Food and Dining in Singapore

[JustKay]

A local has recommended a Malay place as a backup.

Usually, Westerners stick to the more familiar Chinese cuisine. Also because it's less spicy and milder.

I hope you get to try Malay dishes. I think you'll enjoy them much.

Why not try Nasi Lemak for breakfast? And you must try Roti Canai too. These 2 dishes are the most popular breakfast items.

Enjoy the rest of the stay. And maybe you'll have the opportunity to visit my country Malaysia the next time.

[LT Wong]

Actually, rota canai is known as rota prata in Singapore.

You may also want to get your hosts to bring you to a Peranakan restaurant. Good to know that your hosts have planned your eating expeditions for you, but if you need suggestions, feel free to ask.

[BastilaShan]

Here are some of my fav Singapore dishes

- Laksa (A spicy coconut based noodle broth with seafood)

- Fried Hokkien noodles (Yellow noodles fried with squid and pork usually)

- Hor Fun(A peranakan seafood wide-noodle dish)

- Nasi Lemak (Coconut rice dish with various stuff)

- Nasi Briyani( Indian rice dish with chicken or lamb)

- Chicken Rice (Chicken broth-based rice with either steamed or fried chicken)

- Spicy Fish ball noodles

- Won-ton noodles dried(Which is a different take on the usual won-ton noodles)

- Bak Kut Tea (Rice with a pork-rib garlic broth and super tasty)

- Satay (bbq meat, have to try this)

The locals would definiltely know the best places for some of these dishes. Some of the best food are found in the local hawker centers and they are super-cheap too!

The Seafood center on the East Coast(which you probably went to) has great stuff. I love that black pepper crab and the small crispy crunchy squid.

Man, I miss the food back home . . .

[Brad Ballinger]

The Seafood center on the East Coast(which you probably went to) has great stuff. I love that black pepper crab and the small crispy crunchy squid.

We didn't go to the seafood center. Hua Yu Wee is more of a "local" place with prices much lower than the tourist-visited seafood center. I was the only Anglo in the restaurant.

Thank you for the recs on other dishes to try. I'm sure I'll find my way to sample a few of them.

Today's lunch was in a hawker center and I had chicken rice and fried carrot cake (for non-Asians, this is different than even what you might possibly picture in your head). Fried carrot cake is spicy-sweet, great with rice, and in little pices with dough-like texture, although I can't be certain if it is actually "dough" or not.

[JustKay]

........fried carrot cake (for non-Asians, this is different than even what you might possibly picture in your head).  Fried carrot cake is spicy-sweet, great with rice, and in little pices with dough-like texture, although I can't be certain if it is actually "dough" or not.

LOL! I am an Asian and I have not heard of fried carrot cake. Did you take pics? Could you have discovered a truly Singaporean dish?

Edited June 22, 2004 by kew (log)

[Ellen Shapiro]

I love the fried carrot cake. Along with the papaya (unbeatable) and pineapple, that is my favorite hawker center item whenever FG and I would stop in for a snack. And don't forget to try the local coffee at the hawker centers too--it's excellent.

[aprilmei]

Fried carrot cake isn't realy made from carrots, it's from loh bak, or Chinese turnip. It's similar to the loh bak goh that we tradionally eat around Chinese New Year, except that it doesn't have all the meat, dried shrimp, mushrooms, etc - it's plain. Then it's stir-fried with that really dark, thick soy sauce, bean sprouts, shrimp etc. It's delish.

[su-lin]

LOL! I am an Asian and I have not heard of fried carrot cake. Did you take pics? Could you have discovered a truly Singaporean dish?

It's not made of carrots...it's daikon (white) radish. And it's grated, mixed with some rice flour and steamed into a cake. This cake is then cut up and fried with egg, chili, etc.

Yum! My favourite!

[Shiewie]

kew

The fried carrot cake is called "chai tau kueh" - it's usually sold in markets in the mornings - but it's non-halal I'm afraid. It's somewhat like char kuay teow but the carbs are in little cubes instead of long flat kuay teow. Daikon is called 'pak lor pak' in Cantonese which translates to white carrots.

brad - if you like the fried carrot cake, try char kuay teow as well...equally yummy and it's got nice squishy cockles in them too !

[Laksa]

brad - if you like the fried carrot cake, try char kuay teow as well...equally yummy and it's got nice squishy cockles in them too !

Cockles? yum! Brad, I hope you're up-to-date with your hepatitis shots.

Chai tau kueh is my all time favourite Singaporean dish. I haven't seen it done in Malaysia, or anywhere else for that matter, so I believe it is uniquely Singaporean. I like mine with lots of that salty preserved radish, and eggs.

My other fav from the region is oyster omelette, or hoa chien.

Brad, planning on eating any durians while you're there?

[JustKay]

kew

The fried carrot cake is called "chai tau kueh" - it's usually sold in markets in the mornings - but it's non-halal I'm afraid. It's somewhat like char kuay teow but the carbs are in little cubes instead of long flat kuay teow. Daikon is called 'pak lor pak' in Cantonese which translates to white carrots.

Thanks Shiewie - this is one kuih that hasn't been adapted into a Malay kuih.

I was imagining a fried 'carrot cake' literally.

pics of kuih including the Chai Tau Kueh

Edited June 22, 2004 by kew (log)

[Laksa]

pics of kuih including the Chai Tau Kueh

kew,

that picture of "chai tau kueh" doesn't look like the chai tau kueh I know. It actually looks more like what the cantonese call "lo bak gou", which technically speaking, is also "radish" cake. A variation on "lo bak gou" which I prefer is made from yam. Killer stuff.

The Singaporean chai tau kueh isn't served in neat pieces, but a messy, gooey, stir-fry affair with eggs, salted radish, and sometimes dried shrimp and sweet dark soy.

Edited to add:

Actually, the second picture from the top shows the yam cake that I'm talking about, but this one is steamed (leftmost kueh, blueish-grey colour with brown stuff on top. The unattractive colour actually belies how good this kueh tastes). I like mine seared on all sides in hot oil until crispy, and served with a spicy sauce.

Edited June 22, 2004 by wongste (log)

[JustKay]

pics of kuih including the Chai Tau Kueh

kew,

that picture of "chai tau kueh" doesn't look like the chai tau kueh I know. It actually looks more like what the cantonese call "lo bak gou", which technically speaking, is also "radish" cake. A variation on "lo bak gou" which I prefer is made from yam. Killer stuff.

The Singaporean chai tau kueh isn't served in neat pieces, but a messy, gooey, stir-fry affair with eggs, salted radish, and sometimes dried shrimp and sweet dark soy.

Oh okay .... found this 'white carrot cake' on another page of hers ... white carrot cake

However, this isn't fried and this version I've seen around.

Can you post the correct picture of the Singapore fried carrot cake? Thanks.

I found a recipe on kuali.com but it's in private collection - had to PM for permission to view.

[JustKay]

Edited to add:

Actually, the second picture from the top shows the yam cake that I'm talking about, but this one is steamed (leftmost kueh, blueish-grey colour with brown stuff on top. The unattractive colour actually belies how good this kueh tastes). I like mine seared on all sides in hot oil until crispy, and served with a spicy sauce.

shiewie brought some lovely yam cakes to my place during our eGullet Malaysian chapter banana cake testing It came with chili sauce but I don't think it's fried. Are these fried in Singapore?

[Laksa]

Can you post the correct picture of the Singapore fried carrot cake? Thanks.

I will try to find some...

Edited to add:

Here's one with a recipe. The pic is kinda small though.

If you leave out the optional chinese sausage, I don't see why this dish cannot be made "halal".

That second link you posted contains some incredible pics. If some of them actually show what I think I'm seeing, then there's Brazilian rodizio to be had in Kuching? (the Carvery pictures) Wow! as a Sarawakian (but I haven't been there in a long time), I must say Kuching is more cosmopolitan than I would've thought.

Edited June 22, 2004 by wongste (log)

[Mistinguett]

I absolutely loved poh piah as a snack (a roll with shredded daikon, carrots, bamboo shoots, beansprouts and what else, with boiled egg and peanuts and a delicious sauce). It's a Nonya dish and I have a hard time finding a good rendition in NY.

[Laksa]

I absolutely loved poh piah as a snack (a roll with shredded daikon, carrots, bamboo shoots, beansprouts and what else, with boiled egg and peanuts and a delicious sauce). It's a Nonya dish and I have a hard time finding a good rendition in NY.

Have you tried Nyonya on Grand St in Chinatown?

Like many Chinese/Asian dishes, e.g. pao or buns, zongzi (chinese tamales), there are great regional variations to each dish, in the ingredients used and sometimes method of preparation. By regional, I am thinking of the different regions within China itself, but there is even greater variety when you consider the overseas influences like peranakan.

My absolute favourite chung pian (foochow for spring roll) is the one I grew up with, foochow style with bean sprouts, firm bean curd (not the silken tofu but a firmer type), garlic chives, rendered pork fat, lots of ginger, and soy sauce, wrapped in a soft spring roll "skin". The filling is rather wet, and the roll is almost never deep-fried. I've had cantonese, vietnamese, fujien versions, heck even deep-fried bad American chinese take-out version, but for what well be nostalgic reasons, in my mind, nothing beats the foochow chung pian.

[BastilaShan]

I love fried carrot cake singapore-style too!!

Oh man, i havent had that in over 6 years and that's way too long...

There are a ton of variations to this dish though and I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Used to have it for breakfast as well.

A nice dessert item would be "Sweet bean curd".

It's bean curd but sweetened and it's really tasty.

Actually, most people have it for breakfast together with soy milk.

[Laksa]

A nice dessert item would be "Sweet bean curd".

It's bean curd but sweetened and it's really tasty.

Actually, most people have it for breakfast together with soy milk.

Are you talking about "tau fu fa"? This is a cantonese (?) dessert with an incredibly soft and silky version of bean curd, served in a sugary syrup. The bean curd is served from a very large pot, where it's actually curdled whole inside, and thin slices are scooped out into a bowl, over which the sweet syrup is poured.

The bean curd is so fragile it will break apart at the merest touch. You could practically swallow the whole thing without so much as a chew. Great dessert to have if you have no teeth left.

[Wena]

a pic of the carrot cake.

http://www.mum-mum.info/2003/08/kuching-fe...t-iii-well.html

i think i had some more pictures around but have to dig through over 1000 pics.

august is coming again.

august = kuching food fest.

a lot of pictures again.

ciao. enjoy the site. haven't been blogging lately as still recovering from flu. check out the IMBB submissions.

[Shiewie]

Chai tau kueh is my all time favourite Singaporean dish.  I haven't seen it done in Malaysia, or anywhere else for that matter, so I believe it is uniquely Singaporean.  I like mine with lots of that salty preserved radish, and eggs.

Hi wongste

We get chai tau kueh in Malaysia - mainly in wet markets in the morning, in some night markets and at Xin Chinese Restaurant in Concorde Hotel for dim sum. Think it's probably Chinese in origin ...Hokkien perhaps?

kew - sorry I didn't elaborate on the types of white radish cake - there are two types, one that is steamed like the yam cake I brought to your place (leftover slices can be fried too) and the other that brad tried, where little cubes of plain steamed white carrot cake is fried somehwat like char kuay teow. The names are also kinda confused - what we call "chai tau kueh" (the fried one) in KL and Singapore is know as "char kueh kak" in Penang while the steamed white carrot cake is known as chai tau kueh there .

[Mistinguett]

I absolutely loved poh piah as a snack (a roll with shredded daikon, carrots, bamboo shoots, beansprouts and what else, with boiled egg and peanuts and a delicious sauce). It's a Nonya dish and I have a hard time finding a good rendition in NY.

Have you tried Nyonya on Grand St in Chinatown?

I did and as much as I occasionally enjoy their food, the poh piah is deeply disappointing - drowned in sauce and with poor filling. The closest to what I had in Singapore came the (now defunct) Coco Reef in Park Slope.

[Brad Ballinger]

And don't forget to try the local coffee at the hawker centers too--it's excellent.

I neglected to mention that I did have this. It came with sweetened condensed milk added into it, which was a bit of a surprise. But still dee-lish.

Brad, planning on eating any durians while you're there?

I'm adventurous, but not an idiot

Tuesday night, five of us went to an Indonesian place called Sunar (I'm pretty sure it's a chain). The food here was also good. Deep fried (not breaded, though) baby squid, satay with REAL peanut sauce (actual pulverized peanuts mixed with chili paste), some fried green veggies with chili paste, some strange but wonderful tofu-wrapped fried thing, and terrific grilled squid.

Lunch on Wednesday was in the food court of a nearby office building, where I had Laksa (see a post above for a description). This dish delivered the heat, which I cooled down with a papaya puree drink. Tonight, I think I'm being taken to a satay bar. I'm not a fan of the weather, but I love the food here.

[Dian]

Brad, planning on eating any durians while you're there?

I'm adventurous, but not an idiot

ah, I'm Singaporean and I absolutely detest durian too. Durian season is absolute torture for me, having to live with five people who lug back sacks of it.

anyway, its Sanur . When I saw Sunar I just went crazy trying to remember the name, and I sooo knew it, and I just couldn't get it so I ended up permutating the letters.

[JustKay]

Brad, planning on eating any durians while you're there?

I'm adventurous, but not an idiot

Awww ..... come one. It's really delish.

anyway, its Sanur  . When I saw Sunar I just went crazy trying to remember the name, and I sooo knew it, and I just couldn't get it so I ended up permutating the letters.

We had Sanur (or was it Samur?) at 1 Utama shopping center, KL some time back but it lasted only about a year or so. But I did get to eat there once. I like Sari Bunda better.