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While I was busy scrolling through my pc to do my work, I saw a couple of photos that were taken last year while I was in Singapore. Of course they were photos of food which most of it were taken while I was out with friends, having lunch by myself or I was just playing with my iPhone camera!

Apart from the locally popular nasi padang, chicken rice, satay and noodles, I would like to mention a few local food which is not so commonly known among tourist in Singapore. Or maybe you might have seen it and tried them before.

Chinese Popiah

These two little cutties are made from fresh soft popiah skin roll commonly known as spring roll but these are not fried.

Stuffed with “bangkuang”(jicama),peanuts,carrots and shrimp paste. There are many different versions of recipes on the stuffed filling of these popiahs. Popiahs can be found in food courts in shopping mall, hawker centres or coffee shops. (The term “coffee shop” in Singapore literally means an area or shop with a few stalls in the neighbourhood areas selling food.)

Masala Thosai (Masala Dosa)

A popular dish among the Indians and locals, this crispy South Indian recipe Masala Thosai is a flat rice pancake filled with chunks of potatoes and onions. A simple and a great delicacy to eat for breakfast or lunch! Served with curry, coconut chutney,sambal,mint chutneyetc. One of my favourite local food! You can find thosai in Little India restaurants or certain food court. (The term “foodcourt” means a spacious air-conditioned area that sells food normally inside a shopping mall. Normally there are more than 10 foodstalls in the food court. However food court prices are lower than cafes and restaurants.)

Iddiyappam

Iddiyappam is the name of this South Indian dish. Commonly known as “putu mayam” by the Malays in Singapore (also known as string hoppers in English!) The Iddiyappam is made from rice flour and sieve to make vermicelli like noodles. Served with fresh grated coconut and sugar. This is a breakfast dish. Nowadays it is not so common to find this dish in Singapore. Perhaps in some foodstalls in Little India in Singapore.

Food Court in Singapore

A typical food court in Singapore. Delicious and inexpensive food and most importantly hygenic! Self-service air conditioned food court and this one is in a hip shopping mall in downtown Orchard Road. Food courts can be crowded during lunch time and you have to find an empty table yourself.

The difference between food court and hawker centre is simply that hawker centres are not airconditioned, prices for food in hawker centres are lower than that in food courts. However both have a non-smoking ban rul and have to comply with the strict hygiene standards.

Roti Prata

A simple yet unpretentious Indian food- The roti prata. Roti prata is made from flour and then fried. Usually locals eat roti prata for breakfast and sometimes lunch. There are a few variations to roti prata; roti prata with eggs-filled with eggs, roti prata with banana,roti prata with eggs and onions etc. Served best with fish or meat curry!

Soya Beancurd

Commonly known as “Tau Huay” in Singapore, soya beancurd custard (tofu) is made from soya bean and is my favourite. You might think this as a yucky slimy tofu but it is in fact fresh,soft and silky. The best soya beancurd is one that is smoother and silkier! Scoop into a bowl with spoonfuls of sugar syrup. Soya beancurd- Melts in your mouth! There are only a few places in Singapore that sells the best soya beancurd. One of my favourite place is at Selegie Road. Another version that I really love is the fresh soya bean milk! The canned ones from the store cannot be compared to the real fresh ones. Totally different in taste. The fresh soya bean milk are heavenly pure! Drink it warm or cold.

Teh Tarik

Literally means “pulled tea”, it is the way the tea is being poured forth and back a few times at at certain height to give it a frothy foam on top of the glass. Black tea and condensed milk is being used to make this special tea. Teh tarik is popular not only in Singapore but also in Malaysia. Found in all outdoor stalls, kopitiams (breakfast and coffee shops), restaurants etc.

A typical 24hours Indian restaurant in Singapore.

There are a lot of eateries in Singapore which open till the wee hours in the morning or even operate 24 hours. You will be surprised to see locals going to these eateries at 10pm and having snacks, drinks or just chatting with friends. Even at 12 midnight the coffee shops are still buzzing. Most of these 24 hours eateries are located in the neighbourhood area.

Kaya Toast

Kaya Toasts! Yummy! This is a popular dish among locals for breakfast in Singapore and Malaysia! Just imagine a different version of peanut butter or jam on a toast. The kaya is spread on a thinly toasted fresh bread with cold thin slices of butter. Served with coffee or teh tarik! Some people even love to dip their kaya toast in their coffee! Also served with the kaya toasts are soft eggs with soya sauce.

Kaya is made from eggs, sugar,coconut,milk and screwpine leaves as a flavour. There are a few variations of kaya in Singapore-  “orange” in colour  which means no screwpine leaves flavoured , the green ones are with screwpine leaves flavour and the brown ones supposedly cooked in palm sugar.

There are so many good food and lots of variety in terms of food in Singapore. We are a food culture society. We love to talk about food, we are picky about food, food has to be good and delicious, we know which food stalls or restaurants are better than the other in Singapore, we complain when the food is not properly cooked, we do not settle for less because we know there are other places we can turn to. Singaporeans enjoy eating and love food very much. So much so that food stall and restaurant owners have become very competitive in terms of producing good food, new varieties just to entice the people. From local food to western food and fusion food, you name it Singapore has them. You will be spoilt for choices when you are or live in Singapore. From the simplicity of eating in an inexpensive SGD$3 (1.50 euro) local lunch to fine dining in five star hotels and great restaurants which may cost SGD$100 per person (50 euro), the food is and will always be fabulous.

I bet if you leave Singapore the first thing you will miss is the luxury and choices of good food. Do not be mistaken, Singaporeans love to spend not only on shopping but also on food and drinks. There are fabulous high tea places in Singapore, buffet in hotels, the great Sunday brunch in hotels, Champagne brunch, French restaurants, Italian restaurants, Mexican restaurants, Thai restaurants, Vietnamese restaurants, Lebanese restaurants, Fusion restaurants, Belgian restaurants, American restaurants, Cocktail bars with pages of long listed cocktail drinks and virgin drinks (non-alcoholic), lots of restaurants with live music and beautiful outdoor setting and the list goes on.

Wines are also considered expensive in Singapore than in Netherlands. A cheap drinkable wine in a supermarket ; an Australian white wine cost around SGD$16 (8 euro). However it is easy to find big names such Chateau Margaux and plentiful of good wines in Singapore. I think people are more aware of good wines and they buy to enjoy and drink good wines rather than to buy wine just for drinking. It is part of a lifestyle for most people who drink wines in Singapore.

One last note, my first taste of Dutch food outside of The Netherlands was in Singapore…. the bitterballen! It was in a lovely traditional Belgian brasserie called Oosters.