Private chef Lilian Hiw, of Lilian’s Kitchen, shares her knowledge of Singapore with the best places to eat and what food to try
I am often asked: “What would you recommend I eat when I visit Singapore?” and: “Where can I find good food?” Having recently returned from Singapore, the culinary capital of Asia, I thought I would share a few snippets of my foodie adventures.
HAWKER FARE
I always head straight for hawker food when I land in Singapore! I enjoy feasting on local delights across our diverse cultures. Chinese, Malay and Indian street food can be found island wide from neighbourhood hawker centres to food courts. Even Michelin-starred hawker food is affordable. Here are some of my favourite delights…
Pick and choose the dishes that catch your fancy. I was in food heaven at a Malaysian hawker stall.
I chose beef rendang with biriyani rice and a side of fish otak, chilli green beans, poppadum and the sambal was so shiok!
(The word shiok is like a general term of approval – enjoyable, excellent, a feeling of sheer pleasure. It’s a Singaporean slang word and can be used for anything, not just food. If we are really pleased, we might even say ‘Wah, them shiok la’. Next time you are in Singapore, you’ll know how to speak a little Singlish.)
Hokkien prawn noodle soup, this is a popular local dish. Thick yellow egg noodles served with king prawns, slices of pork, fish cake and bean sprouts in an umami rich prawn broth with a sprinkling of crispy fried shallots.
There is also a fried version of prawn noodles. Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodles, also known locally as Hokkien Mee, consist of the same thick yellow noodles, slices of pork, fish cake and bean sprouts, fried in a rich prawn and pork stock and served with chilli and calamansi lime on the side.
Oyster omelette – fresh oysters and eggs fried in a batter that is gooey and chewy with crispy edges, served with a tangy chilli dip. Another firm favourite, I know, how can there be so many favourites, you ask? Well, Singaporeans love their food. We eat all day long and food is readily available throughout the day at the hawker centres and food courts. While we are eating our meal, we will be thinking about what to eat for our next meal!
An iconic noodle dish: broad flat rice noodles wok fried with Chinese sausages, fish cake slices, bean sprouts and spring onions in a scrumptious sweet dark soya sauce. I love it with lots of raw cockles, you must try it if you’re in Singapore.
SATAY
Marinated pieces of meat threaded on to bamboo skewers, traditionally char-grilled over coal, served with cucumber, red onion and peanut dipping sauce. The most common meats are chicken, beef and mutton, but pork is also used. Satay can be found from the humble hawker stall to the finest restaurant, served on its own or as an accompaniment to other dishes.
Nasi Goreng Istimewa – Special Indonesian fried rice dish, always served with a fried egg, some cucumber and krupuk (fried crackers), the protein for this istimewa is chicken satay.
Satay by the bay
Satay by the Bay is a food court in Marina Bay that serves satay and many other local delicacies. While you are there, check out timings for the Gardens by the Bay light show schedule and prepare to be entertained.
Lau Pa Sat
A historic building in Singapore, Lau Pa Sat is one of the oldest Victorian structures in South East Asia. The older generation will remember it as Telok Ayer Market, it was built on the waterfront to serve the people of early colonial Singapore. Today, it sits in the midst of Singapore’s central business districts among high-rise office blocks. In the evening, an adjacent road is closed to traffic and satay vendors set up tables and chairs, transforming the entire street market into a charming open-air dining experience.
The tantalising whiff of the smoky aroma of spiced meats being grilled over charcoal will make you hungry and ready to eat.
DELIVERIES
Everywhere you turn, there are places selling food. I have to say I was surprised that home delivery was so popular and so well used. I had visited friends at home and they said: “We’ll just order in.” The food magically appears and you can dine like a king, eating food from all over the world in the comfort of your own dining room table.
Skewers of meat, offal and vegetables, sprinkled with spices and toasted sesame seeds, delivered hot to your door.
Sour and spicy, this Chinese potato salad is crunchy, refreshing and so moreish I couldn’t stop eating it!
Durian was in season and it arrived in a box at Dorothy’s door.
I do love a good durian indeed! I prefer the Malaysian durians as I enjoy the sweet and bitter taste with the creamy texture. I personally find Thai durians a little too firm and not as tasty.
While on a short break on the island of Bintan in Indonesia, we stopped at a roadside durian stall. We had a really delicious durian, the seller didn’t have a name for it as he grew it on the hillside behind the stall. It was creamy, sweet with a hint of bitterness. My husband enjoyed it so much that he said that it was the best durian he’d had in the 20 years since I first introduced durian to him!
COLLAGEN BROTH
Collagen is not just sold in beauty products and in drinks, collagen broth is big in Singapore. It is served in the form of soups or broth in hot pots and steamboats. Made by simmering bones, tendons and ligaments in water for between four and 24 hours, the slow cooking process breaks down the collagen into smaller peptides that are easier to digest, giving the broth a milky white colour and a velvety mouthfeel. It is believed to support joint health, gut health, skin and nails, as well as improving sleep and mood.
A yin-yang hotpot, best of both worlds and everyone is happy. We ordered a spicy numbing Mala broth and a collagen broth.
Yes, this is another home food delivery. The two broths were delivered in heat-resistant bottles and all the raw ingredients came in disposable boxes, waiting to be cooked and consumed.
DIM SUM
I have so much to share about dim sum, check out my online column in the Suffolk News (suffolknews.co.uk) of May 3, 2024. I will just give a shout out to….
Tung Lok Teahouse is renowned for the quality and variety of its dim sum. I went to the Novena Square2 restaurant and was charmed by their clever and quietly efficient waiter – the conveyor belt! The system transports freshly-cooked dim sum from the kitchen directly to your table. This is different from the concept of picking your food off the belts. Great anticipation fun too.
Liu sha bao – a must try at any good dim sum restaurant. Liu sha means ‘lava’ and when you split open the soft, fluffy steamed bun, a surprise golden filling of salted egg yolk lava flows out. DE-LI-CIOUS! (These are charcoal lava bao painted with a gold stripe, it is normally white bao).
JAPANESE
Widespread throughout the island, you are in foodie paradise if you love Japanese food.
Ichiban Boshi serves both traditional and contemporary Japanese dishes. We went to the Parkway Parade branch and I really enjoyed the freshness of their sashimi. The hot stone bowl in the forefront kept the cheesy udon piping hot to the last bite. I went shopping the next day and brought a heavy hot stone bowl back to Bury!
Don Don Donki
I was impressed with the ready-made chilled and hot ready-to-go food packs. There is a great selection of meals, snacks, drinks and, well, all things Japanese. Surprisingly affordable and some outlets even have seating where you can buy and eat on site. Definitely worth a visit.
SENTOSA
If you are spending the day on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, head to Blue Lotus Chinese Eating House. I would highly recommend the torched caramel beef ribs, which are melt-in-your-mouth tender and deeply flavoursome. Their signature chilli pomelo Sri Lankan crab served with deep-fried mantou is also really delicious, the pomelo adding little pops of fruity tang, a little twist on our national dish – the Singapore chilli crab.
LITTLE INDIA
Experience the vibrant colours, rich culture and the way of life of the Indian community. Shop here for Indian clothing, spices and jewellery and goldsmith shops abound. Stop at a roadside cart to watch how Indian flower garlands are made and visit a Hindu temple, it will be quite educational. Of course there is the food, wonderful Indian food, and many Indian sweet shops scattered around.
The Banana Leaf Apollo and Muthu’s Curry are two legendary restaurants I patronised growing up in Singapore. Eating mutton curry, buttery chicken biryani rice or fish head curry off banana leaves with my hands. Mopping up the sauce with freshly-baked naans and crunching away at poppadum.
A friend’s father used to travel to Singapore on business and would return and tell my friend about his food adventures. Fish head curry was mentioned and my friend had imagined many little fish heads floating in a bowl of curry and what a horrible meal his poor dad has to put up with. Well,this is not the case, as the fish head is quite large and filled with meat in a delicious curry sauce. My sister would fight to eat the fish eye, which is a delicacy!
RAFFLES SINGAPORE
At Raffles, we say: “If you haven’t been to Raffles for a Singapore Sling, you haven’t been to Singapore.”
Following the turn of the century in colonial Singapore, Raffles hotel was the gathering place for the community, and Long Bar was the watering hole. It was common to see gentlemen nursing glasses of gin or whisky, but etiquette dictated that the ladies were not allowed to consume alcohol in public.
Ngiam Tong Boon, who was working as a bartender at the Long Bar in 1915, created a drink to keep his lady guests happy. An innocent looking fruit juice with a pink hue (a socially acceptable drink for women then), but he secretly packed it full of alcohol – gin, cherry brandy, orange liqueur, Benedictine, shaken with pineapple juice, freshly squeezed lime juice and grenadine syrup for colour.
Until the next time, take care of yourselves!
Private chef Lilian Hiw
Author of Lilian’s Kitchen Home Cooked Food
Visit www.lilianskitchen.co.uk
