Singapore and brief excursion to Thailand food blog

[Okanagancook]

I really enjoyed your travel dialog and all the pictures. Thank you for sharing your experiences!

[brucesw]

Thanks for sharing all of this Kenneth.  I'm headed soon to the local Malaysian restaurants where I see some of these dishes I've never had before on the menus.

 

How anybody could be bored with all of that food to explore is beyond me but they better not be traveling with me.

[huiray]

 

20150704_211959_HDR.jpg

 

Unfortunately, he's been really busy and hasn't been able to get me a writeup of the details of what we had, so I'll just have to rely on my memory... maybe if others reading this have comments, that could be helpful!

 

20150704_181947_HDR.jpg

 

Overview of most of the savory dishes...

 

20150704_181908_HDR.jpg

 

Otak - a classic Peranakan preparation - it is a paste made from fish and aromatics (like a curry paste) then wrapped in a banana leaf and grilled.

 

20150704_181917_HDR.jpg

 

Pork belly - I don't remember the details of this dish, but I remember it was quite tasty (come on, it's pork belly!)

 

20150704_181926_HDR.jpg

 

Chicken in a slightly spicy sauce.  This was my favorite dish of the night.  It had an amazing depth of flavor.  The black things are the shells of some kind of nut - I never got confirmation of it, but I believe they're candlenuts.  He did discuss that the preparation of the nuts is extremely lengthy otherwise they are toxic - they must be soaked for a week, and then cooked in a particular way.  Typically, they remove the nut from the shell, grind it and mix it with minced pork before returning it to the shell for cooking in the sauce.

 

20150704_181933_HDR.jpg

 

Pickles - reminded me of kim chi a bit.  I thought they were slightly spicy - but they were too spicy for my wife.  I liked them - it was really good to cleanse the palate in between all the savory foods.

 

20150704_181939_HDR.jpg

 

Stir fried vegetables - mostly cabbage.  Tasty, but it's no baby kailan!!! haha....

 

20150704_183728_HDR.jpg

 

After those dishes, but before dessert, we had a clear soup (which I understand to be the traditional Chinese sequence)

 

20150704_191205_HDR.jpg

 

Coconut soup with taro, yam and some kind of red fruit that I don't remember.

 

20150704_191213_HDR.jpg

 

Coconut with grass jelly

 

20150704_191224_HDR.jpg

 

Crushed ice with longan syrup??  Not sure about this...

 

 

Otak-otak has various permutations.  The Malaccan, Kluang/Johor, Muar/Johor, KL, Penang; or Indonesian (Palembang/Jakarta etc) versions can be different, some substantially, some less so, from the Singaporean version.  

 

The pork belly looks like Babi Pongteh rather than Babi Chin. Did it taste of fermented soya beans? (BP) Or of cinnamon/clove/coriander? (BC)

 

The chicken dish is Ayam Buah Keluak.  Those nuts are not candlenuts (Aleurites moluccanus), but are Pangium edule.

 

Those pickles are probably just the restaurant's version of Acar.

 

That cabbage dish does not look like it has glass noodles in it - and was that black blob at the top of the dish as pictured wood-ear fungus?  If neither was present it would not really qualify as Chap Chye --- which I might have thought your friend would order as it is an iconic dish in Nyonya cuisine and is sometimes used as a gauge of how good the restaurant/chef is. 

 

Hard to see what was in that soup, so I dunno.

 

The taro & yam dessert was Bubur Cha-cha.

Edited July 27, 2015 by huiray (log)

[dcarch]

I just saw this video on Bloomberg - and while you can't dispute the data, I think the reporter is not giving the place a fair shake.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-07-23/singapore-s-tourism-woes-why-isn-t-anyone-going-

The short version is that they say Singapore is boring, and that there is nothing to do there but eat and shop. I whole heartedly disagree... Granted, there are not lots of natural wonders like in Indonesia, parts of Thailand, etc., but there is definitely plenty of things to do for several days - like the Gardens by the Bay, the Botanical Gardens, the excellent Night Safari (which is basically a zoo of nocturnal creatures that's only open at night - really unique), taking a boat ride through the river and marina area which discusses the history of S'pore, nature hikes through rain forest areas, not to mention Sentosa which basically a huge resort area accessible by MRT (subway) - which we still haven't made it to because we've been so busy doing other things! PLUS, there's the eating and the shopping!

Arrgghhh.......

 

Sounds like a major disaster for Singapore. 

 

Tourism is important to Singapore, but not that important for their economy as a whole. 

 

And tourism is not dying:

 

General trends Singapore tourism

Year Tourism Arrivals

Percentage change from previous period

 

1965 99,000   1970 579,000 488.1%

1975 1,324,000   128.6%

1980 2,562,000     92.%

1985 3,031,000     18.3%

1990 5,323,000     75.6%

1995 7,137,000     34.1%

2000 7,691,399      7.76%

2005 8,943,029    16.27%

2010 11,638,663  30.14%

 

Recent years   Year Tourism Arrivals

Percentage change from previous year

 

1997 7,197,871      −1.30

1998 6,242,152    −13.28%

1999 6,958,201      11.47%

2000 7,691,399      10.54%

2001 7,522,163      −2.20%

2002 7,567,110       0.60%

2003 6,127,291   −19.04%

2004 8,328,720     35.92%

2005 8,943,029       7.4%

2006 9,751,141       9.0%

2007 10,284,545     5.5%

2008 10,116,054   −1.6%

2009 9,345,054     −4.3%

2010 11,641,700   20.2%

2011 13,171,303   13.1%

2012 14,496,091   10.1%

2013 15,567,923     7.4%

 

Singapore can be very boring, after you have been there 20 times.

 

dcarch

Edited July 27, 2015 by dcarch (log)

[gfweb]

Thanks for taking the time to share this. I need to figure out a way to get over there!

[rotuts]

me too.

 

this blog suggests the hawker food areas are doing well, Id say,

 

I wonder if there are on-line guides to the best places to go in addition to those mentioned here .

[KennethT]

I haven't seen online guides, but there are some blogs devoted to it... just beware that many blogs get free food or drinks in response to articles written about a particular restaurant or stall... but a good one (that seems legit) is

ieatishootipost.sg

Also, there is an app adn website by S'pore guru KF Seetoh called Makansutra (makansutra.com) but I've heard spotty results with it.

[KennethT]

Otak-otak has various permutations.  The Malaccan, Kluang/Johor, Muar/Johor, KL, Penang; or Indonesian (Palembang/Jakarta etc) versions can be different, some substantially, some less so, from the Singaporean version.  

 

The pork belly looks like Babi Pongteh rather than Babi Chin. Did it taste of fermented soya beans? (BP) Or of cinnamon/clove/coriander? (BC)

 

The chicken dish is Ayam Buah Keluak.  Those nuts are not candlenuts (Aleurites moluccanus), but are Pangium edule.

 

Those pickles are probably just the restaurant's version of Acar.

 

That cabbage dish does not look like it has glass noodles in it - and was that black blob at the top of the dish as pictured wood-ear fungus?  If neither was present it would not really qualify as Chap Chye --- which I might have thought your friend would order as it is an iconic dish in Nyonya cuisine and is sometimes used as a gauge of how good the restaurant/chef is. 

 

Hard to see what was in that soup, so I dunno.

 

The taro & yam dessert was Bubur Cha-cha.

Thanks for all this!

No, the cabbage dish did not have glass noodles... and the black blob was wood ear fungus.

[Shelby]

Sigh, I'm sad that it's over.  Thank you so much for sharing.  I can pretty much promise that I will never get to travel there, so you are a great window to another part of the world!

[Beebs]

Great food blog - thank you for sharing! I've picked up a few tips here for my next trip to Singapore!

[KennethT]

Since some people have expressed an interest in going there, I'm going to post some photos of some other good food experiences we had when we were there 3 years ago... It may take a day or 2 to go through the pics, but I'll find some!

[huiray]

Thanks for all this!

No, the cabbage dish did not have glass noodles... and the black blob was wood ear fungus.

 

You're welcome.

 

BTW, were those dishes for the whole table? (I suppose they were?)  If so, I must say they were kind-of skimpy in quantity. The (presumably) Babi Pongteh looked a little dried-out, but perhaps they were just exposed to the air for a little too long.  I imagine you had rice, as well?  I can't imagine NOT having rice with stuff like this, and I for one would eat these dishes as accompaniments to rice --- and not the other way around, with rice as an accompaniment to the dishes, as tends to happen with Western diners with regards to "Asian Food"; and, I suppose, with some folks even in the East nowadays.

 

FWIW I would opine that that cabbage dish, then, was just some sort of cabbage dish.  Personally, I myself would not consider that cabbage dish as "chap chye" when looking at the picture of that dish.

 

If you return in the future to the area and re-sample the cuisine, consider that there are differences between Northern Nyonya and Southern Nyonya cuisines (S'pore is an example of the latter), and that there are other places in SE Asia to experience good food, and perhaps even better food, now that you have established for yourself a baseline for tasting foods of the sort you have described in this thread.

 

Ditto any and all other cuisines found in the region.  It is worthwhile to keep in mind that similarities between some regions in the cuisine are not due to "Singapore influencing the other region".  Not at all.  Rather, it would be because they shared a common heritage, (e.g. Malay culture; or Chinese influence at the same time in both places, etc).

 

In this context I might mention that w.r.t. "Hainanese Chicken Rice", which is one dish that enjoys some recognition in the West, in a general sense Malaysians dislike Singaporean HCR, whileSingaporeans dislike Malaysian HCR.  A major factor is that S'poreans dislike the relative chewiness of M'sian HCR chicken, which tends to use "Ayam Kampong" or sort-of free-range-like chickens (which impart greater "chicken-ness" in a general sense); while M'sians dislike the mushiness of S'porean HCR chicken where the chicken flesh is simply too soft/mushy, yes -- because much of the commercial chickens in S'pore are derived from a French/Bresse-type lineage chicken.  I imagine many Westerners might like the S'porean HCR chicken precisely because the chicken flesh is soft (mushy?).

 

Singapore has great appeal for the average English-speaking Westerner because the place sports this high level of hygiene and organization and that English is almost universally spoken and understood, and that the place resembles a First World city.  The marketing campaigns of the S'porean authorities also play a big part, and which have been quite successful.  The place is certainly an obvious "starting point" for exploring the region, but I might suggest that returning again and again to Singapore for travelers from the West and not to even consider going to other places where the food might actually be better** (Hawker food, anyway) might speak more to "convenience" and "familiarity" than anything else.

 

** Various knowledgeable commentators on other forums have pointed out that one needs to know WHICH stall/place to go to in S'pore for great food, and that there is a lot of mediocre to bad food out there.  Simply "trying a place out" in S'pore can be a crap shoot, and folks like KF Seetoh who declare that "there is no bad food in S'pore" are simply lying.

Edited July 27, 2015 by huiray (log)

[KennethT]

Huiray - I definitely agree. Those dishes were for the entire table (there were 3 of us), and there was plenty of rice to be had. While it didn't seem like a lot of food, the 3 of us were definitely sated at the end. I understand the differences between SHCR and MHCR, but personally, the chicken itself is the least important to me. First is the chili sauce, and then the rice. I have made it at home with a very chicken=y chicken, and it is different, but again, the sauce and the rice come first for me.

I don't know why I feel the need to defend myself for deciding to return to S'pore for the second time. Although we've technically been there 3 times, I don't really count the first time since we were only there for 1 day - and we were getting over jetlag. In any case, we typically haven't made the habit of returning to a place since there are so many other places we want to see and experience, and we only usually get 1 trip per year. However, when we were planning this trip, I had just finished an extremely stressful 1.5 years working 7 days/week, 12 hours/day.... I usually like a bit of adventure to our trips - going to places that don't speak much English, a bit off the beaten track (for Americans) - but this time, i really just needed time to decompress and relax. While I love trips to 'challenging' places, I really just wanted somewhere interesting, but not that challenging... and S'pore fit the bill perfectly. It is a totally different experience than going to other places... definitely much more civilized.

2 years ago, we went to Bangkok for about a week, and while it is certainly not off the beaten track for western tourists, it is a much more stressful trip than S'pore. Yes, English is widely spoken, and I can get by with rudimentary Thai, the infrastructure is terrible - it takes forever just to get anywhere unless you're coming from and going to areas right near the skytrain. Plus, no matter where you go, there are tons of 'helpful' people looking to steer you in the wrong direction for some sort of financial gain. No, it is not a dangerous place (no violent crime), but there are people looking to rip you off at every turn, so you must be constantly wary of this, which is in itself a little exhausting. Plus, just walking around there is very frustrating as the sidewalks are like 3 feet wide, and 2.5 feet of it are taken up with vendors selling things. So it's difficult to leisurely walk down the street. S'pore is the polar opposite of this, which is what I really needed lately.

Another good trip was Hong Kong - which, like S'pore, is orderly, clean and efficient, but also a nice contrast from most places in the west... and while I loved HK, personally, I like S'pore more because of the garden-feeling you get there (I love seeing/growing plants), it's a bit more laid back, and it is more ethnically diverse.

Hopefully, as my stress levels decrease, I'll redevelop an interest into more 'challenging' locations, like Central Vietnam (we've already been to Hanoi), Malaysia, Indonesia, and of course, many upcoming trips to mainland China.

Oh, and by the way, I'd say that S'pore does more than resemble a 'First World city'... it truly is one. Most of what many would consider the attributes to distinguish 1st and 3rd would clearly put S'pore in the 1st, and NY in the 3rd, except that NY's water quality is excellent and disease is not an issue.

[rotuts]

if you were to take into account 'the lodging level of you choice'  would not HK be more expensive ?  

[KennethT]

At the current time, comparing apples to apples, HK is definitely more expensive than S'pore. When we were in S'pore, we got a great deal on a fantastic hotel - 3 nights for the price of 2... which applied to our 6 nights for the price of 4. That deal is going on for the next several months, and other hotels have similar ones like it.

Also, in general food is much cheaper in S'pore, especially if focusing on local foods like hawker centers and cze char. Hong Kong has doesn't have near the variety of inexpensive foods, although to be honest, we didn't really focus on that type of food when we were there. I wanted to focus on dim sum and Cantonese cuisine - neither of which are inexpensive.

Transportation is about equal - subway (I think it's called MTR in HK) is great - cheap, efficient, clean, safe... I'd say about equal to S'pore. Same with taxis...

[MelissaH]

Thank you so much for the travelogue! It was fun to read, with all the right details.

[IowaDee]

Travelblogs like yours are my favorite reading here. Now if I could only find a way to taste your amazing food photos it would be perfect.

Thanks for letting us tag along with you. it was a great trip.

[huiray]

Also, in general food is much cheaper in S'pore, especially if focusing on local foods like hawker centers and cze char. Hong Kong has doesn't have near the variety of inexpensive foods, although to be honest, we didn't really focus on that type of food when we were there. I wanted to focus on dim sum and Cantonese cuisine - neither of which are inexpensive.

 

Just for reference – "cze char/tze char" is the term for that kind of food place in Singapore (which tend to be in kopitiams - like this one, as one good example (that link also has a brief associated discussion) or like this one which has gone downhill).  In Kuala Lumpur the equivalent place - or similar place - would be "tai chow" (some other links to this); while in Hong Kong the relevant similar place(s) would be "tai pai tong".

 

The Singaporean term is in Hokkien dialect; the KL and HK terms are in Cantonese dialect.

[KennethT]

That's really funny, we actually went (and I posted about it above) to the place linked above - Old Lai Huat...

[huiray]

That's really funny, we actually went (and I posted about it above) to the place linked above - Old Lai Huat...

 

Indeed you did! Glad you made it there and it would seem that they are still going strong and holding up their quality.

[KennethT]

They are certainly going strong - they were packed the night we were there. Every table full.  And both the sambal pomfret and chili crab were fantastic.  I just wish we had more people with us so that we could have ordered more dishes.

[KennethT]

OK, as promised, here's some more info for anyone potentially traveling to S'pore...

 

 

 

 

 

 

We thought this was a very interesting Buddhist temple, conveniently located a few blocks from the Chinatown MRT station.  Conveniently, it is enroute to:

 

 

The Maxwell Food Centre - home of the very famous Tian Tian Chicken Rice (written about at the top of this thread).  There are actually several chicken rice stalls in this center - one of them supposedly run by an ex Tian Tian employee.

[KennethT]

I wish this place was open when we tried to go.  We were there 3 years ago, and it was amazing, and, according to a bunch of blogs, it's still the best Bak Chor Mee (minced pork noodle) around...

 

It's a bit out of the tourist areas, but still not inconvenient to get to - just take the MRT to the Lavender stop (only a couple stops out of the city center), and then walk a couple blocks...

 

 

Check out this line - almost as long as the Outram Park Char Kway Teow:

 

 

[KennethT]

Here's the East Coast Seafood Centre at sunset:

 

 

Outdoor dining:

 

 

Chili crab:

 

 

Tanks of live seafood:

 

 

RRRRAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

[KennethT]

 

Science Center and the Singapore Flyer...  Nope, nothing to do in S'pore....

 

 

Boat tour of the harbor and river...  Gives great views of the city, and is packed with information about the country's early history.

 

 

Tons of food and bars at Boat Quay....  also tons of tourists!  For even more, head to Clarke Quay:

 

 

 

"The Durians" - what the locals call the Singapore Opera House... The spiky shapes are devices used to shade the building to help keep it cool.