Hwa Xing Bak Kut Teh: #OurHawkerCulture Pork Bone Tea!
The word "culture" can be defined as "the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society" If you are still wondering if our hawker culture is indeed so unique that it should be recognized by UNESCO, then come with me to Yuhua hawker centre and then to Pek Sin Choon tea merchants to explore the relationship between pork bone soup and gongfu tea.
Mei Ji Fishball Noodles: #OurHawkerCulture The Kampung Spirit!
The kampung spirit is still alive and well in our hawker centres! I met with Philip Tan recently who has been selling fishball noodles at Bukit Merah Food Centre since 1980 and he related some fascinating stories of how the hawkers, about half of whom have been there for almost four decades, behave almost like one big extended family.
Do you all remember the ice cream man who would go around the neighbourhood ringing his bell? “Cling cling, cling cling ……” Everyone will know the ice cream man was around and us kids will start clamouring for ice cream. But what is a housewife to do when you live in a flat with three […]
Tiong Bahru Lien Fa Shui Jing Pau (Teochew Crystal Dumplings) :Last of the Artisans
This unassuming little hawker stall at Alexandra village food centre is probably the last of its kind in Singapore that is still selling Teochew crystal dumplings or what is we Teochews call chwee jia bao. What characterises these dumplings is the chewy, see through skin which is made from tapioca flour. The skin is rather […]
The adage “Teochew lang haolian” (Teochews love to boast) never fails to validate itself whenever I meet with a (good) Teochew hawker. This time it’s Mr Tay Ah Liat, 73 who has been selling kway chap for almost 50 years! He started his craft as a young 20 something year old at the now defunct […]
Of late, I have started re-visiting some of the hawker stalls which I have written about years ago. When I first wrote about Chey Sua back in 2009, it wasn’t that easy to interview hawkers. In those days, social media was a relatively new and so an inquisitive blogger was greeted which much suspicion. Nowadays […]
Ah Ter Teochew Fishball Noodle Bar: Forerunners of Hawker Cuisine!
Our hawker cuisine has been undergoing a period of maturity in the last decade or so. In the 70’s and 80’s we witnessed the progression of hawkers from pushcarts to hawker centres. Then in the 90’s and 2000s, some of the famous ones moved into the food courts and franchising began. In the last decade or so, we have seen how certain dishes like wanton mee have gone on to open their own specialty restaurants.
Nam Sing Hokkien Mee: The History and Origins of Hokkien Mee!
In this year’s National Day Rally speech, our Prime Minister announced that our hawker culture being nominated for inscription into Unesco’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This, he says, will “help to safeguard and promote this unique culture for future generations”. Well, I am all for our hawker culture to be […]
My quest for the ultimate charsiu rice has brought me to Kim Heng Roasted in Serangoon. Foodies living around the area would be familiar about this place which has been around for three decades.
Wong po lou meen, (lit yellow cloth, blanched noodles) is one those old school dishes that is so old that I don't remember eating it as a child! But then again, I didn't come from a family of adventurous gastronomes so that might not mean much.
Mr Avocado Exotic Juice: Avocado Shakes at Alexandra Village! Liquid Gold!
Updated 8 Aug 2018 How time flies! It’s been 11 years since I last wrote about Mr Avocado! I visited the stall recently and finally got to meet the man who started the whole avocado shake phenomena at Alexandra Village Food Centre. He told me that he was the first to start selling avocado shakes […]
A good teh tarik is not easy to make. First you have to start with good ingredients — that goes without saying. You will never produce a good cup of teh tarik with lousy tea dust. But, that is only half of the equation. Even if you have the right blend of tea and condensed […]
