POSTED ON: Saturday, May 17, 2014 @ 4:30 PM | 0 comments
7 more weeks till I'm back in Singapore, not sure if I'm looking forward to be back or not. I really love the stress free lifestyle here in Stockholm, and the freedom I have from living away from home. But at the same time, there are many things that I miss about Singapore. Top of the list is definitely food, friends and my family.
So here are the 8 Singaporean dishes I dream of every night when I go to bed. Of course there are so many others that I can't possibly fit into the list. I've also included my favourite place(s) for some of these dishes. Obviously debatable and might not be the best in Singapore but I like it just the way it is. If you're a Singaporean, please appreciate all these good food we have on our tiny little island. If you aren't Singaporean, please please please do make it a point to try all these mouth watering dishes when you're in Singapore!
1. Roti Prata
My all-time favourite breakfast and late night supper food! And having the Roti Prata House at Upper Thomson (which is just a few bus stops away from where I live) makes life almost perfect. Roti means bread and prata means flat. Roti prata is an Indian dish, a fried flour pancake cooked over a flat grill, and usually dipped in vegetable or meat based curry. Young children like to eat it with sugar if they can't take spicy food yet (yes I did that when I was young too ^^). So far my favourites are the above mentioned outlet and Casuarina Curry Restaurant at Casuarina Road.
2. Nasi Briyani
Seems like I miss Indian food quite a bit. I don't have a favourite nasi briyani place but I love those with the meat that is tender enough to pull off easily with a fork, and with a nice huge serving of spicy curry. The fragrant long grain basmati rice is important too of course. For chicken briyani, I usually prefer the fried chicken over the curry chicken. But for mutton briyani, I prefer the curry one since it is usually more tender. Oh my gosh craving some right now!!
3. Prawn Noodles
I love the thick prawn soup that has been boiled for hours with prawn shells and pork bones. So fragrant and so tasty! I personally prefer having the soup version as compared to the dry version (with soup in a separate bowl), and with the thick yellow noodles instead of bee noon or kuay teow. I think the thick yellow noodles compliments the prawn soup better than the other types of noodles. My favourites are the one along Beach Road and the one at the Old Airport Road food centre (Albert Street Prawn Noodle). Not too spicy, not too oily, with a sprinkle of fried shallots on top!
4. Fried Carrot Cake
Very unhealthy with all the oil and stuff but nonetheless yummy and extremely satisfying. In dialect it's called Chai Tau Kuey. I prefer the "black" one with dark soya sauce. Lots of eggs, garlic, a little bit of chilli and full of flavour. The white one is just as good anyway. In case you're thinking about the Western Carrot Cake which is eaten as a sweet dessert, they're entirely different. This one is salty and does not have any of the orange carrots in it.
5. Chicken Rice
I haven't came across any Singaporean who doesn't like chicken rice. Be it roast chicken or white chicken, they are all super delicious and many popular stalls garner snaking queues every day. I personally prefer the roast chicken since I think the skin is tastier and less oily. Every little part of the chicken rice set plays a very important role in bringing all the flavours together. Be it the roast/white chicken, the rice cooked in chicken stock, the soup, and even the chilli + black sauce + garlic. Here are a few of my favourite stalls from around Singapore: Leong Yeow Famous Waterloo Street Hainanese Chicken Rice, Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice (which moved into United Square last year) and Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice (along Balestier Road).
6. Tau Huey (Soya Beancurd)
This soya bean curd is traditionally served with a clear sweet syrup, and my favourite one is the Rochor Original Beancurd. A few years ago, Lao Ban Soya Beancurd was introduced and took Singapore by storm. This version of the bean curd did not come with the sweet syrup, nor was there the strong soy bean taste. This one had a creme texture with a milkier taste and was a lot smoother than the traditional one. Either way I love both! Best consumed on a hot sunny day (I can imagine slurping this chilled dessert right now...)!!
7. Kway Chap
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper. Perfect for all meals of the day. The "kway" here refers to the rectangular/squarish broad rice noodles, and I assume the "chap" refers to the innards or pig's intestines (large intestines and small intestines), the other parts of the pig (the fatty meat and liver) and other ingredients like fish cake, peanuts, braised egg, tau gua and tau pok. Some stalls even serve this dish with duck meat, which will obviously cost more than those who don't. Both of my favourite stalls are near where I live, the one at the Kopitiam at Bishan Street 22 (and it's open till 3 or 4am every night!) and the other one at Kim San Leng Kopitiam at Bishan Street 13 (this one has the option of duck meat).
8. Hotpot/BBQ Buffets
Alright so the last one isn't exactly Singaporean. Probably from China I suppose, since "huo guo"/hotpot originates from Chong Qing. My favourite type of hot pot has to be the "yuan yang ma la huo guo", where you have two soup bases in one pot and one of it is the super spicy"ma la" soup base while the other one is a non-spicy soup base (usually chicken or pork base). BBQ buffets are great too because I love meat! And probably originated from Korea but I'm really not sure about it, just a guess. The best hotpot I've ever had was when I was in Taipei in the Xi Men Ding district. Cheap, good and an excellent variety of fresh ingredients. Always had to go there whenever I am in Taiwan. In Singapore, I haven't really found a hot pot place or BBQ place that I really like but I think the steamboat + Xiao Long Bao buffet at Crystal Jade is not bad.
Other than cheap yummy food, of course there are other things that I miss about Singapore. Like having good restaurants (e.g. cheap and good Japanese restaurants) and shops open till late at night so I have something to do when I hang out with with my friends. And also the huge variety of really cheap clothes/shoes/bags/accessories from many many online blogshops to choose from where everything gets delivered to your doorstep within 5 days.
Alright, now back to enjoying myself in Stockholm before I leave. Trying to make full use of my time here now and enjoy the freedom while I still have it!! Till next time~
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POSTED ON: Saturday, May 17, 2014 @ 4:30 PM | 0 comments
7 more weeks till I'm back in Singapore, not sure if I'm looking forward to be back or not. I really love the stress free lifestyle here in Stockholm, and the freedom I have from living away from home. But at the same time, there are many things that I miss about Singapore. Top of the list is definitely food, friends and my family.
So here are the 8 Singaporean dishes I dream of every night when I go to bed. Of course there are so many others that I can't possibly fit into the list. I've also included my favourite place(s) for some of these dishes. Obviously debatable and might not be the best in Singapore but I like it just the way it is. If you're a Singaporean, please appreciate all these good food we have on our tiny little island. If you aren't Singaporean, please please please do make it a point to try all these mouth watering dishes when you're in Singapore!
1. Roti Prata
My all-time favourite breakfast and late night supper food! And having the Roti Prata House at Upper Thomson (which is just a few bus stops away from where I live) makes life almost perfect. Roti means bread and prata means flat. Roti prata is an Indian dish, a fried flour pancake cooked over a flat grill, and usually dipped in vegetable or meat based curry. Young children like to eat it with sugar if they can't take spicy food yet (yes I did that when I was young too ^^). So far my favourites are the above mentioned outlet and Casuarina Curry Restaurant at Casuarina Road.
2. Nasi Briyani
Seems like I miss Indian food quite a bit. I don't have a favourite nasi briyani place but I love those with the meat that is tender enough to pull off easily with a fork, and with a nice huge serving of spicy curry. The fragrant long grain basmati rice is important too of course. For chicken briyani, I usually prefer the fried chicken over the curry chicken. But for mutton briyani, I prefer the curry one since it is usually more tender. Oh my gosh craving some right now!!
3. Prawn Noodles
I love the thick prawn soup that has been boiled for hours with prawn shells and pork bones. So fragrant and so tasty! I personally prefer having the soup version as compared to the dry version (with soup in a separate bowl), and with the thick yellow noodles instead of bee noon or kuay teow. I think the thick yellow noodles compliments the prawn soup better than the other types of noodles. My favourites are the one along Beach Road and the one at the Old Airport Road food centre (Albert Street Prawn Noodle). Not too spicy, not too oily, with a sprinkle of fried shallots on top!
4. Fried Carrot Cake
Very unhealthy with all the oil and stuff but nonetheless yummy and extremely satisfying. In dialect it's called Chai Tau Kuey. I prefer the "black" one with dark soya sauce. Lots of eggs, garlic, a little bit of chilli and full of flavour. The white one is just as good anyway. In case you're thinking about the Western Carrot Cake which is eaten as a sweet dessert, they're entirely different. This one is salty and does not have any of the orange carrots in it.
5. Chicken Rice
I haven't came across any Singaporean who doesn't like chicken rice. Be it roast chicken or white chicken, they are all super delicious and many popular stalls garner snaking queues every day. I personally prefer the roast chicken since I think the skin is tastier and less oily. Every little part of the chicken rice set plays a very important role in bringing all the flavours together. Be it the roast/white chicken, the rice cooked in chicken stock, the soup, and even the chilli + black sauce + garlic. Here are a few of my favourite stalls from around Singapore: Leong Yeow Famous Waterloo Street Hainanese Chicken Rice, Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice (which moved into United Square last year) and Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice (along Balestier Road).
6. Tau Huey (Soya Beancurd)
This soya bean curd is traditionally served with a clear sweet syrup, and my favourite one is the Rochor Original Beancurd. A few years ago, Lao Ban Soya Beancurd was introduced and took Singapore by storm. This version of the bean curd did not come with the sweet syrup, nor was there the strong soy bean taste. This one had a creme texture with a milkier taste and was a lot smoother than the traditional one. Either way I love both! Best consumed on a hot sunny day (I can imagine slurping this chilled dessert right now...)!!
7. Kway Chap
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper. Perfect for all meals of the day. The "kway" here refers to the rectangular/squarish broad rice noodles, and I assume the "chap" refers to the innards or pig's intestines (large intestines and small intestines), the other parts of the pig (the fatty meat and liver) and other ingredients like fish cake, peanuts, braised egg, tau gua and tau pok. Some stalls even serve this dish with duck meat, which will obviously cost more than those who don't. Both of my favourite stalls are near where I live, the one at the Kopitiam at Bishan Street 22 (and it's open till 3 or 4am every night!) and the other one at Kim San Leng Kopitiam at Bishan Street 13 (this one has the option of duck meat).
8. Hotpot/BBQ Buffets
Alright so the last one isn't exactly Singaporean. Probably from China I suppose, since "huo guo"/hotpot originates from Chong Qing. My favourite type of hot pot has to be the "yuan yang ma la huo guo", where you have two soup bases in one pot and one of it is the super spicy"ma la" soup base while the other one is a non-spicy soup base (usually chicken or pork base). BBQ buffets are great too because I love meat! And probably originated from Korea but I'm really not sure about it, just a guess. The best hotpot I've ever had was when I was in Taipei in the Xi Men Ding district. Cheap, good and an excellent variety of fresh ingredients. Always had to go there whenever I am in Taiwan. In Singapore, I haven't really found a hot pot place or BBQ place that I really like but I think the steamboat + Xiao Long Bao buffet at Crystal Jade is not bad.
Other than cheap yummy food, of course there are other things that I miss about Singapore. Like having good restaurants (e.g. cheap and good Japanese restaurants) and shops open till late at night so I have something to do when I hang out with with my friends. And also the huge variety of really cheap clothes/shoes/bags/accessories from many many online blogshops to choose from where everything gets delivered to your doorstep within 5 days.
Alright, now back to enjoying myself in Stockholm before I leave. Trying to make full use of my time here now and enjoy the freedom while I still have it!! Till next time~
