You can’t visit Singapore without going to a hawker centre. These were like my childhood, and this is where people from all over the world get inspired by stalls and communal eating (think Hakwer House in London). And did I mention how freaking good the food is?
There are hawker centres all over Singapore so it’s not like you have to seek them out. Maxwell is one of the most famous ones, Tiong Bahru Market maybe coming after. My cousin Jecinda had planned it all out for us, and she reckoned it would be less busy, so off we went!
She’d come prepared with her research. Isn’t she amazing? My kind of gal. She’d written down the names of all the best stalls here, their stall number and what they serve.
I was ready to EAT.
Jecinda and I went off to find everything and once we hit success, we’d bring the food back to the lazy boys at the table (My cousins Hamish and Jason, and of course, Boy).
It was only around 1:30pm, but a lot of the good/famous stuff had been sold out already. If you don’t want to face the same problem, come early. I was a little sad that the famous Soya Bean Milk (#02-69) had run out already, but here’s a picture for anyone who wants to go and try it out.
Same goes for the Fish Ball Noodle (#02-44).
And the famous Wanton Noodle stall (#02-30) wasn’t open either…
Although if you find something with a big line, you generally know it’s good. Follow the locals, they know exactly what’s great to eat.
At least Pork Ribs Prawn Noodles (#02-31) still seemed to be going, which was on our list! YES, ONE DOWN!
There are a few different alternatives, but everyone was going for the dry noodles with both pork and prawn. So we did too.
Next on the list was Tiong Bahru Pau (#02-18/19). Everyone loves pau.
I kind of cried inside a little with the fact that I can no longer eat the pork paus.
Or my favourite pork and prawn sui mai.
Oh well, tarts, you’re all I have. The baked buns by the tarts are pineapple but filled with pork, which I found out only after a bite too late (but they’re delicious for everyone else!)
Oh yeahhhh.
Wanton noodles was something I really wanted Boy to try, so we found another stall that was open since the famous one wasn’t.
Oh noodles, how you make my heart skip with happiness.
The famous chicken rice stall (#02-82) was thriving with customers, though.
I got in line.
This is was real beauty looks like.
Right next door (#02-83) is where to get Carrot Cake and Popiah.
Carrot Cake isn’t the same as what you’d get in Western countries. It’s a stir fry mix of radish cake cubes, eggs, garlic and topped with spring onion. There’s no actual carrot on this.
You can get it white or black. I’ve just Googled it to find the exact explantion of the difference, so here it is: “the “white” version does not use sweet soy sauce, and the carrot cake is fried on top of a beaten egg to form a crust; the “black” version uses sweet sauce (molasses) and the egg is simply mixed in with the carrot cake.”. Lazy blogger 101.
It’s also delicious, for those wondering. A Singaporean dish you need to try.
As is Popiah. A roll stuffed full of yummies.
Jecinda found us some Sugar Cane Juice as well to sip on. Super sweet and so good. I usually have the sugar cane and water chesnut drink from 7/11 so it was nice finally trying fresh sugar cane juice!
If you think that’s all you need to try in Singapore, you’re so very wrong. There are countless more local dishes you have to try whilst you’re here. Maybe I should make a Top 10. Or 20. Or 50.
Here’s the full list Jecinda wrote for those wanting to check it out:
Tiong Bahru Pau #02-18
Hui Ji Fishball Boodles # 02-44
Tiong Bahru Boneless Chicken Rice #02-82
Zhong Yu Yuan Wei Wanton Noodles #02-30
Tiong Bahru Fried Kway Teow #02-11
Pork Ribs Prawn Noodles #02-31
Teck SEnf Soya Bean Milk #02-69
Tow Kwar Pop #02-06
