Tag Archives: Singapore

Chinese and Indian food tripping in Singapore

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Pork, chicken, and duck. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

Food tripping in Singapore is not complete without Chinese and Indian food.

@kongapored brought me to Mui Kee Congee along Scotts Road before I flew back to Manila later that day. She said she was curious about how the Cantonese-style congee tasted like in Singapore (she is Hong Kong Chinese but has lived in Singapore for about four years now). Singaporean congee, she said, is nothing but watery rice gruel so it was unappealing to her. To me as well since I am used to the strong flavors that the best lugaw/arroz caldo house serve us here in Manila.

Mui Kee Congee along Scotts Road. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

This was ok, as far as Chinese congee is concerned. It has a slight ginger taste (maybe a sliver of ginger there?) and the pork meatballs were a good foil to the blandness of the rice soup. I had to give the congee a good dollop of soy sauce to kick my taste buds.

Mui Kee Congee along Scotts Road. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

I forget what’s the name of this dish but @kongapored said this should not be dry and sticky like this one served to us. It’s supposed to be saucy and not served like this with the sauce separate from the dish.

My travails for the memorable Chinese food has been fruitless since the ones I had in some Chinese restaurant (supposedly earning one Michelin star) in Chinatown are pedestrian but expensive.

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Fish head curry is not really Indian but it is a Kerala-style x Chinese fusion cuisine that is signature Singaporean. I am including this to show the crossbreeding of cuisines that reflect Singapore: a crossroads of two civilizations.

Ocean Curry Fish Head along Telok Ayer. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

After having this fish head curry, I have more appreciation of fish heads, which I dismiss here in the Philippines because they do not yield me anything at all. I could tell that the fish in this dish was fresh (no lansa) and the curry was spicy enough to heighten my senses as the spicyness level of this dish is not normally found in the Philippines. I even find Bicol express and pinangat mild compared to this one.

For more “authentic” Indian food (read: vegetarian) head to Little India or somewhere near that enclave. I cannot remember where this was because I just walked for four hours in MacRitchie Reservoir prior to this to clear my head (but ended up more confused that day). This was a purely vegetarian dish that did little to satisfy my hunger. And it was spicy to boot. I just neutralized it with sweet lassi, which I felt like was the only sugar source for me that evening.

This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

After this dinner, I drowned myself with a lot of alcohol. Jumped from one bar along Club Street to another one somewhere in Tanjong Pagar.

Satay feast along Boon Tat cor Robinson Road, Singapore

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Satay feast outside Lau Pasat. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

Having a taste of satay grilled along Boon Tat Road between Lau Pasat and Sofitel five years ago has changed the way I look at that quintessential Singaporean/Malaysian street food. It’s skewered meat of every kind: chicken, beef, pork, mutton, rabbit, lamb, and even prawns. It can be eaten as is, or for extra oomph, you can dip it in peanut sauce.

The meat (of whatever kind) is tender and savory and not sickly sweet like how some of our Pinoy barbeque tend to be. Hindi sya nakakaumay. The meat size is cut just right so it’s not much of struggle when you bite it off the skewer.

Every night (around 7 pm-ish) they close off a section of Boon Tat so satay vendors can roll out the tables and chairs for al fresco diners.

There are senior citizens who go around selling wet wipes or tissue for SGD 1 a pop. If you’re feeling charitable, go ahead buy some because you will need that after stuffing your face. Otherwise, save your 40 pesos (roughly SGD 1) and use your own handkerchief to wipe the peanut sauce off your mouth.

I never fail to have one dinner there with coworkers or other Singapore-based friends like @barbaruuu there.

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Satay is best paired with beer.

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And more beer

Beer and satay outside Lau Pasat. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

After that eye-popping moment five years ago when I discovered how the real satay tasted like, I can confidently declare that the ones served by Shangri-la Makati and Shangri-la EDSA are complete garbage.

Peranakan food in Singapore… Again

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Why is it that the most expensive food I get to eat in Singapore is peranakan?

Wait, what is peranakan food? It is fusion cusine, a combination of Chinese ingredients with Indonesian and Malaysian spices and cooking techniques (as described by The Culture Trip).

Good thing I was not the one paying for the dinners there (it’s usually company dinner) since these restaurants are either highly rated locally or has obtained at least one Michelin star, therefore, $$$ 🤑🤑🤑.

I love peranakan vegetable dishes. They’re cooked in a way that seems very familiar to the taste buds (Southeast Asian taste) but it’s alien in some sense because it is not my daily fare in Manila. Or I don’t get to eat them in Manila.

IndoCafe along Scotts Road. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

True Blue Cuisine along Armenian Road. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

True Blue Cuisine along Armenian Road. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

I wasn’t able to take a picture of the okra dish I fell in love with in Blue Ginger. It was cooked in coconut milk but was spicy like it had a good helping of sambal.

I also forgot to take a picture of the fish curry I had in IndoCafe. That shows how busy I was, stuffing my face with good food.

While Indonesian food is not peranakan, I am lumping it together with peranakan to save me one blog post (yes I’m that lazy).

I went to Pagi Sore (“Morning Afternoon”) along Telok Ayer twice with co-workers.

Indonesian food at Pagi Sore along Telok Ayer. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

Indonesian food at Pagi Sore along Telok Ayer. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

Indonesian food at Pagi Sore along Telok Ayer. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

Indonesian food at Pagi Sore along Telok Ayer. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

I liked peranakan food that I bought a jar of sambal so I can stir fry kangkong with sambal, pinakbet with sambal… every ginisang gulay with sambal.

I’m getting hungry.

Back in Singapore for bak kut teh

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Singapore is boring compared to drama queen that is Manila (where you can have strong earthquakes, super typhoons, and coup d’ etat back to back to back in less than three months, I kid you not). But I keep coming back there for the food. Peranakan food, satay at Lau Pasat at 7 pm, sting ray with kalamansi and sambal, chicken rice…

… and bak kut teh (“meat bone tea”).

This dish was introduced to me by a Singaporean ex-colleague who brought me to this hole-in-the-wall eatery a block away from our office.

Hwa Ji Bak Kut Teh. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

It’s like a very peppery nilagang baboy but not quite. It’s best eaten when it’s hot and when you’re about to get sick with flu.

There’s a debate as to where it originated–Singapore or Malaysia (like any other dish that can be found in both countries)–and which tastes better. The peppery one is Singaporean and the herbal one comes from Malaysia–Klang Valley to be precise.

A Malaysian colleague of mine dismisses the peppery one and declares the Malaysian herbal version as heavenly. My Hong Kong Chinese colleague @kongapored and I like the peppery version.

So @kongapored one time brought me to a famous bak kut teh place called Founder in their Bugis branch. She said one Kpop idol was seen dining there, so naturally the fans swarmed the place.

I liked it and it was more generous with the meat compared to Hwa Ji (which is very stingy with meat and you can only compensate by asking for more soup refills).

Another one liked was Old Street (I went to their branch in Kallang Wave Mall), which was also generous with meat (it seems like everyone else is generous compared to Hwa Ji 🤔).

Old Street Bak Kut Teh (Kallang Wave Mall). This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

It was perfect at that time when I had it in July last year when I was barely myself.

Another favorite is Song Fa and I usually have it in their Chinatown Point Mall in Chinatown along New Bridge Road. I usually have the one with the rib part with more meat in it (around SGD 9-ish).

Song Fa Bak Kut Teh (Chinatown Point Mall). This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

So what’s it really? While eating alone in Old Street, I read the writing on their wall that told the Singaporean version of its origins. It was supposed to be a dish for Singapore’s dock workers (coolies) to keep them energized and to stave off illness. It’s tea from pork ribs = you cook it until the meat falls off the bone. You can buy the bak kut teh packs from grocery stores like NTUC Fairprice (my go-to place for groceries) or Chinese medicine/food specialty stores in Chinatown.

I once made a mistake of opening one of the bak kut teh bags, spilling all the spices in the big pot of pork ribs (1 kg). You should never do that or else you will end up with a super peppery (to the point of being inedible) sorry mess of a bak kut teh. I tried finishing 1 kg of pork ribs of that sorry excuse of a bak kut teh by myself but I failed miserably and had to throw it away. What I should have done is to cook the bag–the entire lot–like a tea bag in the pot with one whole head of garlic. You can separate the garlic into cloves but I preferred to cut it in half and dunk it in the pot. Same thing.

The best way to stew it is to use a slow cooker for this.

But stupid me, I always forget to buy the bak kut teh mix whenever I go to Singapore. Please remind me to do so in October when I come back.

Back in Singapore for chicken rice

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This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on Instagram

I was here was in January. Then February I was in Hong Kong. Then the following month I was in Bangkok. I will be writing and uploading photos from those trips in the suceeding entries in the next few days.

I just came back from Singapore on 22 June after a week-long team meet-up/training.

Anyway, whenever I am in Singapore, the first thing I look for is chicken rice.

Tong Fong Fatt Chicken Rice. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

The best one, so far, is Tong Fong Fatt, which can be found in Maxwell and Amoy hawkers centre. And I’ve eaten a number of chicken rice around Singapore since 2014 so that says something.

I find Tian Tian overrated. It’s supposedly the best that Singapore has to offer and it was praised by the late Anthony Bourdain. Boon Tong Kee is blah. Wee Nam Kee in United Square is good but not as good as Tong Fong Fatt.

Wee Nam Kee chicken rice at United Square. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

Tong Fong Fatt is heaven 💕 for less than SGD 5 (PHP 189). I always make the trek to the aforementioned hawkers centers just to have my chicken rice fix.

What makes it magical? It’s supposedly just poached chicken but its meat is not bland. The skin melts in you mouth; it’s so good that you no longer care about the gazillion of calories it will deposit to your hips. I don’t know what they do to make it juicy and savory at the same time… Its umami taste cannot be succintly described by my mere words. There must be some kind of witchcraft going on there. Because I tried steaming, poaching, and cooking the whole chicken in a rice cooker (and all the heresy that comes with it), but it has never come out this way. However I cooked it, the meat comes out dry and tasteless.

And the rice 😋—the Tong Fong Fatt rice can hold on its own. Traditionally, the rice is cooked using the broth from the steamed chicken. I’ve been doing that whenever I cook chicken rice at home but I couldn’t bring out the umami taste that Tong Fong Fatt has. It’s already kanin-ulam rolled into one. There must be some kind of witchcraft, alright.

Tip: Go there at 2 pm-ish to avoid the lunch crowd. It can get really hot at the hawkers centre. That’s why I have late lunch breaks when I work in Singapore.

Warning: You can easily gain weight if you eat this regularly. I don’t have empirical evidence to support my claim but at the end of the week of bingeing on that thing, my pants have gotten tighter.

Because of my love for chicken rice, I’ve spent countless hours experimenting how to cook it best. My chicken rice is very far from Tong Fong Fatt level but can help me get a quick fix.

My homemade chicken rice. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/Beeqa7Zl3SC/?igshid=1r4mqfei8gta0

I think I need to be an apprentice at Tong Fong Fatt because the NTUC chicken rice method of cooking that I followed but continue to tweak is… Still so wrong. 🤣

UPDATE: I found Adam Liaw’s version of this dish and I think this is much better and makes a lot more sense. I will try it this weeekend. I gotta get myself those poultry hooks 🐔

British National Museum at the National Museum of Singapore Part III

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When I came back to linger at the British Museum‘s exhibit in the National Museum of Singapore, I hopped to the ancient Western Civilization from African artifacts. These jars are Mycenaean.

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Obviously Greek

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Cyprian or Turk, cannot remember.

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Not so ancient but still old. This is a medallion, Queen Elizabeth I of England.

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And this is a very intricate German clock

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Now to Asian Civilization

From India, I believe.

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Funny how the rest of Asia is sewed together by the epic of Ramayana. Some of the artifacts from Southeast Asia have references to it. Even Lanao in Mindanao has its Ramayana. Unfortunately, there was no guided tour when I came back to the Asian exhibit. This I think is from Southeast Asia.

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This one, I’m sure, is from Thailand (I carefully read the label). It’s a five-headed water creature coming out of the mouth of a dragon.

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I skipped the Philippines, which embarrassingly was just a 16th century rebulto of St. Joseph. I was expecting something more, like the Laguna Plate with the ancient script. But no, it was so bland.

Didn’t take photos of ancient China, Vietnam etc. because frankly I’ve seen much better artifacts. Especially since I’ve been to the National Palace Museum in Taiwan, which houses the treasures from the Imperial Palace. Yes, the one in Beijing. Yes, the treasures that Chiang Kai Chek brought to Taiwan when the mainland was being overrun by Japanese troops, and then later the Communist Party took over.

And now on to Melayu and Polynesia. My sister (having worked at the ADB and lived in Australia for a couple of years) told me that people from Melayu (in the Pacific Islands) are offended if they are called Polynesians. They are two different sets of race. The former is smaller in built, like the rest of Asians and the latter are bigger, like the Samoans and Maoris.

This one is a macabre shield from one of the Polynesian island chains. This is displayed in front of a warrior’s house and the protruding sharp thingies there on the sides are where they hang the skulls of those they killed.

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Other totem poles and house guards from Melayu-Polynesia. They look like they came from Ancient Aliens in History Channel.

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It’s not all grim and scary at the museum. There are cutesie stuff for the little kids and there are activity areas at the second and third floor of the Singapore National Museum.

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Dinosaur made of little toys

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And I want one of these

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If you have the time to spare, I recommend you visit the Treasures of the World exhibit. It’s for a limited time, I think.

Next time I’ll check out the National Gallery. It seems like my visits to Singapore would be more frequent than expected now that I have bigger responsibilities at work.