Cuisine across the Causeway

> Three Singaporean culinary personalities will inspire you to look at food in a totally new light with their passion for flavours

“I grew up in the Hilary Clinton generation. I am a sociologist actually. As a sociologist, I see food as a part of life.”

Oon said her approach to cooking and finding recipes is similar to her work as a journalist. “I would check three different sites for the same recipe.”

She said she and her staff go the extra mile to prepare their nyonya cuisine. For example, thickening agents such as flour are not used. Instead, they follow traditional methods, using herbs and spices, and finishing off with coconut milk.

Willin Low Low, 45, was studying law in UK’s Nottingham University before a hankering for food from home made him take up cooking.

After returning to Singapore, he practised law for eight years, but was also working as a chef for hire on weekends for the final two years of his legal career.

“I thought life was too short to do just one thing,” explained Low. “So I quit my job, and worked as kitchen help for a year before opening my own restaurant.”

Today his restaurant, Wild Rocket, in Upper Wilkie Road, produces cuisine described as ‘modern Singaporean’.

The menu includes dishes such as pomelo salad with tiger prawns and frozen coconut dressing, spanner crab and daun kesum ravioli with laksa broth ( bottom, right), and ox tail rendang pappardelle.

The layout of Wild Rocket is similar to a Japanese tea house, and the chef even serves an omakase style dinner upon reservation. Low has another restaurant called Relish which serves up mainly burgers, and consults for another restaurant called Po. He said: “When you want to celebrate local food, flavours are important.” Though not a Peranakan, he believes that “any thirdgeneration Singaporean is a naturalised peranakan due to the food influences”. Low ( left) added: “There are influences from everywhere, we take foods from everywhere.” His Singapore laksa recipe, he said, was something that was passed to him by a hawker who was about to retire. He gave Low the recipe as he always ate at his stall.

Bjorn Shen Shen’s first restaurant Artichoke, which he describes as “a modernday Middle Eastern restaurant”, recently celebrated its seventh year anniversary.

“In many ways, it has adapted to local tastebuds. We are also in an artsy, stylish area,” said Shen ( left), referring to Singapore’s hipster neighbourhood of Middle Road.

The 35-year-old originally travelled to Australia to study cooking, while also getting himself a degree in marketing to “appease his mother”.

He began cooking professionally 12 years ago, working at Greek restaurants in Australia, before learning Middle Eastern cooking from his friend’s mum.

Shen said it was a natural progression from Greek to Middle Eastern cuisine as the ingredients, cooking styles and flavours are very similar.

He returned to Singapore in 2010 with the intention of opening his own restaurant.

“I know it would not be easy but I had support from the right people,” said Shen.

The chef said he has never had complaints from Middle Eastern customers about his food, as he has never claimed to be serving ‘authentic’ Middle Eastern cuisine.

Shen believes he has his own style when it comes to cooking. “My culinary style is to play within a sandbox of flavours. I don’t have a signature dish because I love them all equally, as though they are my children.”

However, his cauliflower sabbich ( top), Imam bayildi, and Artichoke fried chicken (actress Jennifer Lawrence was said to have loved it) are hugely popular.

“Brunch is very popular here. I keep telling people to come for dinner because our dinner menu is even more elaborate,” said Shen. Dinner usually is booked one week in advance.

Shen also owns another restaurant called Bird Bird, which serves up Thai-influenced food.