Food Explorations

As many of you may or may not know, Singapore is a foodie haven. Unfortunately, as Jon and I are not quite as fluent in any Chinese languages as we would like to be (resulting in not quite knowing what is in the dishes we are ordering) and in a country that have things like "Pig Organ Soup" we have not been quite as adventurous in our culinary ventures as we would like. We were lucky enough, however, to find the latest copy of the Makansutra (a guide to hawker eating in Singapore) which comes complete with descriptions of the different dishes, and a rating of the best restaurants in the city. As the smoke in the air from Indonesia is currently making it very difficult to do much in the way of outdoor activities (it is the worst it has been since '96, and nearing dangerous levels where they might have had to shut the city down) we thought today would be a good day to make use of this guide and go on a Chinese gastronomic adventure!

First on our list of places to try was Lim Chee Guan, the city's expert in Chinese BBQ. Being our first venture into this new world, it was comforting to arrive and find a decent sized line outside the store. We knew we were looking for Bak Kwa, but watched everyone else none the less to find out what the most popular items for sale were. We ended up with BBQ beef (which was still hot off the smoker) and BBQ Chili Pork. They were both a bit sweet, with the BBQ having a more distinct smoky taste (which I personally preferred). So far, so good!

After wandering around Smith Street (which is essentially Chinese Food Street - not sure why they haven't given it some more authentic name. Ginger Beef Street perhaps?) for a while and stopping for a bowl of noodles at my favorite noodle place, we finally figured out that all the rest of the hawkers on our list were in fact located in the Chinatown Complex at the end of the street. This is a huge shopping area underneath an apartment complex, with the second floor containing the biggest hawker center in Chinatown. Having arrived at our destination, we made a bee line for a place which specializes in Ah Boling (dessert-like glutinous rice balls). The stand, Hai Seng Ah-Balling, makes theirs with 5 different fillings (we think they were yam, durian, sesame, red bean paste and peanut) and served them in a sweet peanut broth which tasted almost like a sweet, peanut tea. It was surprisingly good, with the durian ranking number one in my books and sesame number one in Jon's.

NOTE to Christine and Lance: These were very similar to those things you buy from superstore, but 100x better! Even Jon said "Your mom and dad would love these!"

Next, we had some Satay. We have had this before on a number of occasions, but it is a new favorite of ours (we have even been trying to make it at home with some success) so I thought, why not try some that is rated as "die, die, must try" in the Makansutra? It was excellent, easily the best we have had since we arrived on this continent (including the one we tried in the homeland of Satay - Malaysia). It was a bit smoky from being cooked over the fire, but wonderfully juicy. The sauce was served warm and had the perfect degree of spice to make you notice its presence. Sadly, I was too excited to remember to take a picture of the food itself, but should you find yourself in Singapore, please make your way to the Chinatown Complex level two and find Shi Xiang Satay.

By this point, we were really starting the feel the bloat from eating so much delightful, but heavy, Chinese food so we opted to cut our list of 12 new dishes to try down to 5 and save the rest for later. Number three on that list was Char Siew Bao from Hong Kong Mongkok Tim Sum, which many of you may have tried back home as part of a Dim Sum meal. For those of you who are not familiar with it, it is a bun made of very soft, fluffy dough which is stuffed with BBQ (pork in this case) and steamed to cook. The dough it slightly sweet, as is the pork. It makes an interesting taste sensation. I liked the dough, but was not such a fan of the degree of sweetness in the BBQ and would like it more if it was chicken of beef, I think. Jon disagreed with me and counts this dish as his favorite of the day. I think we both agreed it was something that we would consider having again for lunch and were gad we tried.

Last but not least, we ended our adventure with another dessert from 115 Tang Shui. We were very glad for the Makansutra in this instance because it is one of those scary places that has a name written only in Chinese letters, with bubbling vats on the front counter. We would never have been so brave to try anything from here had it not been for this trusty guide. As it were, the hot walnut cream (which is a specialty of the gentleman who runs the place) was amazing. Slightly sweet with an amazing creamy texture and an (excuse my gushing) almost fragrant walnut essence, it was my new Singapore addiction. Mmm, mmm!

It was a great day, one of my favorites we have had in Singapore itself so far, and nice to know that we are (if slowly and starting with sweets) branching out in our meals. Next time we are going to get into some of the most scary sounding stuff (Hor Mee, Sang Mee, Sa Kay Ma) and will update as we go!

Much love,

Kaela and Jon