Hainanese Chicken Rice
Dubbed as Singapore’s national dish, this simple yet flavorful dish consists of tender poached chicken and aromatic rice served with chili sauce and usually with cucumber slices.
Recipe Snapshot:
Poach a whole chicken in ginger and scallion-infused water.
Use the chicken stock to cook fragrant jasmine rice, enriched with garlic and ginger.
Serve with homemade chili sauce and a side of cucumbers.
Chilli Crab
A feast for the senses, Singaporean Chilli Crab is a sumptuous dish featuring large crabs tossed in a thick, sweet, and slightly spicy sauce.
Recipe Snapshot:
Deep-fry mud crabs until half-cooked. Set aside.
Stir-fry garlic, ginger, and shallots, then add a sauce made from ketchup, oyster sauce, and eggs.
Toss the crabs in the sauce and serve hot, often with mantou (fried buns) to mop up the delicious sauce.
Laksa
This spicy noodle soup combines Chinese and Malay cuisine, with a rich coconut milk base, vermicelli noodles, and a shrimp or chicken topping.
Recipe Snapshot:
Prepare a rempah (spice paste) using dried shrimp, lemongrass, galangal, and turmeric.
Cook the paste in coconut milk, adding chicken or seafood.
Serve over rice vermicelli, garnishing with fresh herbs and a dollop of sambal chili.
Char Kway Teow
A beloved hawker dish, Char Kway Teow is stir-fried flat rice noodles mixed with shrimp, bloody cockles, Chinese lap Cheong (sausage), eggs, bean sprouts, and chives in a mix of soy sauce.
Recipe Snapshot:
Stir-fry garlic and Chinese sausage, followed by shrimp.
Toss in flat rice noodles, seasoning with dark and light soy sauce.
Add eggs, chives, and bean sprouts, frying until everything is well combined.
Satay
Skewered and grilled meat served with peanut sauce, rice cakes, and a small serving of a condiment made of onions, cucumbers, and pineapple.
Recipe Snapshot:
Marinate meat slices (chicken, beef, or lamb) in a mixture of lemongrass, garlic, turmeric, and coriander.
Skewer the meat and grill until charred and tender.
Serve with a rich peanut sauce and rice cakes.
