Singapore Carrot Cake

Singapore fried carrot cake is a popular dish among many Singaporeans. It is a traditional chinese dish, mainly Teochew origin. It is usually eaten in the morning as breakfast but nowadays is also being sold at all meal times too. There are two versions of carrot cake, one is fried with dark sweet sauce, and another without the dark sauce.

In the ingredients are radish flour cakes (need to make into these first, but can be bought in ready cakes), salted radish,eggs, garlic, lard or vegetable oil and with or without chilly. The other version sometimes come with prawns too.

Here is a picture of how the Singapore Fried Carrot Cake is like. Try it on one of your visits to Singapore!

Chicken Rice is Singapore's Favourite Dish

When tourists or visitors come to Singapore, one of the most popular dish is the Singapore Chicken Rice. There are many Chicken Rice stalls, outlets, restaurants in Singapore. Many Singaporeans miss this when they travel or move away for business. Many a times, they would long for it and visit their favourite stalls. Some of the famous Chicken Rice are Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice(Balestier, Upper Bukit Timah, more outlets around Singapore), Chatterbox in Mandarin Hotel (Orchard), Five Star Hainanese Chicken Rice (East Coast Road, Upper Bukit Timah), just to name a few.

Another way to enjoy Chicken Rice would be to buy the ready mix pack when you are here in Singapore.


















Here are two of the popular Chicken Rice mix that you can buy when you are in Singapore. It is very simple to cook, following the methods attached. Try them and you won't be disappointed!

Plenty of Fruits

Fruit vendors in Singapore are abundant. There is no shortage of fruits. Singapore, although has no natural resources, it imports lots of food items from neighbouring and far countries. Fruits are available whole year long. Now is the time for lots of Lychees, Durians, Mangosteens, Longans and even Fuji Apples from China and Japan. And i saw this large basket of Watermelons recently. They were really cheap. I could get a big Watermelon at only $5.00. When it is really cheap, some places sell them for about $2.50 each! Believe me, you can eat till your heart's content.

Even strawberries per punnet cost anything like $2.95 to about $4.90 per punnet. It is not very expensive especially when these fruits are all imported. And the cheap King of Fruits, The DURIAN is so cheap at $5.00 per box (equivalent to about half a durian). Sometimes when they are clearing, they will 'auction' if off at 3 boxes for $10.00! Longans are sold at $1.50 per 100gm. Fuji Apples are about $2.50 for 5.

Medicinal Tea

As the weather gets so unpredictable, many people are falling sick lately. In Singapore, traditional teas are a good way to replenish the heat. When one is feeling that he is coming down with the flu or feeling sickly, they usually would boil Herbal teas at home or buy them from shops that specializes in Herbal Teas.

There are many kiosks that also sell herbal teas. Some have medicinal values in them. There are Chrysanthemum, Longan, Lo Han Guo, Water Chestnut, Honey drink and more. Different teas have different properties in them. Some are cooling teas and some are heaty ones. Longan is usually known as heaty ones.

I usually buy some medicinal ones like the Ling Yang or known as the Antelope Horn drink. It is very good for those who are having fever as it brings the fever down. I usually try to boil it at home once a week. And I buy the ready made ones when I am down with fever. It is more convenient when one is already sickly.

Fish Otah

Singapore Fish Otah

Served as a snack item, or part of a main dish. Fish Otah is a slightly spicy fish cake and is wrapped and grilled in banana leaf. The fish used for this is usually the mackerel family. The fish is minced and added with prawn or cuttlefish paste for different texture. It is mixed with some rempah (spices all grounded together) to form a paste before wrapped in banana leaves and secured with toothpicks on each end.

The wrapped Otahs are then transferred onto a grill or open fire charcoal for barbecuing. Some other versions of the Otah are the Popular Muar Otah (this one is spicier and usually sold in a block in supermarkets) and the Penang Otah Otah. Penang ones are slightly different in their taste which is richer in coconut with fish fillets and also has a layer of daun kaduk (wild pepper leaves) at the base. The Penang Otah Otah is steamed and not barbecued.

Fruits of Abundance

Singaporeans love to eat fruits. Although Singapore does not have it's own fruit farms and is land constraint, majority of it's fruits are imported globally from Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Philliphines, United States, Vietnam, China, Japan and many more countries.

You can find abundant fruit sellers in every town, heartlands and supermarkets. There is no shortage of variety. These fruits imported are very fresh. Some of the fruits that can be found are Apples, Pears, Oranges, Longans, Dragonfruits, Chempedak (jackfruit), Bananas, Durians, Kiwis, Grapes, Strawberries, Watermelons, Honeydew, Rockmelon and many many more. Some expatriates and foreigners are amazed by such a variety they can get here. The prices of fruits in Singapore are among the most reasonable in the world. Fuji apples can be as cheap as 5 nos for $1.90, Dragonfruits 3 to 5 nos at $2.10, Durians at 3 boxs (4-5 seeds each box) for $10 and even a Watermelon for as low as $2.50.

Popular Foods in Singapore

Many people have asked me what are the popular foods in Singapore. Well Singapore is a place of many cultures and has many variety of foods suitable for the young and old and all around the world. The restaurants, hawker centres, food courts, kiosks, food outlets all provide such a vast variety from local, indian, malay, nyonya, and some are fusion cultivated from the cross heritage. The Peranakan or also called Nyonya food is an example of cross heritage of Chinese Hokkien descendants to Singapore, married to the Malay traditional food thus create a food with Chinese and Malay dominance.

If you have been to Newton Food Centre, there are many types of food popular with Singapore's local and tourists. Here is a a large recommendation board that features 'Must Try' dishes.

Click to view a closeup picture and information

Nasi Lemak

Nasi Lemak is a Singaporean favourite. It can be eaten as breakfast, lunch, dinner and even supper. It is inexpensive for ones sold in Banana Leaf packets. In the old kampung days, this dish is home-made and wrapped at home and sold by housewives for extra pocket money.

It's rice is flavoured with coconut milk and steamed. It is enjoyed by many races in Singapore. The sambal (chilly) is an important part in a Nasi Lemak. The Sambal adds the oomph to the dish. An average Nasi Lemak bound in banana leaf, costs anything from S$1.00 to $2.50, depending on the main dish. A packet of Nasi Lemak usually has coconut-flavoured rice, small fried fish, a slice of scrambled eggs, some slices of cucumber, some ikan billis (some fried with peanuts) and the not to be missed sambal.

Katong Laksa

Singapore is famous for its food. Singaporeans may travel to all corners in the island searching for the food they like or those that are popular. Katong Laksa is widely known for its name as it is widely available in the east area of Singapore - Katong.

This is a noodle dish (glass vermicelli) and the gravy is coconut based. Its ingredients contain cockles, fish-cake slices, prawns and lots of rempah (spice paste)

There is also another coconut based Laksa which is the known as Singapore Laksa. The Katong Laksa has more coconut and is usually served with just a chinese spoon. Nowadays, the Katong Laksa can be found in every part of Singapore, not just the East area. Here is a picture of what the Katong Laksa looks like.

Snacks

1. This is commonly known as Yew Char Koay, or the Fried Bread cruellers. It is a popular snack in Singapore. The Yew Char Koay is also used in the Singapore Rojak (a mixed vegetable and fruit salad) as well as compliments the plain porridge as well. Another favourite to eat the just fried crispy Yew Char Koay is to dip it in hot coffee (black).

2. This is also a flour based deep fried snack. Nicknamed the Butterfly, it has a coat of sweetness like a sugar glaze and sesame on the surface. Kids love these because of its sweetish savoury flavour.

3. Known as Ham Chim Peng, it is savoury and has few types of fillings. The fillings are sweet black bean paste among the common ones and the plain saltish savourish flavour. It goes well with morning coffee and is among one of a popular bread/pastry snack for local Singaporeans.

Satay

Satay is a dish widely known in Asia, especially Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is skewered sticks of marinated meat such as Chicken, Beef, Mutton and Pork. The accompaniment to Satay is the freshly diced cucumber and red onions, ketupat (rice cooked compact and cut to cubes) and a gravy for dipping made of spices and peanut.

The meat that is marinated is barbecued on an open charcoal wire. It is popular with all races in Singapore and is among a hot favourite for Singaporeans whenever they go for chalet barbecues. Sold widely also in the hotels, restaurants, food courts and coffee shop. In Singapore, City Satay is among a popular name with its wide distribution from small satay stalls to catering orders for domestics and commercial.