Eating is often declared as a national pastime and food a national obsession ... a constant topic of conversation among Singaporeans who like to comment on eateries and the food they sell and serve. Most of the prepared food bought outside the home is eaten at ...
- open-air hawker centres in public housing estates and bus interchanges
- air-conditionaed food courts at shopping malls.
Singapore food reflects her multicultural diversity.
Chinese-inspired
- Bak kut teh = clear pork rib soup cooked with a variety of Chinese herbs and spices and served with sliced red chillies in dark soya sauce, flour fritters and rice
- Char kway teow = rice flour ribbon noodles fried with garlic, lard, egg, cockles, fish cake, Chinese sausage and beansprouts in sweet black sauce
- Chee cheong fun = thick, flat sheet of steamed rice flour rolled, sometimes with a meat or prawn filling. It is served with a sweet dark sauce and garnished with sesame seeds.
- Chili crab = hard-shelled crabs cooked and served in a hot spicy gravy; eaten with fried buns (mantou)
- Chinese rojak = salad of turnip, cucumber, pineapple, jambu ayer (water rose apple), flour fritters, fried bean curds, beansprouts mixed with sugar, crushed roasted peanuts, prawn paste and tamarind juice and a dash of pink ginger bud
- Fried carrot cake = diced radish flour cake fried with chopped garlic then scrambled with beaten egg and seasoned with a sweet sauce, dark soy sauce and chilli
- Fried oyster omelette = oysters fried with eggs and cornstarch flour, garnished with spring onions and coriander leaves, and served with a chili dipping sauce
- Hainanese chicken rice = steamed chicken, cucumber and tomato slices served with rice cooked in chicken stock; chilli-garlic sauce and dark soya sauce as condiments
- Popiah = Hokkien-style rolled crepe, stuffed with stewed turnip, Chinese sausage, shrimps, boiled egg slices, beansprouts and lettuce
- Wan ton mee = noodles with barbecued pork slices (char siew) and minced meat dumplings
- Yusheng = Chinese New Year dish of sliced raw fish with five-spice powder, crackers, lime and lemon juice, plum sauce, shredded dried orange peel, shredded carrots and white turnips, red pepper, sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, pickled melon, onions, ginger and Chinese parsley
Malay-inspired
- Laksa = rice noodles cooked in coconut milk laced with spices including chilli and minced dried shrimps; served with raw cockles, cooked shrimp, egg slices, fried bean slices and thinly sliced daun kesom herb
- Barbecued stingray = stingray smothered in sambal and grilled in banana leaf wrapping
- Satay = small chunks of meat on a bamboo stick skewer, grilled over a charcoal fire, and dipped in hot peanut sauce served with ketupat, sliced cucumber and onions
Indian-inspired
- Indian rojak = Muslim-Indian dish of various vegetables and seafood deep fried in batter
- Roti prata = crisp and flaky crepe eaten with curry or sugar. A ball of dough is flattened, toss, flip and stretch repeatedly. The edges of the wafer-thin dough is then folded in and heated on a flat cast-iron plan to create the flaky crepe. A plethora of variations are available including tissue-thin, cheese, chocolate, durian and even ice cream.
- Fish head curry = head of red snapper stewed in hot and sour curry gravy with vegetables including lady's fingers and brinjals (eggplants)
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