Food, Food, and More Food in Singapore
Guest Post By: Miku Hara, a Senior studying Marketing and Information Systems. She studied abroad through Foster Exchange at the National University of Singapore in Queenstown, Singapore, during Autumn Semester 2023.
Before coming to Singapore, the only Singaporean food I knew was chicken rice. However, I came across various dishes that I haven’t had in the US or in East Asia. Since the population in Singapore is multicultural, the food is ethnically diverse too, usually originating from India, Malaysia, or China.
There are so many foods that I tried for the first time while living in Singapore and all of them were delicious. From what I have eaten, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite dishes.
- Prata / Roti Canai
Prata is an Indian flatbread dish that can be savory or sweet. It can be served with non-sweet choices such as curry, meat, cheese, or eggs. There are also sweet ones with fruits and sugar. You could imagine the food being very similar to crepes for sweet prata, and a thinner version of naan for savory option. My recommendation is the prata with cheese, onions, eggs, and mushrooms, with a side dish of curry.
- Laksa
Laksa is a Malaysian spicy noodle soup that is popular among Singaporeans. The most common ones consist of thick rice noodles with a coconut soup base cooked with various seafood. The soup tends to be on the thicker side because they put dried shrimp, fishcake, and prawns. The best Laksa that I had were from Hawker Centers which are open-air complex with stalls that sells various varieties of affordable ethnic cuisines. There are many of them around the city, each with a unique atmosphere.
- Kaya Toast
Kaya toasts are a popular choice of food for breakfast for Singaporeans. As you can guess from the name of the food, they are a toast with butter and kaya which is a coconut jam, often served with coffee. A lot of the chain bakeries such as BreakTalk’s Toast Box and Kun Kaya Toast serve it as well as the local cafes. If you have dining hall accommodations at NUS, they often have Kaya toast as an option for breakfast. If not, Fine Foods at Utown has Kaya toasts too!
These three dishes are a must-try especially because they are affordable, authentic, and most importantly, delicious! Trying the food of the country is one of the BEST ways to explore their unique cultures (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)
