Experiencing Singapore’s Food Culture 🇸🇬

I am currently watching Culinary Wars, a food show that’s trending on Netflix. South Korea has this talent in crafting shows with exquisite plot and storyline. The show gathered 100 chefs with different specialities to compete in various challenges. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’m down to the last episode and I would suggest this as a show to binge watch over the weekend!

Although I have been enjoying the show, it was difficult to watch when I’m not eating or if I haven’t had my meal yet. The food being showcased is just sooo appetizing, it makes me drool! Hahaha. It’s not just a treat for the eyes, because I have to admit, I have learned a lot about the diversity in the culinary scene from the show. How the tiny portions served in fine dining restaurants are actually done laboriously by talented chefs. How fusions reflect the chefs creativity and possibly background with rich culture. And with that, it made me look back on my most recent foodventure in Singapore this year. I have visited this country so many times but I just can’t get enough of the food to try!

We spent 3 days in the city, touring, but mostly on the hunt for the signature dishes from hawkers, restaurants, and street food stalls. So let me share with you our awesome food crawl, filling our tummies with a variety of cuisine from Chinese, Malaysian, and Singaporean.

A classic favorite is the Hainanese chicken rice! I have been wanting to make this and I have found an inspo on how to cook this as one-pot meal. I love how simple this dish is and it's complete pack of macros (hehe, recently I have turned into this macro conscious foodie), you've got your protein, fat, carbs, fiber, and vitamins. Of course, we had to eat this a lot of times during the trip!

Another favorite for me is Nasi Lemak, which is another form of chicken rice meal with much more going on in your plate. I love fried chicken, back home we just pair it with gravy or banana ketchup. What's so good about Nasi Lemak is that the rice has this fragrance and aroma that balances the spicy kick of the sambal. Also, the cucumber slices, peanuts, and fried anchovies not only adds flavor to the dish but gives variety on the texture, especially when you eat bits of those in one spoonful.

These two dishes are my favorite noodles! The first time I tried Hokkien Mee was during the last day of my Singapore trip in 2018. I remember feeling regretful that I only got to try it when we were about to go home already and it made me order this while waiting for our flight at the airport. Hahaha. So this year, I made sure to try it again and I still love it! Just like the first time I have tried it. That is also why I also enjoy Char Kway Teow, for me, it has a comparable taste with Hokkien Mee as it also has shrimp and sprouts as ingredients.

I'm actually one of those people who enjoy soup even in hot weathers. We've tried a variety of noodle soup during the trip, some I don't remember what they're called, but the typical ones are beef and wonton noodle soup.

One of the things to do when visiting Singapore is to dine in the hawkers! I am often confused of my love and hate for food court or food plaza back home, it's being in a place where there's so much variety of food and yet you can't choose what to eat. In Singapore, hawkers give that similar atmosphere but since it's a vacation trip, it's so common to eat more than one meal in one sitting hehe. So here, I got a ginger and onion fried porkchop claypot rice, steamed dumplings, and chicken poppers. I watched how they cook the claypot rice and until now, I still want to buy this kitchenware and have one from time to time.

Bugis Street is a famous destination to shop and buy souvenirs. I had those moments of shopping bliss a long time ago, but this time, I went back for the street food! :) We spent most of the day walking, every time I would go on vacation I would often reach 20,000 steps per day. Hahaha. Every fried snacks are so delicious that I didn't have to put much thought on what to buy.

Last, but definitely not the least, as soon as we reached our hotel I was already craving for biryani! There are lots of Indian food in Singapore, almost along every streets would have Indian food places. My brother who has scoured Little India introduced us to this food place. They offer a mix of Pakistani and Indian cuisines on their menu. Little did I know, the two cuisines share many similarities when it comes to ingredients. It was my first time eating mutton! I was always hesitant to try it because of the strong smell and also I was afraid it would be too tough to chew, but their mutton curry was a total opposite of that! They handled the spices well that I found the aroma to be rather appetizing and the meat was so tender! I came there for biryani but I ate so much of the naan dipped in the curry sauce 😅.

Writing this definitely made me want to book another flight to this beautiful country. Maybe, I will. But I am more sure that I will be soon attempting to cook some of these dishes. :)