Culinary criss-cross

As original as some of Singapore’s favorite dishes seem to be, their roots can be traced to a melting pot of influences.

If your impression of Singapore food is chili crab (crabs cooked in rich chilli-tomato-egg sauce), char kway teow (fried egg noodles), you might have a hard time believing that prawn cocktail actually has a place in the Singapore food lexicon. But it does, along with unlikely candidates like the old-fashioned English creation of fried bread, and the thoroughly American black pepper steak. Believe it or not, the roots of some Singapore classics can be traced back to these very dishes.

Back in the 1950s, it was de rigueur to start a grand Western meal with a prawn cocktail- a creamy prawn salad served sparkling champagne  glass with a prawn balanced on the edge.

We never forgot that early taste. Today, we can still dip into this nostalgic eating experience at Chinese banquets whenever we order a “cold platter,” a selection of cold starters of which prawns coated with mayonnaise (the very same prawn cocktail) is one. Not only that, prawn cocktail has even evolved into another dish- lobster mixed fruit salad- in which cold lobster meat, drenched un mayonnaise, is served over tinned mixed fruit.

And if not for fried bread or black pepper steak, we might not have come up with our very Singaporean roti John (essentially fried bread- roti – with a topping of egg, meat and onion) or black pepper crabs (crabs tossed in a black pepper and butter sauce).

Indeed, long before “fusion” became a buzzword in culinary circles, Singapore cooks were already mixing and matching in the kitchen- the Malays and Indians borrowed from the Chinese and the Chinese from both those groups. And everybody owed a lot to the Portuguese, who introduced important spices, chilli and tamarind, from faraway South America and Africa, to the region, and also passed on their predilection for marinating foods with lime, lemon and vinegar.

The point is that Singapore’s unique food culture evolved from the culinary influences of the peoples who came to live here at  various times in history- the British and the Portuguese, the immigrant Chinese, the Indonesians, the Malays and the Indians, among others.

For a taste of this delicious melting pot, head to one of the many food centres (clusters of stalls selling a variety of food and drinks) that dot the island.

Singapore’s culinary openness can be traced back to the city’s origin as a trading centre that lay, literally, at the crossroads of the East-West sea trade routes of the world. Foreign influences were embraced, resulting in an exciting tapestry of spices and ingredients from every corner of the globe, which went into the creation of hybrid cuisines such as Eurasian (European-Asian) and Peranakan (Malay-Chinese), also known as Nonya.

Take a street food like mee goring, for example, which used to be sold by itinerant Muslim Indian hawkers cycling around on wok-mounted tricycles; you can still taste this Indian stalls at food centres.  While it could be described as Indian fried noodles, there is no dish quite like it in India. The recipe calls cosmopolitan ingredients-Chinese noodles and dark soya sauce, Western-style tomato sauce and tomatoes, Indian chilli, onion, and yes curry powder.

An exploration of Singapore’s food heritage cannot ignore the role played by the Chinese dialect groups, mainly the Hainanese and the Cantonese. The Hainanese made Western food palatable to the locals and popularized Peranakan food. Coming from Hainan Island in China about 150 years ago, they provided catering and personal services in European establishments during the colonial era and also in local Chinese households. As the best Chinese cooks of the time, they soon learnt how to turn out both Western and Peranakan dishes from their English mems (as the lady of the house called) and their Nonya bosses. But what they served was “Asianised” Western food, a heritage that has lasted till today, while their Asian food would have Peranakan touches. Some examples are sambal prawn (prawn cooked in base of ground chilli and spices), chap chye (mixed vegetable) and roti babi (fried minced-meat patties on bread).

The coffee shops found in Little Hainan-the network of streets around the Raffles Hotel, like Seah Street, Liang Seah Street and Beach Road- still offer such hybrid Hainanese fare.

On the other hand, the Cantonese are known worldwide as restaurateurs. Indeed, in early 20th century Singapore, the Chinese restaurants were Cantonese-owned, with Cantonese cuisine featuring heavily on the menu. From them, we got our taste for sweet-and-sour flavours, learnt the importance of quality ingredients and picked up culinary techniques such as flash-frying, deep-frying and steaming.

But the most important of influences must be Malay and the Indonesian. You can find it not only in Nonya and Eurasian food, but also in street food, such as barbecued fish wrapped in banana leaf, rojak ( a spicy salad dressed in a shrimp sauce) and satay (grilled meat on sticks), all of which can  be tasted at any of the omnipresent food centres.

Malay spices and herbs jazz up these recipes that also contain traditional Chinese ingredients and, quite often, aromatic Indian spices like turmeric, cardamom, cumin and clove. Together, they make up quite an array of ingredients to play around with, and so our forefathers did, with delicious results.

The mixing and matching continues. Visit the hip cafes in town and you will see modern interpretations of classic dishes. The current favourite at modern Chinese restaurants is chye tow kway, a fried radish cake. Originally a snack food sold on the streets, today’s haute version delivers the same flavours, crowned with a prawn and crunchy bean sprouts. Try the version at Taste Paradise in Mosque Street.

Even a staple like the laksa (noodles in a coconut-based gravy with prawns and cockles) has not been spared. This Malay-Chinese hybrid has found new expression as a pasta sauce! Laksa pesto, featuring bunches of the laksa herb, daun kesom (an aromatic herb), now dresses pasta instead of basil, creating a charming Italian-Peranakan hybrid!

Is it any wonder that Singapore can claim to have a truly unique culinary heritage? (Source: Silverkris – The Travel Magazine of Singapore Airlines, July 2007 issue)