Singapore: Menu Guide

the appetizer:

The cuisine of Singapore is a prime example of ethnic diversity: the food is heavily influenced by Malaysian, Chinese, Tamil-Indian, Indonesian, and even British cuisine. Cooking is central to Singapore's national identity—eating is a national pastime and food a national obsession.

Singapore

Menu Guide

by Emma Lewis

Biryani— Indian dish of rice cooked with spices and vegetables, meat or fish

Char Kway Teow— flat rice noodles (kway teow) cooked in lard with pork, seafood, fishcakes, bean sprouts and a chilli and black bean sauce

Chicken Rice— Chinese dish of chicken either poached or roasted, with chicken broth and rice cooked in chicken stock.

Gado gado— cold dish of bean sprouts, tofu, and vegetables covered in spicy peanut sauce and accompanied by prawn crackers

Hokkien Mee— egg noodles cooked with pork, bean sprouts, squid, and prawn and often garnished with samball and lime

Laksa— Nonya soup of spicy coconut broth, dried tofu, quail egg, prawn and white noodles

Mee Rebus— Malay dish of egg noodles served in thick sweetish sauce with potatoes and egg

Murtabak— Roti prata is filled with pieces of mutton, chicken or vegetable and often served with a curry sauce

Nasi Lemak— coconut rice which often comes with dried fish and a vegetable dish

Rendang— A malay curry consisting of a rich spicy sauce with coconut usually made with beef

Rojak— an Indonesian salad of vegetables, bean sprouts, pineapple, and cucumber covered in a thick sweet sauce

Roti Prata— Indian style pancake

Popiah— local name for spring role; many types can be found: Vietnamese, Thai, Nonya, etc.

Satay— skewers of meat, typically chicken, mutton, beef or prawn, marinated in spicy sauce, grilled over charcoal fire and served with a peanut sauce

Steamboat— type of cooking where vegetables, seafood, noodles and meat are taken and cooked by diners in pot of boiling water placed at the table