One of the top reasons tourists keep returning to Singapore is its plethora of food offerings. Being the cultural melting pot of Asia, Singaporean food is a blend of all the cultures settling here. In a single food court, known as Hawker Centres, different stalls offer Chinese, Malay, Indian, Indonesian, Korean, Japanese, Western and other cuisines.
With this variety, no matter what food your tastebuds prefer, surely Singapore has something in store. Here are some of my go-to foods whenever I visit Lion City.
At a Glance
Foods to Try in Singapore
Breakfast
The following dishes are best eaten in the morning but these can also be consumed any time. Whether you're up for bread, rice, or noodles; sweet, savory, or mild; Singapore has something for you.
Kaya Sandwich and Kopi
No, this is not just a sandwich with a cup of coffee. This is a whole new kind of experience. Let's talk about the coffee first. This is Kopi, Singapore's dark and full-bodied brew. I'm a coffee person and I'm digging this! This one is strong but not overly bitter. Here is a list of the usual Kopi to order.
Black coffee - Kopi O Kosong
Black with sugar - Kopi O
Black with condensed milk - Kopi
Black with sugar and evaporated milk - Kopi C
Now, let's shift gear to the kaya sandwich. Two slices of bread are toasted and smeared with kaya jam and a slice of good-quality cold butter. Kaya jam is a custardy spread of coconut cream, sugar, and eggs. This makes the sandwich rich and sweet; crunchy because of the toast and buttery. But wait, what are those eggs for? These are half-boiled eggs and here's a video of how to eat a kaya sandwich like a local.
Ban Mian
This noodle dish can be eaten any time of the day but I personally like to start my day with a warm bowl of noodle soup. This Chinese dish consists of flat noodles known as Ban mian or Pan Mee, dunked in a bowl of clear mild-tasting broth, and topped with seasoned minced pork or chicken, ikan bilis (fried anchovies), fried shallots, green onions, and raw eggs. What I like most about this dish is the contrast of texture - warm soft noodles paired with crunchy fried anchovies and shallots. This economic noodle soup is always present and a local favorite in any hawker center.
Dried Porridge
We, Asians, love porridge. It's silky, comforting, and highly customizable. Order it with your meat of choice; put some fermented vegetables; top it with slices of century eggs, and green onions; add raw eggs and mix it in while hot to make the porridge extra silky; and finally, add pepper, fried shallots, or chili oil as preferred. A word of caution - the porridge is served scalding hot and even after a few minutes it could still burn your tongue. So just be patient and blow a spoonful at a time.
Feng Xiang Bak Kut Teh, a food stall at Food Republic, Vivo City, serves a different kind - dried porridge. It's not dried perse, but it has a thicker consistency than regular porridge. It savory and so tasty with lots of meat pieces. There really is nothing to add! This one is an absolute must-try.
Roti Prata
Another way to start your day is to carb-load with Roti Prata. This is an Indian crispy and flaky flatbread usually found in some Southeast Asian countries. To eat, tear the roti prata into manageable pieces and dip them in a thick and flavorful curry sauce. This is filling on its own but if you're famished, order another piece fried with scrambled egg.
Rice Dishes
The following foods are best served with rice.
Chicken Rice
Chicken rice is probably the most famous food in Singapore that kids and adults both love. Chicken is poached in mild aromatics and hung for the skin to firm up. Rice is then cooked and steamed in the chicken broth. The chicken is served chopped on top of rice, with some slices of cucumber, a bowl of chicken broth, and your dip of choice. The star here is the chicken as it tastes so clean and natural. It is incredibly tender since it was poached for a limited time. To make it even more flavorful, dipping sauces of grated ginger oil, soy sauce, and chili sauce are available.
Nasi Lemak
With Malay influence, nasi lemak has interesting textures and intense savory flavors. I would always look for it during my layovers in Singapore. 'Nasi Lemak' are Malay words that translate to 'rice with fat (from coconut cream)'. But this dish is more than just rice cooked in coconut cream. It is a symphony of flavors and textures in your mouth. You will be served with a plate of multiple items. It has deep-fried chicken for a crispy protein; fried anchovies and fried peanuts for extra crunch and umami nutty flavors; fried crispy egg with a runny yolk for creaminess; a spoonful of spicy and flavorful sambal sauce which just brightens up the dish; and a side of cucumber to cleanse the palate. By the way, sambal sauce is a pounded chili paste that is thought to have originated in Indonesia. It consists mainly of chilis, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, galangal, tomatoes and shrimp paste. This condiment will level up any food.
Professional Eater tip! Load up your spoon with everything on the plate so you may experience how each part contributes to the perfection of this dish.
Ayam Bakar
Ayam Bakar is an Indonesian grilled chicken dish. Ayam means 'chicken' and Bakar means 'to burn'. This dish is not your ordinary grilled chicken-in-rice dish. It is packed with flavor and will leave you asking for more rice. The chicken is simmered until cooked in a set of spices and kecap manis (sweetened soy sauce) then grilled until almost burnt. The broth will be simmered down into a paste and the reduction will be used to baste the chicken while grilling. These will accelerate the caramelization of the skin. The chicken is then dunked in the same basting liquid. It will then be served with steamed rice, eggs, sambal, and vegetables on the side.
Bak Kut Teh
This is an herbal pork rib soup dish that is available island-wide. "Bak kut teh" is a term in the Hokkien dialect that translates to "meat bone tea". The pork ribs are simmered in a broth of spices and herbs until tender and served in heated clay pots to maintain the hotness. Order a bowl of rice cause it is essential to the experience. Don't forget to get some spicy soy sauce as condiments.
The dried version of this dish exists. It is just fantastic! It has a hint of spice and it's so savory that a serving of rice will not be enough.
Oyster Omelet
With just three main ingredients, this dish is all about the freshness of the ingredients and the cooking technique. A seasoned batter made of potato starch (or any starch), eggs, and water is fried in oil, then oysters and vegetables are added. This omelet is known for its crispy exterior and gooey interior brought by the quickly cooked oysters. A sweet, sour, and spicy dipping sauce closes the deal. This can be eaten with rice, as a snack, or with alcohol.
Cereal Prawns
The first time I stumbled upon this dish years ago, I was surprised that cereals can actually be used in a savory dish. Peeled and deveined prawns with heads on were fried and added to a mixture of sauteed butter, eggs, curry leaves, chili slices, and cereals. It is important to note that there's a special type of cereal used in this dish - Nestum instant cereal. Cereal Prawns is a crowd favorite during night outs and even on meals. It's crispy, and buttery, and the prawns are crispy yet succulent and savory.
Satay
Satay are marinated meat skewers grilled over charcoal and dipped in a savory and flavorful peanut sauce. Every time I visit Singapore I usually go to Lau Pa Sat, a national monument in the CBD (Central Business District) with a hawker center inside. It has multiple stalls offering various delicacies. At nighttime, one of its adjacent streets - Boon Tat Street, is closed to traffic and transformed into Satay Street. The smoke and aroma make the satay more tempting. These skewers can be enjoyed with rice but the best way is with a can of beer while hanging out with friends. Here's a video on my recent Satay Street visit.
Chong Qing Grilled Fish
Though Singapore food is largely influenced by Southern Chinese migrants who transferred in the 19th Century, mainland Chinese food is fairly new in Singapore's food scene. This Chong Qing dish, for example, was first introduced in Singapore in 2010. Chong Qing is a municipality in mainland China that was part of the Sichuan Province before 1997. Thus, the spicy and numbing Sichuan food greatly influences Chong Qing food.
This type of grilled fish is not your usual stuff. The fish is grilled and then placed in a hotpot. It will then be soaked with your chosen sauce. The sauce could be sour, non-spicy, spicy, spicier, or spiciest! Almost every major hawker center has a stall that serves this dish. You would find that occupied tables are often topped with a hotpot setup containing one whole fish. Thus, it's no longer a trend; Chong Qing Grilled Fish is here to stay.
Noodles
These are some of the best noodle dishes in Singapore.
Char Siew Wonton Noodles
This is a dried noodle dish with Chinese influence which consists of thin blanched egg noodles tossed in a bowl of sauce, fried pork fat, blanched greens, fried wonton dumplings, and Chinese-style pork loin barbeque known as Char Siew. It is flavorful and its familiar taste is quite comforting.
Char Kway Teow
When I first tried this in Malaysia, I loved its smokiness, plus the flat noodles or "Kway Teow" are chewy and flavorful. Slices of Chinese Sausages, garlic slices, pieces of peeled and deveined shrimp, and fish tofu slices are stir-fried in a medium heat wok and deglazed with Shaoxing wine (yellow Chinese cooking rice wine). Turning up the heat, the noodles are stirred into the scalding hot wok, then the sauce (soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and shrimp paste), egg, and vegetables. The key to perfecting this dish is charring the noodles in a piping hot wok.
This noodle dish originates from Southern China and is popular in Malaysia and Singapore. The Hokkien dialect terms "Char" and "Kway Teow" translate to "stir-fried" and "flat rice noodle", respectively.
Katong Laksa
This aromatic, savory, and spicy noodle dish is popular among Malaysians, Singaporeans, and Indonesians. In Singapore, a variation of this dish - Katong Laksa, is a crowd favorite. The cockles (fresh clams), broth enriched with coconut cream that is reduced to a gravy-like consistency, and thick vermicelli noodles are the factors that set it apart from other types of laksa. It also has peeled and deveined shrimp, fish cakes, and vegetables.
Yong Tau Foo
This is one of my favorites because it's highly customizable. Yong Tau Foo is a Hakka Chinese tofu dish. The tofu is filled with ground meat or fish paste and served in numerous ways. Different types of yong tau fu are displayed along with meat, seafood, fish cakes, mushrooms, greens, and noodles. Pick whichever ingredients you want along with your preferred broth or sauce. You can choose the clear mild-tasting broth, rich and creamy curry sauce, or sweet luscious sauce.
Mee Pok
This dish was brought to Singapore by Chaoshan Chinese immigrants and it is indeed a local favorite since they are always queueing up for mee pok. There are two variations of this noodle dish - Fish Ball Mee Pok, and Mushroom Minced Meat Mee Pok. The soy-based sauce is poured into the bowl, followed by the blanched mee pok noodles, the toppings of choice, some fried pork fat (or what others call fat croutons), and a few pieces of greens. A bowl of soup is served on the side for you to either sip or pour into the noodles for a more luscious bowl. There's a spicy option on the menu.
Hokkien Mee
Egg noodles and rice noodles are stir-fried with egg, prawns, slices of squid and pork slices. The noodles are sauteed in a piping hot wok and an aromatic broth is added for chewy and luscious noodles. Some beansprouts are added to the dish as well. It is served with a spoonful of sambal paste.
Mala Xiang Guo
In essence, mala xiang guo is a dried hotpot for one. Hotpot is best enjoyed with a group while mala is the version for when you want to eat solo. Choose the ingredients you wish to add to your mala and your spice level preference - a little spicy, mildly spicy, heavy spicy, and very spicy. For first-timers, I'd recommend choosing the little or mildly spicy levels. If it's manageable, you can up your game next time. Trust me, I love spicy food but I can only handle the mildly spicy level in terms of Mala Xiang Guo.
Stay tuned for my snacks and desserts entry. If you want to know more about this wonderful country, visit my blog about the Top 11 Things to Know About Singapore.
Those are some of the foods to try in Singapore. There's something about these local foods that's quite addictive. I, too, keep coming back for more.
Let me know if you have tried any of these by commenting below.
Wow! Taste of Asia in One city! 😋