice that’s been cooked in coconut milk, a small deep-fried fish, some fried anchovies, a slice of plain omelette, some fresh cucumber and the famous sambal (a paste made from chillies, dried shrimp and spices).
Originally a Malay dish, it is now prepared by the Chinese too, who added many accompanying ingredients, such as fried chicken wings, sausages and vegetables. Traditionally a breakfast meal, it is so well-loved that there are all-night restaurants in Singapore which specialise in serving nasi lemak for late dinners, suppers and wee-hours breakfasts!
Price Range: S$1 - S$5
Food Centre: Changi Village Hawker Centre
Recommended For: Dinner & Supper
As mentioned above, the Nasi Lemak can help you get ready for a full day ahead or satisfy your cravings and hunger pangs in the wee hours! Delightful and delicious, it will leave you completely satisfied!
Durian
How can you miss out the King of fruits in Singapore- durians? Being the most exotic fruit of the Southeast, it is a must try for this local treat.
The best time to eat this is in the June-July period where the fruits come in biggest, freshest. Imagine that! Get past the smell and you will realize that the taste is a simple and acquired one. Let the bittersweet flavour and the creamy texture that seems to slide down your throat will be unforgettable.
Personal tips for good durians!
- Go for the odd shaped ones, not those perfectly rounded ones
- Shake the durian. You should be able to hear the seeds and fruits rattle inside, like ball bearings in a ball. If you don’t hear anything, “the flesh has not properly separated from the skin”. Means, not good.
- Smell it. You should be able to smell the fragrance even before the fruit is cut.
Recommendation: Sims Avenue
It is the place with the largest concentration of durian stalls.
Price: $15 and $20 per kilo
Heavenly to some, durians are appreciated by most people in Singapore. However, some may not like the pungent smell of it. The flesh of good durians are soft and smooth. If you are dying to satisfy your sudden cravings, be sure to visit the one at Sims Avenue!
Labels: local delights
