Die, die must try

I just returned from eating my way through Singapore and Malaysia where I discovered some new absolutely unique delightful taste sensations. This part of Southeast Asia is a blend of Indian, Malay and Chinese people who have also blended culinary traditions that yield delectable results. These folks don’t food around with food, and apparently they’re having problems with cholesterol levels in that region as well. But it’s well worth it.

Breakfast

When we were in Kuala Lumpur, we enjoyed a fantastic breakfast buffet each morning at our hotel featuring some of Malaysia’s most delicious items. My favorite was the “roti canai” which is a fantastic flat bread made by stretching the dough out super thinly and then pan-frying it on a griddle. You can fill them or sprinkle them with sugar or use them to sop up yummy chutneys or daal (cooked lentils in curry) with it. We also enjoyed another traditional breakfast dish called “nasi lema” which is rice cooked in coconut that’s topped with fried fish and wrapped up in a banana leaf.

Hawker Stalls 

Back when Singapore was primarily a stop on the trading route, it was primarily populated by men with no wives or mothers at home to cook for them so these fellows ate most of their food from street hawkers selling street food from pushcarts. Today, hawkers are primarily in outdoor centers with tables to sit at and are still popular (and inexpensive) places to eat.  Most hawker centers are filled with dozens of hawkers who sell just one or two dishes, so you can go with friends and everyone will find something to their liking.

With the so many hawker stalls around Singapore, it’s difficult to determine which one to try. However, “Makansutra” guidebooks (“makan” is eating in Indonesian and Malay and “sutra” is Sanskrit for guide or lessons) are there to help you out. This is sort of like the Zagat Guide for hawker stalls and is based on recommendations from their 35 “Makanmatas” (food police). Hawkers are identified by which dish they offer rated from 1 chopstick (“good”) to 3 pairs (“die, die must try”). If you head to the region, it’s definitely worth picking up a copy so you end up only at the best stalls.   

Our favorite dishes included: curry puffs, laksas (noodles in spicy coconut broth), nasi ayam (chicken with rice), curry chicken, and char kway teow (wide pan fried rise noodles). Also tasty items included sambal (such as Sambal Stingray seen here) with is a common sauce in the region made from belacan (fermented shrimp paste), red chillies, salt and sugar. Another very traditional dish is Chilli Crab (see photo - Eric was in heaven), which is stirfried crab in a rich sauce made from ginger, garlic, fresh chillies, sugar, ketchup and eggs.

Beverages
Being close to Java, we expected to find good strong coffee, and we weren’t disappointed. While Starbucks and The Coffee Bean seem to be almost as ubiquitous as in the States, our preference was to find local “Kopi” in the hawker stands. This stuff is strong, but the cut it with sweetened condensed milk. Yummy both hot and cold. The other great caffeinated option is tea, and our favorite was “tea tarik” – or pulled tea – in which they pour the tea (also sweetened with the condensed milk) between vessels an arm's length apart a few times until it’s well blended. Finally, most hawker centers feature lots of great juice stalls, that make blended juices with cane sugar they extract in front of you. A fresh lime juice is quite refreshing on a hot afternoon, but pineapple, mango, and other tropical juices are also tasty.

As for alcoholic drinks, they’re not super accessible and somewhat pricey in Malaysia (primarily a Muslim country), but reasonable and everywhere in Singapore. Wine is definitely being embraced by the Singaporeans and there are wine shops everywhere. As for beer, we tried to stick with the regional beer - Tiger Beer is the national beer of Singapore – as we found that the Tsingtao and Carlsberg tasted like more watered down versions than you’ll find in the West. The other important drink you’ll find in Singapore is the “Singapore Sling”.  Per the advice of Jen’s dad who spent a great deal of time in the city when he was young, we headed over to the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel. This is one of the few places in the city that’s tried to preserve some history, and it’s beautiful, but a bit touristy (aka expensive). If you like sweet concoctions, this might be a good choice for you. It’s made from gin, grenadine, sweet & sour soda water, cheery brandy, and a cherry and pineapple garnish.