Singapore is famous for its hawker stands and mix of foods from all over South East Asia and the Indian sub-continent.
Hainanese chicken - It seems that with almost every list you find about famous Singaporean dishes, Hainanese chicken is invariably somewhere near the very top. Chinese immigrants from the province of Hainan in Southern China originally bought this dish to Singapore. They kept the traditional methods of cooking the chicken and rice and the result is juicy steamed white chicken cut into thin pieces and served over fragrant rice with light soy sauce. The dish is topped with cilantro and sesame oil with a garlic-chili sauce. The rice is cooked in the chicken broth with the addition of ginger and pandan leaves.
Hokkien Mee – Found in both Malaysia and Singapore this is another dish which originated from China - in particular the province of Hokkien, in southern China.
In Singapore, Hokkien Mee is a stir-fried dish combining rice and egg noodles. It can be accompanied by spring onions and fresh lime along with prawn, slices of chicken or pork, squid and fish cake. A flavoursome stock made from fresh shrimp and dried prawns is also part of the dish and it is normally accompanies on the side with a sambal sauce with red chillis and a light soy sauce.
Chilli Crab - Promoted by the Singapore Tourism Board as one of Singapore's national dishes, the dish itself is actually not very spicy. According to local legend it was "invented" in the 1950s by a husband and wife who tired of steamed crab and decided to try something different. Their stir fried version which they sold from a pushcart at first proved hugely popular and enabled them to open a restaurant. The version most commonly served in Singapore today uses a sambal sauce of local chilli and shrimp paste.
Fried buns called mantous are normally served as well and are used to dip into the thick paste which accompanies the dish.
Murtabak - This dish has its origins in the Arabian peninsula and Indian sub continent. Mutabbag means "folded" in Arabic and this dish is often described as a stuffed, folded pancake filled with either chicken, beef, and mutton. However in Singapore, vegetarian versions can be also found in many Indian Muslim restaurants in the Little India area and Arab Street. It can be served with a curry sauce, sweet pickled onions or cucumber and comes with a bowl of thick curry as well which goes perfectly with the crisp naan pastry and spices
Kaya Toast with Kopi - The Singaporean breakfast is also something of a local comfort food. Kaya toast is toasted slices of bread covered with a generous spread of kaya (a traditional jam made from eggs, sugar, coconut milk, and pandan leaves).
More often than not, it is accompanied by two soft-boiled eggs which complement the toasted bread perfectly. And this is yet another dish with its origins in China. Hainanese cooks used to make this toast on board British boats, and as strawberry jam was too expensive, they mixed coconut with pandan and egg, which became known as kaya. As for the kopi, this is something quite different to a flat white or cappucino you will find in other parts of the world. This coffee drink comes with sugar, sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk.
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