Singapore Food Stories
THE KOEL wakes you up in the early mornings with its loud call, beckoning you to the breakfast table. Here, our food stories begin.
Makan Kampung
Malay food at its best
Cats and eats
Neighbourhood discoveries
Singapore Gin
Singaporeans and expats create their very own award-winning labels
Kueh Love
Christopher Tan's local desserts and snacks
Indian Breakfast
Devagi Sanmugam makes dosai
Golden Coffee Tales
Kopi More and The Coffee Xpress at Golden Mile Food Centre
Nonya delights
Classics of Singapore heritage
Sugee Biscuits
Sugee Biscuit has roots in India and Sri Lanka, where sugee means semolina
Features
Pink!
Discover delicious food of dramatic fuschia colour from Indian Muslim braised mutton bones to sticky sauce for wu xiang
Rachel Khoo
A short chat
Favourite Coconut Dishes
From laksa to cendol, Singapore is rich with dishes made with the many forms of coconut
Bandung Ice Cream
The Bandung drink does not originate in the city of Bandung in Indonesia as I thought. The drink means "pairs" or "joined" referring to its ingredients of rose syrup and milk. It has roots in British colonial Singapore in the early 20th century. Try making the ice cream.
Fura – Insects on the menu
And other unique bites at this unique cocktail bar
Azi's epok epok
The Best in the World
Recipes
Recipe of the Week
Roti Prata
Roti prata is a flaky, chewy Indian flat bread from southern India. It is one of the favourite foods in Singapore and Malaysia. Roti prata is enjoyed with a tangy fish curry, or some sugar. There are many versions of roti prata – with egg, with cheese, with banana and chocolate. There is super crispy paper prata, there is gold coin prata, which are small versions in medallion size. The true test of a good prata maker is plain prata, which has to be nicely rolled and rested, flipped and infused with air and with chewy bite, and griddled with a little ghee to golden brown perfection.
HELLO
I’m a quirky Singaporean, who loves writing about food. When I was away in Canada during college I missed the food back home so much, especially during the freezing winters.
Carol Kraal
Mama Rusty and Little Boy Rory on our neighbour's roof
SHE'S MAKING ROTI JOHN
This split French loaf fried with spicy eggy omelette is found at Malay stalls at the hawker centre. Its name translates to "John's Bread" and may have its beginnings with the Malay and Indian locals in Malaysia and Singapore adapting this western fare to suit their own palates.
Time for a Cocktail
Ashey Boy fancies an aperol spritz
A spritz is an Italian bubbly cocktail consisting of prosceco, Aperol bitter aperitif and soda. Aperol is an orange-hued botanical liquor invented by the Barbieri brothers in Padova, Italy in 1919. Its bitter notes come from sweet and bitter oranges, rhubarb and gentian root.
APEROL SPRITZ
Fill a large wine glass with ice
2 parts Aperol
3 parts prosceco
1 part soda
Stir well and garnish with a slice of orange
Negroni
1oz gin, 1oz campari, 1oz sweet red vermouth. Stir into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with orange peel
Singapore Sling
Shake together with ice 1oz gin, dash Angostura bitters, 1/4oz cherry liqueur, 1oz pineapple juice, 1/2oz lime juice, 1/4oz Benedictine. Strain into highball glass with ice, top with soda, garnish with orange slice and cherry skewer
My Bookshelf
LALA-LAND
SINGAPORE'S SEAFOOD HERITAGE. By Anthony D Medrano (editor), Epigram Books, $44.90. This food book is packed with interesting information about how the seafood that we enjoy makes its journey from waters around us to our plates. We discover sustainable resources and how seafood impacts our society. There are popular recipes with beautiful photos that include favourites such as sambal stingray, laksa, char kway teow, dare-to-eat pufferfish sashimi and more.
THE FOOD OF SINGAPORE MALAYS
GASTRONOMIC TRAVELS THROUGH THE ARCHIPELAGO. By Khir Johari. $70.11 on Amazon SG. Writer and Food historian Khir Johari spent 11 years researching, travelling, writing, eating and discovering food of the Malay Archipelago, which spans Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. The many photographs, illustrations, essays and observations that enrich the 621-page hardback are a joy to discover. Well-deserved award of "Best of the Best Book in the World" at the 2023 Umea Food Symposium in Sweden, the Oscars of gastronomy literature.
HERITAGE FOOD OF THE PERANAKAN INDIANS
IN A CHITTY MELAKA KITCHEN. By Peranakan Indian (Chitty Melaka) Association published by National Heritage Board , Peranakan Indian (Chitty Melaka) Association $71.56. This book is a collection of nearly 100 recipes lovingly created by the Chitty Melaka community, ranging from everyday dishes to festive fare. The Chitty Melaka or Peranakan Indians are the descendants of the intermarriages between early South Indian settlers and the Malay, Chinese and other local communities in the port cities of Melaka, penang and Singapore from as early as the 15th century. In addition to the usual Indian spices used in cooking, the Chitty Melaka use herbs such as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf and galangal, and favour coconut milk instead of yoghurt. A rice dish that the Indian Peranakans use for offerings (parachu) is nasi lemak kukus, a steamed nasi lemak dish.
Honey is a little shy
