5 Local Food Dishes to Try Out in Singapore – Tastes of Exotic Asia

Hainanese chicken rice available across Singapore is a common favourite; the popular dish is served at the classy restaurants as well as the street side food kiosks. Given a traditional twist, the chicken is either steeped in hot water or roasted to render a soft and tender meat that is bursting with flavour. In Singapore, the chicken is served on a bed of savoury rice which has been boiled in chicken stock. The combination of chilli sauce and tender chicken is a pure comfort food that one must try.

No discerning traveller to Singapore should leave the nation without a taste of traditional Singapore chilli crab. Hitting the spot every time the tasty crab and its exotic gravy will leave your taste-buds hankering for more; the gravy tends to infuse the sweet flesh with its spicy flavours making it a firm favourite amongst all crab lovers. Best accompanied with mantou a bun that's either fried or steamed, the crab gravy is the most flavoursome part of the dish. So, go ahead and leave those utensils alone, wash your hands and dig into one of the heartiest meals you will enjoy in Singapore. The best restaurants in Clarke Quay will serve up the traditional version of this crab curry as well as other variants of the popular shellfish.

A dish unique to Singapore, Fish Head curry may seem squeamish to some, but fans of the dish, know just how flavoursome the meal is. Thick red gravy surrounds a whole cooked fish head which is, in fact, the essence of Singaporean cooking culture. Guests at Park Hotel Clarke Quay or other hotels in the Clarke Quay area will find a range of easy to reach seafood restaurants, where fish head curry remains a star on the menu. The dish is a blend of spicy and exotic Indian curry and the Chinese staple fish head; the amalgamation cooked in a clay pot is awesome indeed, and often served at all Malay, Indian and Chinese restaurants.

This dish has no carrot in it, and it is not the icing covered dessert many associates with the name carrot cake. Instead, the Singaporean fried carrot cake is made with rice flour and white radish sometimes referred to as 'white carrot'. It is a mix of these ingredients which are steamed, cubed and stir-fried with garlic, spices, eggs, prawns and oysters, as well as lashings of black soy sauce. Available at most street food stalls, the savoury dish a pretty hearty meal to enjoy.

A sweet and crunchy treat, Kaya Toast is best enjoyed with a cup of local kopi. The thin slivers of toast are covered in butter and kaya, a type of traditional jam made with coconut and egg. A favourite for breakfast or tea, the toast is considered a treat when paired with boiled eggs and runny yellow yolks.