How to select the best food in Singapore

Although a tiny city-state, the cuisine of Singapore is a historic blend of different backgrounds and a representation of its rich heritage making each dish uniquely Singaporean and that is one reason why Singapore is considered a culinary hot spot in Asia. In Singapore, top attractions bring in a lot of visitors and so do the local cuisine and dining options which draw a diverse mix of people both locals and visitors.

Hawker Centres in Singapore are bustling arenas with excellent food feeding scores of locals and visitors to the land. In 2013 a hawker vendor even beat Gordon Ramsay of Master Chef fame in a cook-off such are their creativity and innovation in turning out tasty Uniquely Singapore food. The well-known kopitiams complement the hawker centres with different food, drinks, and desserts as you will discover whilst many other restaurants and fine dining places offer the same dishes presented with style.

Hainanese Chicken Rice – A hot favourite and a delicious meal with succulent sliced chicken on a bed of steamed jasmine rice. The chicken is either poached or roasted. Served with soup, sliced cucumber, and chilli sauce this is a dish relished by many visitors at hotels in Singapore like Venue Hotel. This is the classic dish that won the cook-off with Gordon Ramsay.

Nasi Lemak – This is creamy coconut rice, with an omelette, anchovies, cucumber and chilli paste, a filling and fragrant meal especially when it is served on a banana leaf.

Char siew meats on rice – A popular dish of Chinese origin, it is made with barbecued red pork and roasted belly pork in a thick sauce which is chopped up and served on a bed of steamed rice.

Chilli Crab – Crabs with hard shells in a thick gravy made with tomato and chilli. The steamed crabs are split and stir-fried in a sauce of egg, chili sauce making it finger-licking good. Eaten with bread to soak up all the flavourful gravy and crab meat.

Oyster Omelette – A usual omelette with beaten egg to which a generous serving of small oysters is added and cooked to be crispy or soft. Served with chopped coriander leaves, crunchy bean sprouts and a sweet and spicy sauce.

Fish head curry – A large fish head is cooked with a few vegetables to make a tasty gravy which is then soaked up with bread or rice. A dash of tamarind juice makes this a fine sweet and sour dish.

Laksa – A spicy coconut milk-based soup with shrimp, egg, fish cakes and shredded chicken topped with rice noodles to make a tasty filling meal.

Hokkien Prawn Mee – This dish of stir-fried Hokkien noodles is liberally laced with prawns in addition to pork and chicken slices, and squid and well-seasoned with vinegar, chili and soy sauce. A wedge of lime and sambal sauce completes the tasty meal.

Char Kuay Teow – A rich and savoury noodle with Chinese sausage, prawns, fishcake and cockles done to a turn with a touch of smoky flavour. Sambal chilli complements this dish.

These dishes are available at many kopitiams all over Singapore.

Roti Parata – Flaky flat bread made with flour with or without egg and served with a side dish like lentil curry with gravy, this fine Indian meal is usually washed down with The Tarik. (A steaming mug of tea)

Desserts – It feels good to finish off a special meal with a sweet. Try ice kacang. A mound of grated ice is showered with sweet syrups with a base made of jelly, corn, red beans and atap seeds.

Kaya Toast – Crisp toasted bread spread with Kaya Paste, a spread made with coconut and egg and sweetened. This toast is usually eaten with a soft-boiled egg and washed down with kopi. (Coffee)