The KOEL beckons you to the breakfast table with its loud, incessant call.
Here our FOOD STORIES begin.
GOOD MORNING. KAYA TOAST is a favourite local breakfast of charcoal-toasted bread slathered with kaya (coconut curd) and slabs of cold butter. It is excellent with local coffee and boiled eggs. Kaya toast is served at coffeeshops known as kopitiams.
SINGAPORE is a port city in Southeast Asia with a vibrant food culture that spans mainly Chinese, Malay, Indian, Peranakan and Eurasian ethnicities. Sliced ice cream served between wafers is a good way to beat the heat. Hawker centres are excellent eateries to explore the local food culture.
Features
In Daddy's Fish-Steps
JOYCELYN QUEK relaunches Seamonger when her father retires after 40 years at Queen Street wet market
Bun worthy
Singapore has a penchant for these baked delights
Makan kampung
Malay food at its best
Our love for kueh
CHRISTOPHER TAN showcases Singapore's snacks, cakes and desserts
Peranakan favourites
Cuisine of the offspring of indigenous Malay and immigrant Chinese
Think pink
Local foods that radiate fuschia deliciousness
Milo on top
The only beverage brand Singaporeans consistently consider across every generation
What to eat today
WU XIANG XIA BING
WU XIANG XIA BING translates to "five spice prawn fritters", which is one of the items sold at this Hokkien food stall that originates from Fujian, China. Other items include fish cake, fish ball, pink roast pork sausage, minced liver roll, beancurd, poached cuttlefish, century egg and ginger and sweet potato cake. You choose your items and the cook refries them, cuts them up and serves them on a platter. Accompaniments include sliced cucumber, a sweet sticky pink dip made with sugar, pandan, egg white and cornstarch; chilli dip, and a plate of fried bee hoon (rice vermicelli).
Where to eat: Hup Kee Wu Xiang Guan Chang, Maxwell Food Centre #01-97, 1 Kadayanallur Street, Singapore 069184.
Recipes
Chilli crab
A popular seafood dish in Singapore
Chwee kueh
Wobbly steamed Teochew rice cakes is topped with chye poh, which has been simmering for hours in lard oil with dried shrimp
Bandung ice cream
Iced dessert with a hint of rose
Goreng pisang
You'll find banana fritters at both Chinese and Malay stalls
The cats
Mama Rusty and Little Boy Rory on Suzy's roof
She's making EPOK EPOK
The Malay version of curry puff, this pastry is deep fried and is filled with curried potato and minced meat. Other fillings include spiced sardine or sweet potato.
Some people like to dip their epok epok in chilli sauce before taking a bite
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 Spritz
Fill a wine glass with ice
2 parts Aperol
3 parts prosceco
1 part soda
Stir well and garnish with a slice of orange
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.
Homegrown Gin
From Tanglin Gin to Brass Lion Distillery, local gin creators receive global acclaim
Drinks at VIOLET OON AT DEMPSEY reflect Singapore places and heritage, and Peranakan elements
Left to right:
Tropics of Kin – A creamy jackfruit Batida
Rindu Roselle – A twist on the classic New York Sour, made with Sarawak roselle and red wine
Temasek Cooler – Mancino Secco vermouth, botanicals lemongrass, sage, and oregano, Mediterranean herbs, and pineapple juice
Midnight Straits – Echoes of kopi gao with candlenut orgeat and Lost Irish whiskey
Singapore Sling
The Singapore Sling is a gin-based cocktail invented in 1910 by Ngiam Tong Boon. He was a Hainanese bartender at the Long Bar of Raffles Hotel Singapore. Home of the Singapore Sling for over a hundred years, the Long Bar continues the tradition of throwing groundnut shells on the floor as you enjoy them with your chilled glass of handshaken Sling.
Recipe
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.
Classics
Dry Martini
21/2oz gin, 1/2oz dry vermouth, ice, 3 olives, skewered on stick for garnish. Fill a martini glass with ice. Shake or stir ice, gin and vermouth together vigorously for 10 seconds. Discard ice from glass, and strain mixed drink into glass. Garnish with olives on skewer.
Negroni
1oz gin, 1oz campari, 1oz sweet red vermouth. Stir into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with orange peel.
Gin tonic
2oz gin, 4oz tonic, ice. Stir into a glass, and garnish with lime or other citrus slices. Photograph courtesy of Atlas Bar.
Good bars in Singapore
Jigger & Pony (165 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088539) – Number 3 on Asia’s 50 Best Bars. Classic cocktails and a good whiskey selection
Cat Bite Club (75 Duxton Road, Singapore 089534) – Great margaritas amidst a brutalist vibe
Nutmeg & Clove (8 Purvis Street, Singapore 188587) – Singapore-inspired cocktails
Native (52A Amoy Street, Singapore 069878)– Produce from Southeast Asia
ATLAS Bar (600 North Bridge Road, Singapore 188778) – Art deco and lots of gin-based drinks
FURA (74A Amoy Street, Singapore 069893) – Founded by two innovative ladies with an eco philosophy
Offtrack (34 North Canal Road, Singapore 059290) – 25 on Asia’s 50 Best Bars. Classic cocktails and pan Asian eats
The Other Room (320 Orchard Road, Singapore 238865)– A sophisticated bar with a good selection of in-house finished cask spirits
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 the 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.
