Our cuisine is diverse and delicious

Singaporeans are known for their voracious appetite and often consume five to six meals in a day. In fact, ‘have you eaten?’ is considered to be a form of greeting in the country. Their cuisine has been influenced by Malaysian, Chinese, Indonesian, and Indian fare. The three essential ingredients used in their food are noodles, rice, and seafood.

Singaporean dishes are easily available at the many hawker centres that are widespread in the country and feature a number of stalls in a single complex, with each stall offering its own speciality dishes. A local favourite called Roti Prata is an Indian inspired fried bread pancake; it has a number of variations and can come with a filling of egg, cheese, chocolate or even durian.

The cuisine employs a range of exotic fruits and herbs and often uses Indian and Thai spices. For instance, the Indonesian satay that comes with a spicy-sweet peanut sauce gets a twist where South Asian spices are added to the sauce to make it more piquant. Also, ginger, peppers, and chillies figure prominently in some of the country’s most iconic dishes such as the Hainan Chicken Rice. Popular seafood dishes including Chilli Crab too is prepared in a spicy pepper sauce. These two quintessential dishes dominate their food scene. In Dubai, Chimes (043234211), Al Barsha, offers both these delights.

Char Kway Teow, a dish consisting of stir-fried rice cake strips and noodles, can be labelled as their national dish. Sample the dish to your heart’s content at Peppercrab (044573736), Grand Hyatt Dubai. Also, The Singapore Deli Café (043966885), Al Karama, serves up a mouthwatering Laksa Lemak — spicy noodles chicken in a creamy coconut milk curry.

kaya toast Kaya is a spreadable sweet jam (on toasted bread) made from coconut cream and sugar. It is flavoured with pandan leaves. and served with eggs.

hokkien mee This dish is made of a delicious combination of yellow egg noodles and white rice noodles fried in a wok with egg and pieces of seafood.

laksa Rice noodles make up the foundation of this comfort food, followed by a curry, pieces of prawn, beef or chicken, and some vegetables and herbs.

Durian The fruit is extremely popular and is often treated like an entire meal. It has a pungent aroma and is sweet, creamy, and buttery in taste.

Chai tow kway It is a snack time favourite — rice cakes (made from daikon radish and rice flour) that are stir-fried with eggs, preserved radish, and other seasonings.

Popiah A thin paper-like wheat crepe stuffed with different ingredients such as lettuce, bean sprouts, and chicken or prawns.