Food Choices in SINGAPORE!!?

Food choices in Singapore. I mean COME ON!

There are lots of varieties of food choices available in Singapore, be it Western, Chinese, Muslim, Indian, Viet, Thai, Turkish, Egyptian... you name it we COULD just have it there in Singapore. We are serious..

But what we are going to talk about are some of the favourite choices in Singapore.... (at least the ones we loved). 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Food choices in Singapore. There are many food choices available in Singapore. So, Sean, what is your favorite food in Singapore?

SPEAKER_02 0:10

I'll say every day go to when I don't know what to eat. Okay, chicken rice.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Okay, chicken rice. There are two types of chicken rice. There are the steamed or porch chicken rice, which is all white, and there's a roasted chicken rice. Which do you prefer? Roasted. Roasted white.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

The fragrance is better. Fragrance is better. Yes. Go the taste of the roasted taste inside. Is it crispy? It's just a the taste, the aftertaste. When you eat it.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

I would say for me, my favorite would be nasi lombak, which is um is uh coconut rice. Okay, uh from the Malay cuisine because of the chicken wing. The chicken wing is very crispy. Okay, it's okay. Many different nasi lomak comes with different stalls, comes with different types of chicken wing. And my favorite would be the Chany one. Yeah, because it's very crispy. It's the moment you bite into the chicken wing, you can hear the creeps, the crunchiness. And also the chili. The most important thing of the nasinoma is the chili. The samba chili. Samba chili. Yeah. So in today's episode, we'll talk about the food choices in Singapore. Because I believe for foreigners that's non-local, they are unsure about what we have in Singapore. There are too many things to eat in Singapore. You spend three days also cannot eat fish. Yes. You need at least one month, uh one week. Not say a month, a week. Okay, in order to taste all the different kinds of food in Singapore because we are a multiracial country. Yes. And if our four major races Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Caucasians. Okay, but there are also other different ethnic groups like the Philippines, the Vietnamese, the Thailand. We also have their specific cuisines here. Okay, so we're gonna thought about that. Okay, let's start our episode. This is Ryan, this Sean, and this is Let's Talk. So to introduce about Singapore food, we need to split into different ethnic groups first. So let's talk about our Chinese scoozy. Yes. Okay, for you you say chicken rice. So how do you describe chicken rice?

SPEAKER_02 3:12

Actually, it depends. Because in chicken rice, there's so many different recipes for each stall and each restaurant. Okay, so usually when I try the chicken rice, I will see the first most important thing. The rice.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

What is so special about the rice?

SPEAKER_02 3:27

Okay, because chicken rice is not just white plain rice. Usually it's cooked with the chicken stock. Okay. Some use plain water, but those that it taste better use chicken stock. So your ginger rice tastes like chicken? Uh not really, but the taste is very nice. Okay. And not only that, they also put pannan leaves. Panan leaves. Yes. Oh, okay. To increase the fragrance of the rice.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Ever add one's chicken rice, they they instead of pannan leaf, they put ginger.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

Hmm. So that's why I said there's many different recipes depending on the shop and restaurants. Okay. Yeah. Then the chicken variety also there's a difference. We have something called soy sauce chicken. Soya sauce chicken, okay. So this soy sauce chicken is basically they use soy sauce to spread over the chicken. Spread over the chicken before they they cook it.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

And another one so that the the the fragrance and the taste of the soy sauce will seep into the chicken.

SPEAKER_02 4:33

Uh correct. And another one is our most common one is the steamed chicken. So steamed chicken, there are also different ways to do it. Some just steam peat, steam ready, they just place it over there. But some place, some restaurants or shops, when they steam, after they steam a chicken, they will soak it into ice water. Why? So to make the meat not as dry, at the same time, the skin of the chicken tastes smoother and nicer. Okay. Then we also have the roasted chicken rice. Okay. Yeah, which is one of my most favorite. Okay, but to be honest, other than soya sauce chicken chicken. I like steamed and roasted.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

I think that's the only few choices left. Okay, there are also other Chinese using, like, for example, the Hokkien Mi, which is uh stir-fried yellow noodle with misili. Correct? So Hokkien Mi. Hokkien Mi. The broth is made of chicken broth, if I'm not wrong. Okay, and the ingredients come with uh okay, the yellow noodle, the bihoon, or the known as vanicili. There's also prawns, squid, and pork belly.

SPEAKER_02 5:54

And the most important for hockey me depends whether they are halal certified.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Yeah, they will be caught luts also. Yeah, correct. And the most, most, most, most important thing, the most important ingredient in the hockey mi is the samba chili. Again. I think for Singapore, most of the most of the food it samba chili is a must-have. I mean if you eat chicken rice. Okay, let's not okay. Let's not say samba chili is a must-have. Chili itself is a must-have. You eat chicken rice without chili. I cannot imagine. Some people like it without chili. Yeah, but we everyone, everyone, everyone's taste is different. Yeah, but hokey me. Hokemi chili.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

It's a must-have. Like like you see, there's a because some people cannot take spicy. So they they cannot eat with the chili. But that's that's where beverages come in. No, this for people who cannot tolerate chili or spiciness.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

And also for Hokkeami, it's a let's exclude the chili. There also comes with a lime. And that line you must spread it on. You must spread it over the chicken rice. Not only spread it on the chili itself. Yes. It will make the taste much better. Okay, and for the Chinese cuisine, there's also this thing, this cuisine called pakute. B-A-K-K-U-T. Pakute. Yes. Okay, it's a potrid soup. It's a type of dish that is a there's a soup. Okay, there's simmered with herbs, garlic, pepper. That's one version. There's another version, it's the pepper version. Yeah, there's a herb version, which is a black color one, and there's a white pepper one. Yes, correct. Okay. And potbreed soup itself is a very, very hearty and heaty type of dish.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

I think it's the perfect dish or meal that you should have when it's raining.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Yes or the weather is cold. Yes. Especially with the spiciness from the white pepper itself. And also for cold weather, the herb version nourishes your whole entire body, keeps you very, very warm. Okay. And for pakute, there's uh two types of pork ribs. Yes. One is a normal version, and the other one we call it a dragon bone. It's a type of rib that is very long, filled with the meat itself. The meat itself is easily teared off from the bone.

SPEAKER_02 8:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Really depends how long it cooked the ribs for. And to eat pakote, the chili is also a must-have.

SPEAKER_02 8:55

Not really, but usually we some of the.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Okay, there's two types. Okay, you there's two types of sauces that you can put. It's a dark soy sauce. Yes, correct. And a dark soy sauce we chili. Chili. Yeah. So it's it's a must-have.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

In the I think one most important thing to order from the bakute shop. It's also a taopot. Tao pot, what is tao pot? It's a fried bin current. Fried binger. Yes. Because it will soak up all the soup from the bakute. And when you eat it, perfect.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You must eat it with yu tiao. Also can?

SPEAKER_02 9:32

That one also can?

SPEAKER_01 9:33

It's called yu tiao. Which uh in Panji is called dough fritters. My one I prefer it with Yeah. Yeah, so if you are eating pakute, you must order taop and you must order yu teo. It's a must have, really. It's a must have.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

Yu teo is because after you soak it, you still eat it with a little bit of crunch. But for toopok is basically you soak up all the soup. So you when you taste it, wow. Okay. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

And last but not least for the famous Chinese one, Chinese Wuzana. Kayatoes and soft boil eggs.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Would you agree?

SPEAKER_02 10:16

That I think that is for breakfast or maybe tea break. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Okay, for kayatos and soft boil eggs, uh, it's not native only to Singapore. You can find it in other Asi countries as well. But I would like to say our kayak toast in Singapore. Everybody loves it.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

I would say most because of the kaya and the traditional crispy toast. Okay. And in between in between the kaya and the toast, you put the butter and you soak it with runny eggs. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 10:56

Do you like your butter, the spread kind or the sliced kind?

SPEAKER_01 11:01

The slice kind. Yes. Yeah. Because you can really eat the butter itself.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

The taste of the butter or in your mouth.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

And especially if you spread over some sugar on top.

SPEAKER_02 11:14

I'm not a sweet person, so.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

No. So if you spread some sugar on top and you dip it into the runny eggs, okay, filled with pepper and dark soy sauce. Ooh, I tell you, that is heaven.

SPEAKER_02 11:28

Okay? How about? I think I think another dish that is a local favourite when they don't know what to eat, other than chicken rice. There's another dish. It's called ba chomi. Ba chom mi. Yes. Okay, what is it? It's basically a minced meat. Minc meat uh noodles. Yeah. So this ba chom mi, there are so many different variations. Okay. But the one I I like the most is the one with the mushroom. Ah, the mushroom ba chong. Okay, okay, okay, okay. To me, it's the best.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

But between ba chuomi and chakwe teo, which is your favorite?

SPEAKER_02 12:10

Uh to me, I still eat bachhuami. Okay. Both is nice, but I the daily go-to I'll eat is bachuami. Okay. Yeah, but I think for tourists, all this, I think they should try teao more. Because it's the taste is more unique.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Yeah, okay. Chakwe teao. Okay. Usually chakwe teo store, they also serve uh chai tao kwe. Fried carrot, which is a fried carrot cake. It's not uh the American kind of carrot cake. Okay, it is uh stir-fried cubes of radish cakes, okay, available in white colour or black colour. Okay, what's the difference? White colour is just a normal crispy, crispy type. Black colour is added sweet soy sauce. Yes. Okay. So which one do you prefer? The white one or the I usually go to the mixed one. Uh same. Okay. Because I have uh have uh the best of both the white and the black one. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

Yes, another thing is also the chili is very important for this. I guess it's very important. Because for karatet itself, the taste is quite bland.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Okay, for Singapore, the uh store itself, okay, apart from selling uh Chenokwe and what's it called? Uh Chakweteo. Okay. They also sell Ola. Yes. Which is oyster omelette. It's a crispy egg omelette filled with fresh oysters and served with chili sauce.

SPEAKER_02 13:50

And usually, usually for the same same store, I would say most of the time, not all, but most of the time, you can find me or all these four in store. All in one store. Usually, unless certain stores they only sell one.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

But yeah, certain stores. They only specialize in that. There's a famous one. Okay, but we're not talking about the famous one, we are talking about the food choices. So most of the stores, most uh of the stores in hawker centers or food court in here in Singapore sells a combination, yes. Okay, but for the Chinese one, let's talk about Malay cuisines. Okay. What are the Malay cuisines? First comes to my mind, Sate.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

Oh, before we go to the Malay one, I think Chinese one will let one more most well known in our local one. What is it? Chili crab.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

This one chili crab. We really must share about this chili crab. Chili crab, okay, let me see. Chili crab is uh it's not really crab uh that is cooked with chili. Okay. Chili crab itself is made of tomato, chili, and egg. Yes. And sometimes they dust it with orange juice. Also depends on the recipe. Yeah. Okay. Yes. So it's not only just chili, it's uh tomato chili with orange juice tastes and eggs, and you stir-fry it with mud crab. Why mud crab? Because mut crab got got bigger, it's bigger in size and has more meat in it, okay, instead of uh flour crab. Okay, and it's best enjoyed with fried buns or fried manto.

SPEAKER_02 15:48

Yes. And another one, another version of the crab we have is called the black pepper.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

That's really stir-fried with just black pepper. Yes. For crab dishes itself, there are too many choices. Yeah. There's chili crab, there's white pepper, there's even sorted egg, there's even buttercream. But I think our most well-known is these two chili crab and black pepper. Yeah. So if you are here in Singapore, don't just go to specific restaurant that is introduced on the website. Even though I would say they are also also the best. But there are many other places that sells chili crabs at a cheaper price. Yes. Even at the food core under the HTBs. Yes. Yeah. Okay, even the the those. You can you can you can find it more often in all the other food core places. Yeah. Okay, so do just don't just enjoy it in the restaurant where you pay hundreds of dollars. You can actually pay$50 over dollars for the chili grips. Half the price, I would say half the price. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:58

Sometimes even a quarter of the price. Yeah. Depends on how well known is the restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

Unless you really, really, really want the best of the best. Then I will say, hey, the house of seafood. There's many, there's jumbo seafood. Jumbo seafood, the no cyborg seafood. The IGAT restaurant, the Long Beach. There's many, many, many. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 17:22

But if you just want to save us some money. And try something nice. I wouldn't say it's the best, but something nice.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

And more often, and more often, uh not just the chili crab, you can also find the previous dishes that we introduced over at the Fuku as well. Yes, correct. So you can have best of every single word. So you can have the chili crab, you can have the batomi, you can have the channel wake.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

Yeah, you can go to Fu Kok or some places we call it Hawker Center. A bigger place where there's more stores, more varieties.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Okay. So let's talk about Malay cuisine, sate. Okay, like I mentioned. It's a grilled made skewer that's coming in chicken, beef, or mutton. That's for the Malay, but but there's also the Chinese version that comes with the pork. Yes. Okay, because uh Malay don't weah halal don't eat pork. Yeah, yeah. So let's talk about Malay first. Those skewers are served with peanut sauce and often with ketupak, which is uh with what we call rice cakes in Malay.

SPEAKER_02 18:21

I think the most important things in the Saate is the onions and the cucumbers. It helps you to clear the taste before you try another meat.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Okay, and uh there's another cuisine that is a mixture of either a Malay or Chinese, which is called Laksa. Oh yes, there's one best one. Okay, what is laksa? Laksa is thick vernacily, which is a thick one, thicker version that is served with coconut curry soup. Okay, with uh cockas, prawns, and fish cake and I would like to really mention the laksa with cocos. It is not a laksa without cocoa. There are many places that sell lakhs with a coccus, and I will say that's not the authentic laksa. Yes, but not many people can take the taste. Yeah, because of the bloody taste. Yeah. But you must, it's a must-have for laksa with cocos and added chili sauce.

SPEAKER_02 19:31

Yes. Actually, laksa depends. Some of chili sauce is not very spicy. Yeah. Yeah, it's to enhance the taste of the laksa. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

And what else from Malay Kuzid? Nasit. Nasiloma, your favorite? Yes. Nasiloma is uh coconut rice that I mentioned. Uh that comes with chicken wing, either chicken wing or fried fish. Fried fish. The small, small litter fried fish. And tossed with uh ikambilis and peanut.

SPEAKER_02 20:03

Okay. I still remember when we uh younger, we can still have the 2 dollar line slow mark with the fried fish.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

Okay, uh to mention ikambelis, what is ikambelis? It's actually angravis. Okay, it's a very small, small type of fish. Okay, that's uh stir fried, and then you can just eat it with creps. Okay. What else for Malay cuisine?

SPEAKER_02 20:26

Actually, I will say ayam pinette.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Okay, it's a smashed chicken. Yeah. Okay, smashed fried chicken. What does it have? It's uh rice with smashed chicken, cucumber slices with chilies.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

It's actually quite similar to the nasloma, but just as the chicken is bigger in size.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

It's a chicken type. Yeah. Okay, instead of chicken wing. Okay, and I will also mention nasipadag. Okay, what is nasipadag? Nasiparang is like a mixed dish. Mixed rice. Where you where they display a variety of uh dish uh uh dishes, they order rice and then you just order whatever you feel like eating the dish that you feel like eating. There's run beef randang, there's samba egg, there's uh butter, curry, fried chicken wing, samba, ladies finger, samba, hot dog. Yeah, actually for Malay, everything is messy. Most hot things, yes. I would say okay. Then what about Indian cuisine?

SPEAKER_02 21:35

Indian cuisine, I think the most common one is the goti plata. Yes. But I find that gotipata really depends on two in most things. One is the taste of the dough, how they make it, and another one is their curry. And curry they come in different kinds also. What kind? Fish curry, chicken curry, and mutton curry.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Okay, for the different types of curry. It depends on the taste and the texture that you want. For example, if you like a smooth savory, you go for the fish curry. If you like a thicker version with uh that you don't want the fish, you want you just want the chicken with a little bit of spice and sensation, you go for the chicken curry. And if you like the taste, you want it to be strong. Yes. You want it to be. Yeah, you go for the mutter one. Okay. And for roti prata itself, the dough itself, it comes with different varieties. There's a plain, there's an egg, there's a normal one. There are also the cheese one, the chocolate one, there's so many different types. There's a cheese mushroom, there's a double egg, there's a mushroom egg, there's a cheese egg, there's uh there's even the chocolate one. And the dough itself also got many different sizes.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention eating rotipata, right? That's another way we eat it.

SPEAKER_01 23:00

Yeah, right. With sugar. Uh yes. Yes. If you can't take spice. Yes. And I want to mention the dough itself. There's a there's a normal dough, there's a crispy dough, there's a tissue paper kind, there is a tin thing slice, and also there's a coin. Yes. There are too many ways to eat a rosti prata. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 23:20

And when you talk about Indian cuisine, right? I think rules, another thing that we need to mention is the brani. Ah, the nasi brani, yes. Okay. So that when we mentioned the different curry sauce choice you have, right? Basically, all can go with the nasiprani. Do you agree?

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Okay. And for Indian cuisine, uh, there's also a mixture mixture type that is called an Indian Muslim. Okay. And for Indian Muslim, they are famous, would be the fish hikari. Yes. And apart from the Indian Muslim, there's also the Chinese version of the fish. Well, let's talk about the Indian Muslim one. It's a large fish head. I don't know what kind of fish. Okay. It's a very, very big fish head. Okay. Uh, still in spicy aromatic curry. Okay. It's very popular in all the food court places, like the tta, what we call the tzha place. Okay. And also Indian mushroom restaurants. Okay. It's uh it's a sort of must-have, really. Fish and curry.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

I think I think for Indian cuisine, I'm hungry. Another one that I like the most is the masala. Masala. So it's a kind of dish that is a bit thicker. Kind of chili paste together with the meat. Yeah. So I like it with chicken. Chicken masala. Masala.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

Masala is a is a like an Indian potato salad. No? No. No. Okay. Yeah. Then let's talk about the Caucasian dishes. We have steaks. We have Western food everywhere. Yes, yes. And uh let's not really measure about the sticks. There are too many. Too many Western food tries. There's a steak, there's a fish and chip, there's a charcoal grilled chicken. Okay, there's even different a mixture of uh Asian type. We have the chicken, fried chicken colored with rice. Yes. Okay. We also have staggery, like Paslamania, we have ashtons.

SPEAKER_02 25:40

Yeah. I think I think first for Singapore, because we are multicultural background, so most of our food, right, after a while, it tends to blend together. Like for Western, you see, you mentioned that it goes with rice, which is not very common in other Western countries. Right? They usually go with mashed potato or potato, baked potato, this kind. But for us locals, we like it with rice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:08

Okay. And like I mentioned in the start of this video, okay, apart from the four major races in Singapore, we also have a mixture of ethnic groups, like for example, the Vietnamese. We have Vietnamese food in Singapore.

SPEAKER_02 26:23

And I feel that Vietnamese food actually only started to get popular in recent years locally. Before that, our most common one would be the Thai food and the Japanese food. Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Okay, let's talk about Vietnamese food. We have the fur. Okay. It's fragrant noodle soup. The noodle itself is a rice noodle. Okay, that comes with beef or chicken. Yes. And the broth itself. It can have either spice or non-spice.

SPEAKER_02 26:50

But to be honest, last time when I used to eat beef, up to today, I still think that the beef version is the best.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

Okay, and we also had the bunni, which is the Vietnamese type of uh sandwich. It's a French baguette with cocoa, like ham, or uh what's that? I think that's ham. Yeah, yeah, with uh picked vegetable uh chili. Okay. And we also have Thai food. Yeah, we have the tom yam. Yes. We have the basil rice.

SPEAKER_02 27:29

Yes, that's another best one. And the most important thing one is the hot pot in Thai called the mukata.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

You have mukata, yeah, which is uh it's a solid plate for BBQ, with uh with uh with a thin that is a spoon-size with container or something to contain soup, so that you can fry your meat in the middle and you can drink the soup at the side. And why is it so good?

SPEAKER_02 27:56

It's because the oil, the juice for the meat, as you cook it, and you as you cook it, all the juices go into the soup. So when you drink the soup, oh the taste is perfect.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

And sometimes uh there's also different varieties. Okay, instead of putting soup at the corner or the around the around around the circumference, they put cheese.

SPEAKER_02 28:19

I think that one is more common in Japanese or Korean cuisine. Yeah, but they they do serve it in Mukata.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

Yes, yes, yes, but but not. They also do serve it in Thailand itself. Yeah, where you put uh cheese dips. If you call it cheese dip, you cut the meat in the middle and you dip it with cheese. Okay, and we have the Japanese food. Okay, we have sushi, we have sashimi. My personal favorite, uh there's uh fat tuna. Ooh.

SPEAKER_02 28:50

My personal favorite is Xiongman mantaiko.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

Uh Man Taiko. It's good. Okay, and we also have Korean food in Singapore as well. We have the kimchi, we have the run ryong, we have the the bimib, okay, we have the kimbak. Okay, over here is the animal. For Singapore itself, we have many food from other countries, okay, all located here in Singapore. And you can do find it in hawker center, we can find it in food court places, we can find it in shopping malls. Yeah, in Ara Street, right? Correct. Yeah, you also have the Mexico restaurant.

SPEAKER_02 29:31

Yes, yes, yes, correct. So basically, even if you never go to this country before, but you want to have a taste of what their food tastes like, actually, when you come to visit Singapore, you can watch or try everything.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

You can have best of every single country's food cruise here in Singapore. I would say most, like not every, like most yeah. We have Egyptian food, we have Turkish, we have Mediterranean, we have Australians, we have the Philippine food, we have the Vietnamese food, we have the Thai food. Well, we have the whole world. Almost the whole world. Almost, almost. Okay, so different food choices. We we wouldn't want to push about where to eat. You are welcome to travel to Singapore to try. You can we are welcome to explore, you can welcome to find. I could assure you every place that you visit there is sure to have food, you will never go hungry in Singapore. Okay, this one is assured. Yes. Okay, and I also can assure you, even if you go to the rural places that is out of the tourist attraction, you can find different food court below our residence. Yes. And you can get different food choices there. You can have the chicken rice, you can have the Thai Tao Kue, you can have the Chakui Teo, you can you can even order chili crab from the ta store.

SPEAKER_02 31:09

Yes. Alright. And another reason why we don't want to recommend stores or shops to our listeners or viewers is because everyone tastes is different. Yeah. Yeah. So something that we find very nice for us locals might not taste the same for you all. Correct? Yes. So do your own research online to see what the popular choices or reviews from tourists. Yeah, you can either find it already. Yeah. Then after that, you go and try yourself.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

Yes. Okay, so that will be all. This is our introduction to our food in Singapore. I have no idea what else to eat. We have too many choices to think from. Yeah. And I have no idea what to eat next. Okay, so this is Ryan. This is Sean. Goodbye.