Singapore Diary #5: Food

Saving the best for last.

With 3 weeks in Singapore, I was determined to be a little more adventurous with my eating and try more local fares. Even though I cooked most days (we stayed in an apartment complex, so there is a kitchen), I did manage to get a taste of Singapore. During our excursions into the city, we often ate at hawker centers – they’re open buildings with tables in the middle and stalls along the sides selling all kinds of food. These are sometimes combined with a market, but often they just serve as food courts. The food is cheap (well, compared to a restaurant meal) and authentic, and there are a lot of choices.

Maxwell Food Center near Chinatown

There are so many dishes that I didn’t get to try them all. Others I didn’t try because they’re too expensive (chilli crab, hello) or sound weird (like carrot cake, which is not a cake and doesn’t contain carrot). But below are some of my favorite:

A literal ice-cream sandwich – yeah, it pretty much tastes like ice cream and bread, but the bread helps to soak up the drips, which are unavoidable in the Singaporean heat

Roti prata – think an Indian crepe dipped in curry sauce. They can be plain or stuffed with egg, mushrooms, cheese, etc. There is also a sweet version

Laksa – noodle soup with prawns and spicy coconut-milk broth

Chendol – shaved ice smothered in palm sugar syrup, coconut milk, sweetened red beans, and green “worms” (rice flour jelly)

Waffle with kaya (coconut jam) – locals have it on their toast, but I took it one step further

The one dish I had but never enjoyed was chicken rice. I don’t understand how it can be considered the national dish of Singapore – it’s just steamed or roasted chicken on top of rice cooked in chicken broth. That’s it! Sure, it’s cheap, but I’d like something with a little more taste (not to mention vegetables), thank you very much.

Finally, this is unrelated to food, but I think it would be appropriate to close out my Singapore posts with a mention of the Merlion. If you’ve read my account of my previous trip to Singapore, then you’ll remember that I didn’t see the Merlion last time. This time, during our city tour at the beginning of our trip, we did go to the Merlion but it was all covered up because, according to the sign, the Merlion was taking a shower! Luckily he was done before we left, so I came back on the last day and finally got a super touristy photo.

And that was it for my Singapore trip! Until next time…

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