Singapore food with a side dish of history

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Singapore food with a side dish of history

Like many frequent travellers to Singapore, I have favourite dishes and places to eat, plus a never-ending list of new ones I want to try.

I have been hitting up Chinatown for as long as I can remember, certainly since before the completion of the MRT station.

One of my earliest memories of Singapore is going to McDonald’s in the People’s Park Complex before the golden arches had made it to Western Australia.

That was at an age when I probably appreciated French fries more than the pungent smells of the market and eating fish ball soup while perched on a plastic stool.

Ordinarily I wouldn’t go on a food tour of a city I know so well, but on a solo trip to Singapore with a few hours to spare and a free promotional ticket, how can I resist?

I allow myself plenty of time to get to the meeting point for Tribe Tours’ hawker walking tour of the Chinatown Complex, Singapore’s biggest hawker centre with more than 220 food stalls.

Opened in 1983, you may have heard of this complex because it is home to Hawker Chan, which was in 2016 the world’s first hawker stall to be awarded a Michelin star.

In 2020, Hawker culture in Singapore was successfully inscribed as Singapore’s first element on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, part of safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, and recognising hawker food and skills as a vital part of the Singapore way of life.

Most Singaporeans visit a centre at least once a week and “choping” or saving tables using a packet of tissues or other item is common.

I’m glad my tour confirmation email comes with a photo and very specific instructions to meet host Belinda at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Smith Street because between

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Maps and my warped sense of direction, I still manage to head the wrong way. Luckily, the temple is huge and can’t really be missed.

Our tour includes a short walk of surrounding streets, full of colourful, food-oriented murals I don’t remember seeing before.

My small group has guests from Vietnam, South Korea and Bali but often also has *********, *********** and British visitors joining.

Camera Icon Yi Yi Wu ***** Shui offers Cantonese longevity soups. Credit: Sue Yeap/The West ***********

Hawker centres are often so hectic that while queuing and hoping food doesn’t run out, it’s easy to overlook the blood, sweat and tears poured into perfecting a specific dish or snack.

Across two hours we meet Chef Leung, a former Raffles Hotel dim sum chef who in 2021 started Authentic Hand-Milled Rice Noodle Rolls that can be ordered plain or filled.

Packs of honey snacks are the specialty of Mr ***** at Pan Ji Cooked Food. People love this morish sweet, but Mr ***** has no successor lined up.

Chai Wee Cuttlefish sells another traditional tasty snack that is in demand for corporate gifts. Mr Tan is one of the lucky ones, having a son, Cornelius, who traded his engineering career to continue the business as a third-generation hawker.

At Xiang Xiang Cooked Food, 75-year-old Madame Hee and her son work from 10pm until 6am to make sweet potato ******. At six for $1, it’s no surprise they sell out and we are lucky that Belinda ordered some for us before our tour.

We also have lontong rice and vegetables at Aziz Jaffar ******* Food, the first ******* stall set up at Chinatown Complex.

At Yi Yi Wu ***** Shui, they mill and make their own pastes for Cantonese health and longevity soups.

The tour ends at **** Hwa Coffee Stall, where 75-year-old Uncle Tan, a former swimming coach, offers “pulled” coffee or kopi, frothed and cooled in the traditional and theatrical way.

Tribe has been operating interactive tours since 2016 and the stalls visited may change depending on which are open, if hawkers have retired, or new stalls have opened.

Something that becomes clear during the tour is how vital history and recipes could be lost to future generations for the hawkers with no successors.

With more than 110 hawker centres around the island, a Hawker Development Program has been created to help teach aspiring hawkers.

It is jointly run by the National Environmental Agency of Singapore, which manages 120 markets and hawker centres. Its website has a useful A to Z of every hawker centre and location map, as well as closure dates for renovation or cleaning.

We also learn on this tour the strict hygiene and cleaning regimes that are in place and how all food outlets including hawker stalls must clearly display their rating assessment.

In short, if you’ve ever been worried about eating Singapore street food, don’t be.

fact file

Tribe Tours: tribe-tours.com

National Environmental Agency: nea.gov.sg/our-services/hawker-management

Visit Singapore: visitsingapore.com

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera Icon Aziz Jaffar ******* food. Credit: Sue Yeap/The West ***********data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconChai Wee Cuttlefish. Credit: Sue Yeap/The West ***********data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera Icon Chai Wee Cuttlefish. Credit: Sue Yeap/The West ***********data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconMr ***** making honey snacks at Pan Ji Cooked Food. Credit: Sue Yeap/The West ***********data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera Icon Pan Ji Cooked Food honey snacks. Credit: Sue Yeap/The West ***********data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconTai Hwa Coffee Stall is popular and often has a ******. Credit: Sue Yeap/The West ***********data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconTraditional pulled coffee being prepared at **** Hwa Coffee Stall. Credit: Sue Yeap/The West ***********data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconXiang Xiang Cooked Food sweet potato ******. Credit: Sue Yeap/The West ***********data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconChinatown street art. Credit: Sue Yeap/The West ***********data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconSue Yeap in front of Chinatown street art. Credit: Supplied

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