Celebrating SingaporeWe Are What We Eat

FOREWORDSingapore is a melting pot of cultures and heritage. Yet, we tend to forget and overlook these quirky hints of our heritage in our everyday lives. This is what makes us interesting and exciting, our heritage, our quirks.

Food is a major aspect of our culture and it is a reflection of our heritage. Majority of our favourite foods are rooted to the history and growth of Singapore. This mini publication will briefly mention the history of a handful of Singapore’s favourite foods and retrace the evolution and their ethnic roots.

GET FUNKY, SEE THE QUIRKY SIDE OF SINGAPORE

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contents;Sweet, Savoury & Spicy

Prawned

Mutton Soup Or Mutton Soup?

World’s Longest, WHAT?

Getting To Know Mee

The Makings Of An Oriental Pizza

Pork Rib Tea, Anyone?

Singapore’s Burger

Which Came First?

Knowing Your Laksa

Fish Eye

Cultural Rojak

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“SAVOURY,SWEET&SPICY”

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Chilli crab is a popular seafood dish among locals and foreigners in Singapore and consists of mud crabs deep-fried in a sweet, savoury and spicy gravy. It has been referred to in various food publications as Singapore’s national seafood dish or even Singapore’s national dish.

Chilli crab is said to have been invented by Cher Yam Tian in the mid-1950s when she added bottled chilli sauce to her dish of stir-fried crabs which she had normally cooked with bottled tomato sauce. In 1956, she and her husband, Lim Choon Ngee, began selling the dish from a pushcart along the seaside.

CHILLI CRABHooi Kok Wah, one of the four local chefs known as the

“heavenly kings” of Chinese cuisine in the 1960s, is also considered a pioneer in the history of chilli crab in Singapore. He had created a sourer version of chilli crab that used vinegar, lemon juice, sambal, tomato paste and egg white in the gravy. This has become the more common version of the dish found in Singapore.

The dish consists of deep-fried crabs that are served in a chilli and tomato based gravy. Bread, usually Chinese soft buns called mantou, is often eaten with chilli crab whereby the bread is used to scoop up the gravy.

Fried Hokkien prawn noodles, also known locally as Hokkien mee, is a dish comprising thick yellow noodles fried in a rich prawn stock served with chilli and lime on the side. There are various accounts of its origins.

According to one account, the dish was originally known as Rochor mee because it was first sold at Rochor Road. Hokkien sailors who had worked at noodle factories in post-war Singapore would gather at Rochor Road in the evenings to fry the excess noodles from the factories over charcoal stoves. Others suggest that a stall beside the 7th Storey Hotel near Rochor Road first concocted this dish, hence its association with the road.

The local version of fried Hokkien mee is sometimes referred to as Teochew Hokkien mee because Teochews popularised the dish in Singapore.

FRIED HOKKIEN PRAWN NOODLES

PRAWNED

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The dish is served with a dash of sambal (chilli paste) and lime on the side. The early version of this dish had a brown gravy scattered with lard. The gravy was made with dried prawn, anchovies, pork bones and some sugar boiled for more than four hours. The finished noodles are traditionally wrapped in opeh or opir leaves from the Nipah palm.

Hokkien char mee, on the other hand, is made of thick egg noodles, similar in appearance to Japanese udon noodles, braised in black sauce and fish gravy. The main ingredients are sliced pork, pig liver and pork rind along with shrimp, sliced fish and squid.

In some Western countries, a dish sometimes referred to as Singapore noodles is, in fact, a version of fried Hokkien prawn noodles that often does not have the rich stock of the original but is instead a fried egg noodle dish with some seafood and egg thrown in.

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MUTTON SOUP OR MUTTON SOUP?

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Hainanese mutton soup is a herbal soup made with mutton, herbs and other ingredients. Hainanese mutton soup in Singapore retains much of its original flavour, although some local spices have been added.

More than ten kinds of herbs are infused into the soup. A variety of beancurd derivatives such as beancurd sheets, beancurd puffs and fermented bean paste are also added.

HAINANESE MUTTON SOUP

TEOCHEW VARIANTA Teochew-style variant of Hainanese mutton soup has been attributed to Ng Seok Jua, who began selling the soup at a stall along Beach Road from 1962.

This version has a clear soup with a lighter flavour without fermented bean paste and bamboo shoots, which are usually added to the Hainanese version. Meat balls were also introduced, a concept derived from minced pork noodles.

Aniseed and tonic herbs are still used to enhance the dish’s flavour. It is served with rice and chilli sauce similar to sambal belacan (chili fried with dried shrimps).

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Kambing (Malay for goat) soup or sup kambing is a spicy broth of mutton soup, traditionally made of bite-sized chunks of goat meat stewed in spices, then served hot with toasted bread on the side. It is associated with the Indian Muslim community and is believed to have evolved in Singapore since it was brought to our shores.

The dish was traditionally made using goat meat, and it is only in more recent times that the dish been made with sheep meat. It is believed that the younger the goat, the more tender the meat. Therefore good kambing soup is usually produced from the meat of a younger goat or sheep. Some sources also suggest that the dish evolved from the famed mulligatawny imported from British India into Malaya.

KAMBING SOUP

SOUP INTERNATIONALA variant of kambing soup is the dish, sup internasional, which is Malay for “international soup”.

It is made of beef and mutton while sup ayam (Malay for “chicken soup”) is a lighter version made of chicken stock. Sup urat is made of beef tendon while sup perut uses ox tripe.

BONE SOUP Sup tulang or bone soup, traditionally made of the bone marrow of goats, is also often referred to as sup kambing but the addition of tomatoes and different spices give this dish a completely different look and taste to the usual kambing soup.

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Did you know that the world’s longest popiah was made in Singapore?

It stretched across 53 m. A team of chefs co-ordinated the making of this popiah which had 320 wrappers, 1.5 kg of chilli paste and 2.5 kg of crushed garlic. A 99 strong team of volunteers came forward to roll it.

WORLD’S LONGEST, WHAT?

Popiah, which is Teochew for “thin pancake”, is a thin paper-like crepe or pancake wrapper stuffed with a filling made of cooked vegetables and meats. When deep fried, it is known as a spring roll. It is eaten as a snack or an accompaniment to a meal. The popiah originated in the Fujian province. It is derived from the spring roll which was eaten during spring when there was an abundance of vegetables. There are variants of the roll throughout Asia, intermingling ingredients from the local culture resulting in such likes as the Nonya version of it. Popiah is sold in most hawker-centers and “do-it-your-self” popiah parties are gaining popularity in recent years.

POPIAH

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MI REBUS?MIE REBUS?MEE REBUS?MEE JAWA?MEE BANDUNG?MEE GORENG?MEE SIAM?GETTING TO KNOW MEE.

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MI REBUS?MIE REBUS?MEE REBUS?MEE JAWA?MEE BANDUNG?MEE GORENG?MEE SIAM?

Mee rebus is a dish comprising of Chinese egg noodles in thick, spicy gravy. Reflecting the multicultural mix of Malaya, the dish contains spices from the Malaya Peninsula and was originally peddled by Indian Muslim migrants in Singapore but has since evolved.

Mee Rebus is how it is commonly spelt in Singapore. The dish is known as mi rebus, or mie rebus in Indonesia.

Some believe that the dish originated from the Indonesian island of Java, where it is known as mee jawa. Mee jawa, another variation, is often identified as a dish in its own right. It uses distinct ingredients not found in mee rebus such as a tomato-based gravy or ketchup. Despite its name, mee jawa does not originate from Java but is believed to have been concocted by resident Javanese in Peninsular Malaysia, and its creation is often credited to the Peranakans from Penang.

Another noodle variant, mee bandung, also has many ingredients which are similar to that in mee rebus. The dish traces its origins to Muar, Johor. Its name is not a reference to the Indonesian city of Bandung, but is instead a reference to a concoction of mixed ingredients in the dish. Its thick gravy is a beef stock mixed with prawns and chillies.

MEE JAWA

MEE BANDUNG

MI REBUSMIE REBUSMEE REBUS

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Mee siam is a dish of bee hoon (rice vermicelli) with a unique sweet and tart gravy. Some people believe that the name of the dish refers to Siam, the old name for Thailand, and that the dish is influenced by Thai cuisine, while others believe that the dish is Malay or Peranakan in origin. Mee siam is Malay for “Thai noodles”, where Siam was the term used for pre-World War II Thailand. The earliest mention of the dish in local newspapers appears only in the 1970s, around the same time the dish was described in recipe books such as that of Mrs Lee Chin-koon.

However, there is controversy over whether it is a local adaptation of an actual dish from Thailand or if the name arose out of a Malayan innovation that drew inspiration from Thai flavours. Some people assert that the dish is an example of hybridity in Singapore hawker food, incorporating flavours from Chinese, Malay, Peranakan and Thai cuisine. In Singapore, there are Chinese, Malay and Indian variants of the dish, as well as the Peranakan variety.

CHINESE VARIANTThe Chinese version features blanched bee hoon fried in the gravy, which is often a chilli paste mixed with ground dried shrimps, and the dish is topped with other ingredients such as chicken and thinly sliced omelette.

MALAY VARIANTMalay mee siam often does not contain coconut in the gravy while the Indian version has coconut in the gravy, resulting in a lighter coloured gravy. Candlenut and whitebait are also added to it, with a taste that is less sourish and sweeter than the other versions.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:WHY IS MEE SIAM CALLED MEE SIAM WHEN IT IS MADE WITH BEE HOON?

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Mee goreng is a dish primarily of fried noodles that is associated with South Indians but remains unique to this region. It incorporates a mix of Chinese, Indian, European and Malay flavours. It takes the yellow egg noodles from Chinese cuisine, spices and mutton commonly found in Indian food, fried with a sweetness for the Malay palate and coloured with tomato sauce, which is often associated with Western cuisine. Mee goreng is Malay for “fried noodles”. Singapore-styled mee goreng used to be accompanied by thinly sliced cucumber in yoghurt, but is now usually paired with a simple tomato sauce with slices of cucumber instead. Some sources suggest that it was the Muslim Chulias of Madras who originally popularised the dish. The dish remains strongly associated with the Indian Muslim community although it is sometimes categorised as a Malay dish.

RECENT VARIANTRecently, the addition of deep fried ikan bilis (anchovies) has given rise to a new genre of mee goreng known as ikan bilis mee goreng.

CHINESE VARIANTChinese-style mee goreng was created in 1975 by restaurant owner Ting Choon Teng and chef Quek Ah Ai of the Punggol Hock Kee restaurant. Their fellow stallholder at Ponggol Restaurant, an Indian hawker, left his mee goreng business to his Chinese colleagues, and Ting and Quek produced their take on the traditional mee goreng soon after.

Their version, known as Ponggol Mee Goreng, uses a tomato chilli sauce made up of 12 herbs and spices. Instead of being crispy and dry like traditional mee goreng, this version is more moist and has more seafood added to the noodles such as prawn and squid. The spicy sauce also contains belachan, giving it an extra rich taste.

MEE GORENG

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MUSHROOMS!CHEESE!ONIONS!THE MAKINGS OF AN

ORIENTAL PIZZA

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Roti prata is a round pancake often eaten with mutton or fish curry. Sold mostly by Indian Muslims at coffeeshops and hawker centres. To many, it serves as a staple food for breakfast, lunch or dinner, although it is most often eaten for breakfast. The Roti Prata belongs to a group of breads which are indigenous to India. Brought to Singapore by Indian immigrants, the Roti Prata is said to be either of Punjabi origin as wheat dishes feature prominently in the Punjabi diet, or introduced by the Muslim conquerors, who also specialised in making various types of breads. Whatever the origin, it has become an integral component in the Singapore Indian cuisine.

ROTI PRATA

FLOUR

OIL

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LATELATE

LATE

LATE

LATE

LATE

CHOCOCONDENSED

MILK

Pratas can be eaten with sugar, curries or just plain. There are many variations of the ordinary prata. While commonly served plain with dhal or curry, local menus now feature a variety of eccentric variations such as durian, ice-cream, cheese, chocolate and banana, all worth a try for the adventurous diner.

A popular variant is when egg is added to become egg prata. When minced meat such as mutton or chicken, eggs and onions are added, it is called muruthapa. Vegetarian Indian restaurants also sell muruthapas with a vegetable filling.

WATER

SUGAR

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Bak kut teh, also known as pork rib soup is a popular Chinese dish in Singapore. It consists of pork ribs stewed with a mixture of fragrant herbs and spices such as garlic, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds and coriander. In reference to the main ingredient, bak kut teh (in Hokkien) and rou gu cha (in Mandarin) translate literally to

“meat bone tea”.

Bak kut teh is believed to have originated from the Fujian province of China. The introduction of the dish to Singapore and Malaysia is attributed to Hokkien immigrants who moved to this region in the 19th century. The dish is said to have been popular with the Chinese coolies as a hearty breakfast before embarking on their backbreaking tasks of the day.

There are three traditional variants of bak kut teh in Singapore: Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese. As the Hokkiens prefer soups that are robust, the Hokkien bak kut teh is a strongly-scented, thick and cloudy soup that has been boiled furiously with rock sugar and a wide variety of herbs.

PORK RIB TEA, ANYONE?

“Bak kut teh translates literally to “meat bone tea”

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CANTONESE VARIANTThe Cantonese, with their fondness for herbal soups, add more medicinal herbs to the dish. Theirs is a less salty version of the Hokkien-style bak kut teh but with a strong herbal taste. Additional ingredients used also include button mushrooms, Chinese cabbage and dried tofu.

TEOCHEW VARIANTThe Teochew versions are typically clear in appearance and light in taste. The Teochew variant of bak kut teh is seasoned only with garlic, soy sauce and pepper, with the soup simmered and skimmed. The result is a fine, light brown consommé that is garlicky and peppery. This is the most common variant served and found in Singapore.

OTHER VARIANTSNon-pork variants of bak kut teh using other meats such as mutton, beef or even ostrich meat have also been developed in Singapore. These alternatives were introduced to cater to the Muslim community or as a result of the Nipah virus outbreak in the late 1990s.

Bak kut teh is typically eaten with steamed white rice, you tiao (also known as dough fritters), offal, preserved vegetables and braised beancurd skins. Light soy sauce or dark soy sauce is used as a dipping sauce. Sliced chilli, minced garlic or chopped chilli padi are often added to the dipping sauce. Chinese tea is the preferred beverage when having bak kut teh, as it is believed to help wash down the oil and fat from the dish.

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SINGAPORE’S

BURGER

50m

McDonald’s

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Roti john is a local dish consisting of the sliced halves of a French loaf fried with a topping of minced mutton, sliced onions and egg. The dish is unique to the Malay Peninsula, with its origins linked to the resident English, Malay and Indian communities. Literally translated, roti john means “John’s bread”. The dish takes its name from a previously common form of address for Caucasians, while roti is Malay for “bread”. Sometimes called Singapore’s version of the burger, roti john is made using a local bread loaf similar to the French baguette, but shorter in length and with rounded ends and a softer texture. It is usually served in slices with green chillies,

tomato sauce and sweet chilli sauce on the side.

Variations on this dish use chicken, beef or sardines instead of mutton. More recent innovations include adding melted cheese and mushrooms to the topping. Although roti john is often classified as Malay cuisine, partly because it is usually offered by Malay stalls, its origins, ingredients and taste meld together the diverse flavours of the English, Malay and Indian communities. The dish is sometimes considered as being of Indian origin possibly because Shukor, the hawker who popularised it, was of Indian ancestry.

ROTI JOHN

CHICKEN RICE OR CHICKEN RICE BALLS?

WHICH CAME FIRST?

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Hainanese chicken rice is succulent steamed white chicken, cut into bite-size pieces served on fragrant rice with some light soy sauce, topped with sprigs of coriander leaf, sesame oil, and accompanied by a delicious garlic-chilli dip. The only chicken rice found in Hainan in China, an island off the southern coast of China. It is made with the Wengcheng chicken, a bony fowl with very little flesh served with rice thick with oil and accompanied by ground green chilli dip. Hainanese chefs also use pork and chicken bone stock unlike their Singaporean counterparts who avoid the pork base in their chicken rice. Thus the Hainanese Chicken Rice dish probably evolved through the Hainanese immigrants in the region and gained from local influences such as the Cantonese. The Cantonese added lime to the chilli sauce and ensured their chickens were tender and young. Hainanese Chicken Rice is said to have taken root in areas like Middle Road, Purvis Street and Koek Road more than 60 years ago.

An early version of the dish had rice compacted into balls. Made of shorter-grained rice, cooked in a large metal pot with pandan leaves and ginger slices, the rice is painstakingly shaped into balls with the bare hands before it grows cold. The rice-balls made it easier for a travelling peddler to serve his clients, as he did away with plates and could easily wrap the balls in banana leaves. However, these Hainanese Chicken Riceballs are seldom seen in Singapore.

So peculiar is the chicken rice to Singapore that in the West it is sometimes known as the Singapore Chicken Rice dish. At some food-centres it has become customary to hang the strip bones of chicken in rows to impress customers with the number of chicken sold.

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KNOWING YOUR LAKSAThe name ‘Laksa’ is believed to be of Sanskrit origin, with a particular link to Indonesia and possible roots in the ancient Majapahit era. However, others believe it is of Chinese origin, the dish having been brought in by immigrants and adapted to local tastebuds. The ingredients in variant Laksas also point to obvious Peranakan influences although the use of mint leaves and the sour flavour of also suggest Thai influences.

Laksa is a bowlful of noodles in a unique soupbase which blends the Chinese and Malay styles of cooking. There are 2 distinct types of laksas namely, the tamarind-based assam laksa and the coconut-based laksa lemak.

The key ingredient giving Laksa its unique flavour and aroma is the Laksa leaf, locally known as the daun kesom (Polygonum Hydropiper) or the pepper plant or water pepper. Also mandatory is the spicy paste made up of lemon grass and prawn paste, locally known as belachan. Singapore Laksa is a Peranakan version, which is rich with seafood ingredients like cockles, prawns and fish cake, swimming in a chicken or ikan bilis stock enriched with coconut milk. It is also flavoured with loads of dried shrimp.

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SANSKRIT,MAJAPAHIT,CHINESE,MALAY,PERANAKAN,INDONESIATHAI ANDSINGAPORE

THE DIFFERENCESEssentially there are two types of Laksas. Firstly, Laksa Lemak, or more commonly known as Nonya Laksa, where lemak is Malay for the rich flavour derived from santan or “coconut milk”.

Secondly, the sweet-and-sour, spicy Assam Laksa which unlike the cloudy Laksa Lemak, has a clear and thinner soup-base. Its sour taste is derived from the juice of squeezed tamarind, locally known as assam. It is a Peranakan variation of Laksa and thus has ingredients such as hei ko or “black prawn paste” and kunyit or

“tumeric”. In Singapore, we have our own variant laksa known as Katong Laksa. It is a variant of laksa lemak from the Katong area of Singapore. In Katong laksa, the noodles are normally cut up into smaller pieces so that the entire dish can be eaten with a spoon alone.

ASAMKATONG

NONYA

Served with thick rice vermicelli

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Uses coconut milk

Only vegetable used are bean sprouts

Hard boiled egg usually added

Fishcake and either prawns or chicken are included

Does not use coconut milk

Pineapple, shredded cucumber and raw onions may be used.

No hard boiled egg

Kembung fish are usually included

ASAMNONYA

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FISH HEAD CURRYFish head curry is a spicy curried dish made using a fish’s head. The dish is peculiar to Singapore, mixing the spices of a typical South Indian fish curry with the fish head, a delicacy amongst the Chinese.

Fish head curry was first concocted in a small restaurant in Tank Road about 30 years ago. The brainchild of an Indian man, Gomez, the head of the fish was used to suit local tastes. Fish head was not particularly an Indian delicacy. Understanding it to be a favourite with the Chinese, Gomez tried this dish to please his Chinese customers. The curry used in the dish however, is based on the traditional South Indian fish curry recipe. Since then, the dish has become a hit in Singapore and across the causeway.

Fish head curry is served in both Indian and Chinese restaurants, often brought still bubbling away in a the large clay pot. In Indian restaurants, fresh banana leaves are laid before the diners and steaming rice is scooped onto them. The curry is then poured over the fragrant rice. Usually, the diners are also given crackers or papadam to complement their main course. The final and best part of this gastronomic ritual is the scooping of the eyes.

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“ROJAK BEST EXEMPLIFIES THE CULTURAL DIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE”

ROJAKRojak is a local salad of mixed vegetables and fruits, drizzled with a sweet, sour sauce made up of local prawn paste, sugar and lime. Rojak in Malay means “mixed”, but the dish exemplifies the cultural diversity of Singapore, including Chinese and Malay elements in the ingredients. Often eaten as a side dish or an appetiser, rojak can also be served as a main meal. It is uncertain how the dish, rojak, originated. There are different vegetable salads that are unique to the Malayan archipelago. However, where the Indonesian gadoh-gadoh has a

thick peanut-based sauce and has vegetables like long beans and proteins like eggs, the rojak is cut vegetables mixed with the sweet-sour flavours of the black pasty sauce of local prawn paste.

It is also a dish distinct from the Indian rojak which shares only the name and identity of a mixture of items but has little relationship with actual rojak. This Asian salad is a rich mix of vegetables and fruits. The mark of a good rojak is in its sauce, and in particular the “prawn paste” or hay ko used.

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“ROJAK BEST EXEMPLIFIES THE CULTURAL DIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE”

Until the 1980s, rojak peddlers could still be found, often illegally, moving through neighbourhoods on bicycles. This was an improved meansof transport from the 60s when they used pushcarts instead. These carts, whether on bicycle or as a mobile stall, often had a wooden box where the fresh ingredients could be seen through glass panels. The peddler’s only tools would be his cutting board, a knife and the large mixing bowl. Therojak would be cut and mixed on the spot.

Before the days of paper plates, the ingredients would be packed in daun upeh, a leaf folded into the shape of a cup. Toothpicks served as a replacement for forks. Today, variations of the rojak has multiplied as new ingredients are creatively added to the spicy, sweet and sour black sauce. More often than not, the dish is found in hawker centres or food courts often prepared by the Chinese.

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CREDITS:http://infopedia.nl.sg/index.htmhttp://hungrygowhere.com

GET FUNKY, SEE THE QUIRKY SIDE OF SINGAPORE

For more information,www.quirkysingapore.com

www.nhb.gov.sg