10 Best Dishes to Eat
Hainan Chicken Rice
Hainanese chicken rice is considered one of Singapore’s dishes and was created and brought to the country by Hainan immigrants from southern China. A whole chicken is cooked in light broth, topped with ginger and garlic, sliced thinly, and served with rice cooked. It's tender, juicy and fragrant, usually with ginger sauce, chili sauce or sweet soy sauce.
Chili crab
Another competitor to Singapore's most popular national dish is Chili Crab, which, despite its name, is not actually a spicy dish. The chopped whole crab is deep-fried and then made with a thick, sweet and savory chili sauce and garlic. It pairs with the shell, so it's a very messy thing, but it's fun to eat. It is often eaten with Mantou (fried tent bread) and is perfect for wiping the sauce.
Laksa
Laksa is popular in Singapore and Malaysia and is a spicy and rich noodle soup. It has a creamy butter-based soup and contains a variety of noodles (high-quality rice flour or thin noodles) and tofu such as tofu, shrimp, chicken, fish cake, fresh bean sprouts and limes. Laksa is a typical Peranakan dish from descendants of early Chinese immigrants who settled in Singapore. Food is a delicious fusion of Chinese, Indian, Malaysian and European influences.
char siew
This Cantonese BBQ pork is everywhere in Singapore’s hawker centres – it is usually seen hanging behind glass boxes at each stall. The boneless pork is marinated with five spice powders, hoisin sauce, soy sauce and honey, and then marinated in the oven or before turning on the fire. How you eat it depends on your preference, whether you are enjoying it alone or filling it with rice, noodles or steamed buns (char siu bao).
char kway teow
Nothing is like a smoky char kway teow dish, whipping rice noodles over high heat with oil, garlic, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce and eggs. Char Kway Teow can also include Lap Cheong (Chinese sausage), prawns, clams, bean sprouts and chives. The best char kway teow is cooked with pork, which gives it a richer, fatter flavor, but many vendors have abandoned its healthier dishes.
roti prata
Introduction to Singapore by Indian immigrants, Roti Prata is a large bread with soft, butter and flaky layers. It is customizable for your taste, and although it usually goes with lamb or lentil curry, you can also choose fillings like cheese, eggs, and onions. Banana, durian, honey and chocolate sauce also have sweet changes, making it available with versatile snacks at any time of the day.
Nasi Lemak
Nasi Lemak is Singapore's most popular hawker food. The ingredients of this Malay dish vary from vendor to vendor, but the most basic one is rice cooked with coconut milk and pandan leaves, crispy fried phoenix eggs, fried chicken, fried peanuts, sliced cucumber and chili sauce, made of chili, garlic, minced garlic, hand and shrimp paste. Depending on what is available on the stall, fried chicken or fish, curry chicken or chicken can usually be added, which are slow-cooked in spices and coconut milk.
kaya toast
Skip the hotel breakfast and go to some kaya toast. Sprinkle the bread with Kaya, a jam made with coconut, sugar, eggs and pandan leaves. Kaya smells very fragrant, coconut and tastes as sweet as egg ust. Toast is served with coffee and boiled eggs, topped with soy sauce. Although traditional toast is thin and crisp, other types of bread are now used, such as the thick, fluffy bread of French toast.
Fried carrot cake
Singapore carrot cake is completely different from the western carrot cake you may already be familiar with. First of all, there are no carrots in this dish. Instead, it is made from white Chinese radish (also known as white carrots or peepholes) that are steamed from rice noodles and made with eggs, garlic and preserved radish. It's delicious and salty, with a crispy appearance and a soft interior. Thanks to the addition of dark soy sauce, there is also a black variation, which makes the taste sweeter.
Oyster Omelette
Oyster omelette is a classic hawker dish. Unlike fried carrot cake, this sounds like it looks – an omelet made from fresh and juicy oysters, although it looks more like scrambled eggs than traditional fried eggs. The batter is made with eggs and potato starch to make it thicker in texture, while the resulting omelette is crispy around the edges, soft and sticky. It is usually served with a hot and light dip sauce.
