WHAT to Eat?

Breakfast / Snack (and recommendations)

Local Singaporean Breakfast consisting of:

Kaya, butter or peanut butter toast
Soft Boiled eggs
Teh/Kopi/Milo

Get to know your Kopi or Teh:

Check out how to eat the soft-boiled egg here.

Recommended places to eat:

1/ Toast Box – this is our personal favorite.

2/ Ya Kun Kaya Toast

3/ Fun Toast

Here’s a quick guide in order Kopi at Fun Toast:

Soya Bean Curd (Recommended: Lao Ban)

*also try Youtiao. Some stores sell both the Soya Bean Curd and Youtiao

Chwee Kueh (You can get them from most local eating places.)

We just love love love Chwee Kueh! It looks like the Singapore “Carrot Cake” but is not made of radish. Made by mixing and steaming rice flour and water, it is also called the “Water Cake”. There are variety of toppings from garlic, pork lard and Chye Poh (radish bits).

Carrot Cake or Chai Tow Kway (You can get them from most local eating places.)

Contrary to its name, this cake is not made of carrot but of rice flour and white radish which some call as ‘white carrot’. There are two versions: The white (fried on top of a beaten egg) and Black (cooked with sweet soy sauce).

Oyster Omellete or Orh Luak (You can get them from most local eating places.)

Consist of starch (mostly potato starch), egg batter and small oysters topped with spicy chilli sauce with lime.

Roti Prata (Recommended: Little India)

South-Indian flat bread made by frying stretched dough flavored with ghee (Indian butter). This dish is usually serve with a dipping sauce of either fish or mutton curry.

For those who can’t take Indian spices like me, you can try the lesser spicy chicken curry from Chinese stalls.

Lunch/Dinner (and recommendations)

Hainanese Chicken Rice (Recommended: Michelin Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice at Maxwell Hawker Centre)

Seasoned rice (cooked in chicken stock) with poached chicken and cucumber garnishes. Usually served with chilli sauce.

2 types: Steam and Roasted Chicken

Personally, I find this dish very little, so whenever I eat it, I would always end up buying more food. It is worth a try though as Singapore is very famous for this dish.

Bak Kuh Teh (Recommended: Old Street or Song Fa)

Directly translating to ‘meat bone tea’ in English, Bak Kut Teh is customarily prepared through many hours of simmering meaty pork ribs in a broth of pepper and garlic, amongst other herbs.

Must try: Pork Ribs Soup + You Tiao + Soya Bean Curd

Nasi Lemak (Recommended: Crave, Qi Ji, Ponggol Nasi Lemak Centre)

Malay fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf. It is considered one of the most famous dishes for a Malay-style breakfast but can be served in a variety of ways so it is often eaten throughout the day. Nasi lemak is served with anchovies, peanuts, boiled egg, lamb curry, cucumber, and sambal.

Otah or Otak-otak is a grilled fish cake made of ground fish meat mixed with tapioca starch and spices.

Chilli Crab and Buns ( Recommended: Newton Hawker Centre)

Seafood dish in which stir-fried crab is coated with sweet, savoury and spicy tomato-based sauce. This dish is often accompanied by steam or deep-fried buns (also known as mantous).

Satay ( Recommended: Newton Hawker Centre)

Or sate in Indonesian spelling, is an Indonesian dish that includes skewers of grilled meat, sliced cucumbers, sliced onions, pressed rice cakes, served with thick, sweet, and hot peanut sauce on the side. Comes in Chicken, Pork, Beef and Mutton.

BBQ Sting Ray Fish (Recommended: Newton Hawker Centre)

Sting Ray fish barbequed, slathered it with a fiery sambal chilli

Chinchalok: a pink murky sauce with fermented shrimps, onions and lime juice given as a dip for your stingray. It differs in taste as many chefs make their own rendition

Sambal Sauce: typically made from a mix of chili peppers and other ingredients such as shrimp paste, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, sugar, lime juice/ vinegar

Mala “Dry” pot (You can get them from most local eating places.)

Dry pot (Gan Guo or Mala Xiang Guo) takes the flavorings and ingredients of Mala Sichuan hot pot and is cooked with your selected meats and veggies. You begin by choosing which meat, fish or veggies for your mala and they will cook it for you. You can choose whether to eat with rice or include noodles in the Mala. The spiciness ranges from less spicy, medium spicy and spicy.

Zi Char (You can get them from most local eating places.)

Tze Char, also romanised Zi Char, is a Hokkien term used in Singapore to describe a Chinese stall that provides a wide selection of common and affordable dishes which approximated home-cooked meals. Most Tze Char stalls are commonly found in hawker centres and kopitiams.

Must Try:

(Left to Right) Beef Hor Fun, Prawn Paste Chicken, White Bee Hoon, Chye Poh Tofu, Lala Bee Hoon, Seafood Hor Fun and Yang Chow Fried Rice

Laksa (Recommended: Toast Box)

Spicy noodle soup consisting of thick wheat noodles or rice vermicelli with chicken, prawn or fish, served in spicy soup based on either rich and spicy curry coconut milk or on sour asam.

Bak Chor Mee (Recommended: Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle at Lavander)

Literally means “minced meat and noodles” characterized by its flat and yellow appearance, varying in thickness and width. Consists of noodles tossed in vinegar, pork lard, and chill with just a bit of wetness and soup served on the side is now more popular.

Hokkien Prawn Mee (You can get them from most local eating places.)

Also known as fried prawn noodles, this stir-fried noodle dish is steeped in aromatic stock made of pork bones and prawn heads. It comprises of yellow noodles and thick ‘bee hoon’ (vermicelli)—has juicy prawns, squid, pork belly strips, egg and crunchy fried pork lard (optional). It is served with sambal chilli and a squeeze of lime juice

Char Kway Teow (You can get them from most local eating places.)

Literally “stir-fried rice cake strips”, is basically flat rice noodles stir-fried with shrimp, bloody cockles, Chinese lap cheong (sausage), eggs, bean sprouts, and chives in a mix of soy sauce.

Lor Mee (You can get them from most local eating places.)

Chinese-inspired Malaysian noodle dish served in a thick starchy gravy and thick flat yellow noodles (also known as Lor Mee). The thick gravy is made of corn starch, spices and eggs. The ingredients added into the noodles are usually ngo hiang, fish cake, fish, round and flat meat dumplings (usually chicken or pork), half a boiled egg, and other items depending on the stall and the price paid. Vinegar and garlic can be added as an optional item. Lor Mee can be served together with red chili. Traditional versions also include bits of fried fish as topping though few stalls serve this version anymore.

DESSERTS

Shaved or Snow Ice Desserts (Recommended: Dessert First at Liang Seah Court)

Must try famous Hong Kong style desserts in Singapore.

Chendol (You can get them from most local eating places.)

Cendol (or “Chendol”) is a sweet iced dessert known for its mixture of ingredients from the signature green rice flour jelly, to coconut milk and palm sugar (Gula Melaka). Some add in other ingredients such as red bean, sweet corn and attap chee.

Ice Kachang (You can get them from most local eating places.)

Ais kacang, literally meaning “bean ice”, also commonly known as ABC (acronym for Air Batu Campur [air ˈbatu tʃamˈpʊr], meaning “mixed ice“), which means “mixed shaved ice.” Toppings include red beans, jelly (usually grass jelly or agar agar), and sweet syrup. Popular toppings include sweet corn, peanuts (known as peanut kachang), evaporated or condensed milk, mango, durian, ice cream, gula melaka syrup, basil seeds, and cendol.

Rojak (any hawker centre, coffeeshop or kopitiam)

Or Rujak means “mixture” or “eclectic mix” in colloquial Malay, is a traditional local salad of mixed vegetables and fruits, drizzled with a sweet and sour sauce comprising local prawn paste, sugar and lime.