Hawker Center Food, Singapore

I'm back... I'm back... What better way to celebrate my return than a post to make TonyC jealous?? =)

My last meal in Singapore was at the hawker center across the street from where I live...





Not all hawker centers are as pretty as this one. This was just renovated last year, so it is actually one of the nicest ones I've been to.

On to the food... 2 of my absolute favorite hawker center dishes that I have not been able to find anywhere outside of Singapore: fried oyster omelette and chai tow kuey (fried radish/carrot cake).




Sorry for the fizzy pic, but I was hungry.

Plump, briny oysters... cooked in a mixture of eggs, and some kind of flour slurry. The flour misture cooks up crispy and the eggs offsets some of the richness of the oysters. Crispy, creamy, salty, spicy all in one dish... I have heard that the Taiwanese has a dish just like this, but I am sure TonyC can chime in... I was thinking of you when I was scarfing this down, Tony...



Chai Tow Kuay is a local dish. It is often called fried carrot cake, but it is not actually made of carrots. I believe it is daikon and rice flour mixed with water, and steamed. In Hong Kong, it is pan fried and served with the sweet sauce for dim sum (ham is usually included in the pre-steamed mixture here).

In Singapore, they cut it into bite-sized pieces and stirfry them like noodles. You have a choice of white or dark, and as my picture shows, I went dark. The difference between white and dark is the addition of dark soy sauce. Not the dark soy you widely find in the grocery stores here, but the thicker, sweeter version also known as kecap manis. Eggs, pickled radish pieces are also added into the stir-fry. Sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy... hmmm...

To wash everything down, I also had a cheng t'ng, another local drink/dessert. Also known as "leen chee kang" in Hong Kong. It is a sweet soup with longan, fungus, flour balls, agar strips. Sometimes served hot, I opted for shaved ice in mine.





I actually ordered these to go, since it was getting too hot for me in Singapore. The food was packed the same way it was in my childhood: in plastic lined brown paper.

This whole meal costed SGD$10, or approx USD$7.50.

CrazyC wrote:I'm back... I'm back... What better way to celebrate my return than a post to make TonyC jealous?? =)

Not just TonyC

Any chili crab pics

Thanks for the great post. Do they still have food hawkers in the car parks?

30+ years ago the car parks were the place for good cheap food. After the cars left at the end of the day the hawkers moved in. I'd just point at stuff. Didn't know what I was eating -- sometimes I'd say to myself "Hmm, I wonder what kind of tentacle that was?"

Vital Information wrote:

CrazyC wrote:I'm back... I'm back... What better way to celebrate my return than a post to make TonyC jealous?? =)

Not just TonyC

Any chili crab pics

Patience... patience...

CrazyC wrote:fried oyster omelette

Plump, briny oysters... cooked in a mixture of eggs, and some kind of flour slurry. The flour misture cooks up crispy and the eggs offsets some of the richness of the oysters. Crispy, creamy, salty, spicy all in one dish... I have heard that the Taiwanese has a dish just like this, but I am sure TonyC can chime in... I was thinking of you when I was scarfing this down, Tony...

ahhh.. how sweet!

seriously tho.. wtf IS THAT? your fried oyster omellete is funk! taiwanese ver look like this:


but your version sounds... more savory. stronger in every aspect. are you sure there's no place where this is avail Stateside? i wonder if there's any singaporean food on the west coast... or if the cuisine's diluted by other Chinese flavors... (most probably the latter)... and that SGD, too strong against the USD. eating out at the street vendors cost me a bundle in singapore.

looking great C, when you gonna make it for us?

HI,

When I saw this image, I first thought it was a fertilized embryo or balut in somewhat early stages:



For those interested in trying an oyster pancake locally. This is from Chicago Kalbi, this is Galgun (oyster pancake) with Soy-Vinegar Dipping Sauce:



I'm enjoying my travels with you.

Regards,

TonyC wrote:but your version sounds... more savory. stronger in every aspect. are you sure there's no place where this is avail Stateside? i wonder if there's any singaporean food on the west coast... or if the cuisine's diluted by other Chinese flavors... (most probably the latter)... and that SGD, too strong against the USD. eating out at the street vendors cost me a bundle in singapore.

looking great C, when you gonna make it for us?

I have seen oyster omelettes in many restaurants, here in Chicago and in New York, but none makes it like this.... I guess the Taiwanese version is more of a true omelette in a sense... I agree with you that eating at street vendors is not the bargain it used to be... The food in Malaysia is so much cheaper and in many instances much tastier. But still, compared to the US, Singapore is still cheaper for the quality.

Tony, Tony... Obviously you have not heard about my dismal cooking skills...

CrazyC wrote:Not all hawker centers are as pretty as this one. This was just renovated last year, so it is actually one of the nicest ones I've been to.

On to the food... 2 of my absolute favorite hawker center dishes that I have not been able to find anywhere outside of Singapore: fried oyster omelette...

oh man, oyster omelette !!!! GREAT dish.

Is this the New Newton hawker center? If so, are the hassles from vendors as bad as the old one, I can only assume so. For late night I usually head to La Pau Sat.

--

Actually this is the Bedok hawker center... It is right across the street from where our place is... It is also a great place for girls to check out the army boys, since the Bedok Army Camp is right down the street...

Calvin Trillin has a great food journal in the current New Yorker (Sept. 3 and 10; The Food Issue) about Singapore street food from the hawker centers. Sadly, it's not available online. Unintentionally funny (in terms of drafting style) abstract here.