Foodie bliss

I have just returned from an incredible miniature vacation to Singapore with the lovely MJ. To get to know Singapore, you should know that its two national past-times are shopping and eating. While I can only dream of high-end shopping at this point in my life's finances, I can afford to eat. And considering that food and travel are two of my favorite activities in the world, Singapore seemed like the perfect place to visit.

Singapore is an incredibly fascinating country based on its prime geographical location. Located along a major historical trade route, it has been influenced by plenty of other cultures. Now, it's known for its ethnic and cultural diversity, which makes up a really cool cosmopolitan identity. And, naturally, when a country is filled with cultural blending, think of all the incredible varieties of food that are ever-present and incredibly cheap! We're talking Malaysian, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Indonesian- all of these countries have a place at the tiny table that is the little city-state island of Singapore.

Of course, our schedules didn't permit us to stay in Singapore indefinitely, so the trip was brief (only 2 days) and, in my opinion, could never have been long enough to try all the incredible foods that are so famous in Singapore. But we made a valiant effort and confirmed that what they say about food in Singapore is true: "You can't go wrong. Food will either be good or great, never bad." 


So here goes, the photographic documentation of our whirlwind two-day feast in Singapore:

We started off our meals on Friday night at Mustard, an Indian restaurant in Little India that MJ's father had recommended. We were not disappointed.

Pre-meal complimentary appetizer

Our meals arrived! MJ ordered mutton biryani (I had major food jealousy when I tasted hers!) and I ordered chicken in yogurt-curry sauce. Both were insanely delicious.

Garlic naan.

Saturday morning's day of food commenced at a hawker centers across from our hotel. Singapore is famous for its hawker centers, the country's clean and orderly solution to street food. Instead of people selling cheap and delicious food straight from the streets (as in Vietnam or other Southeast Asian countries), they are organized in giant food courts where you can walk from one vendor to the next, buying anything you could possibly imagine for crazy-cheap prices. In other words- HEAVEN.

A fairly empty Hawker Center, but that doesn't mean it wasn't delicious, just that MJ and I eat at odd hours!

Yes- an entire dim sum stall!

And a fritters stall!

MJ had seen Anthony Bourdain eat a delicious-looking peanut-and-sugar pancake on one of his food/travel TV shows. She was determined to find it at this pancake stall. Not one for sweet foods in the morning, I opted for an eggy-oniony-carrotty pancake instead. Both were great!

MJ meets her goal.

We weren't satisfied with only pancakes, though, so we moved on to char kway teow, a famous Singaporean stir-fried noodle dish. 

It was greasy and spicy and just so yum.

We completed our meal with an order of xiao long bao, or Shanghai soup dumplings. Not the best soup dumplings I've ever had, but still, a soup dumpling is a soup dumpling is a soup dumpling.

Not having had enough soup dumplings in our tummies quite yet, our lunch took place at Taste Paradise, a fancy (yet somehow still reasonably-priced!) Chinese restaurant that had been recommended to MJ, where we ordered off the dim sum menu.

The meal began with duck spring rolls. They were a refreshing change from Vietnamese rice-paper spring rolls and had quite a crunch!

Another serving of Shanghai soup dumplings. Taste Paradise, you have officially provided me with the best soup dumplings that I have had in my young life. They were so good, in fact, that we had to order a second order of them. 

Perfectly-executed BBQ pork buns- moist and sweet doughy outside and plentiful tangy pork filling.

Our last dish was another one of Singapore's famous dishes: chai tow kuay or Singaporean carrot cake. No, it tastes NOTHING like the carrot cake that we're used to in the States. It is made with rice flour, radish, and grated white carrots  and pounded into giant slabs which are steamed to create a cake, which is then chopped up and pan-fried with eggs, garlic, onions, and other yummies. I absolutely loved the gooey texture of the carrot cake (thanks to glutinous rice flower, I assume) mixed with the spicy and salty flavors.

Still not having had our fill of far-Eastern food, we went into Chinatown for dinner. Luckily, MJ's father is an intrepid traveller and foodie, much like his wonderful daughter, and he lived and worked in Singapore for five months not too long ago. Therefore, he was able to give us plenty of recommendations for "the best _____ in the entire world." One of these recommendations took us to a Chinatown hawker center (Maxwell Food Centre, to be specific) for "the best Hainanese chicken-rice in the entire world!" Hainanese chicken-rice is considered to be the national dish of Singapore, and, let's just say, I can see why. Father Jacobs also suggested a bakery where we could get "the best egg custard tarts in the entire world" which happened to be just nearby the same hawker center. Of course we snatched up this opportunity!!

To be honest, chicken-rice was probably the one meal I was looking forward to the least upon our arrival. The description of "boiled chicken served over rice" and the accompanying pictures I've seen online have made the meal seem entirely unremarkable and plain- two qualities in food that I never enjoy! However the irony is that this meal of chicken-rice ended up being my favorite meal of the entire weekend!

When people say that chicken-rice consists simply of "boiled chicken over rice," they are doing a disservice to the dish. It is so much more than just boiled chicken and rice. The chicken is boiled in a "master stock" of chicken and pork bones (the same stock is reused over and over with water added to it as needed) so it is insanely tender, juicy, and packed with flavor. The rice is boiled in a separate chicken stock so it is fragrant, oily, and anything but plain. Apparently Singaporeans see chicken-rice as an incredibly "personalizable" dish, one that you can dress up to your liking. It is often served with ginger, dark soy sauce, and chili-garlic sauce. My favorite topping was the dark soy sauce which was sweet, tangy, and super thick- perfect to drizzle on top of everything.

Doesn't look like it would be all that special, but looks can be deceiving! This may have been one of the most flavorful meals I have ever eaten!

Our appetites not yet sated, we decided to split a scallion pancake before moving on to egg custard tarts. Doughy and thick with a flaky and crispy outside crust: perfection.

On to "the best egg custard tarts in the world!" The bakery makes these in mass quantities, and people scoop them up just as quickly as they come out of the oven. The tarts were still warm when we ate them!

Paired with a fresh-squeezed apple-and-lime juice, the egg tart was a nice sweet treat, albeit a bit too eggy for my tastes.

Sunday morning, we woke up with the bitter taste of departure in our mouths. However, that didn't stop us from having a few great meals before flying back to Vietnam!!

We started the morning with kaya toast, a Singaporean favorite breakfast treat. Kaya toast consists of toasted white bread slathered in coconut custard jam and butter. We ate at a precious little restaurant near our hotel called Toast Box which was set up to look like some idyllic version of Grandma's Kitchen.

What a precious set-up!

Kaya toast and iced coffee with boba pearls! What a way to start the day!

A close-up on some melting butter action.

After our fairly small breakfast, we walked around and shopped for a few hours, finally able to complete Singapore's other national past-time. However, it dawned on me why the two past-times go hand-in-hand: shopping makes a girl hungry!

So, naturally, a stop at an eating hall in Little India for a mid-morning snack:

Samosas!

This was the best samosa I've ever eaten. It was the perfect blend of spicy, salty, and flavorful, and mmmmmm the potato filling!

Our last official meal in Singapore took place at an eating house that we had walked past every day, right near our hotel in Little India. The sign advertised the food as "Scissor-cut curry rice" which was an intriguing enough name, but the hoards of people that were always queuing up outside of the restaurant was the deciding factor that brought us to try it for our last meal.

Once we were served, we realized that this scissor-cut curry rice seemed to be the equivalent of Vietnam's "rice-and-point" (remember when that was my favorite Vietnamese food, back in the beginning times of living in Hanoi?????). You're given a plate of jasmine rice and pick a variety of proteins and vegetables that strike your fancy. However, in Singapore, it differs from Vietnamese rice-and-point because after you pick all your foods, the whole plate is slathered in curry gravy.

Breaded chicken breast, curry chicken wings, and tofu-and-bean sprout salad. OH MY GOSH.

This meal left us full and satisfied for our one-hour journey via MRT - the clean, efficient, and well-running subway system - to Changi Airport, one of the most famous airports in the world.

Of course the airport was well-equipped with western essentials, so MJ stopped for a tea latte at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf while I satisfied my craving with...

Because what day of travel is complete without some standard American fast food?

This weekend was, hands-down, one of my favorite dining experiences of my life, and unfortunately, I am certain that we did not even scratch the surface of all of the food that Singapore has to offer.

Before our trip, I found this CNN Travel article entitled "40 Singapore foods we can't live without." We didn't get anywhere close to 40! In fact, it looks like we only reached about 6 of them! Oh well... guess that just means I'll have to return to Singapore as soon as I can to eat the other 34!

Yum yum yum yum yum....