Food is politics, history, culture. It's also the best lens I know for learning about the world. I've eaten extensively across the world, worked on cookbooks, photographed a lot of food for money and for fun, and I write about food often on Mastodon..
Now that I live so far from home, I have to make my own half-boiled eggs. Half boiled eggs are not the same as soft boiled eggs: they come out of the shell almost in a liquid form, not in the shape of an egg that is starting to firm. So it's less cooked than a typical soft boiled egg.
Growing up in Singapore and Malaysia, this was a typical breakfast food. Half boiled eggs were really just vessels for soy sauce and white pepper. Eat them with kaya toast, with a large slab of butter (at least 1cm of butter).
There are lots of recipes for this online but here's what I do.
Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil
Turn off the heat
Gently lower 2 medium-sized, fridge-cold eggs into the water
Cover
Leave it in the water for 7 min for medium sized eggs, add 1 min if you like it less runny
For larger eggs, try 8-9 min with fridge-cold eggs.
Use a spoon to crack all around the eggs, and then pour into a small cup. Use a spoon to scoop up anything left on the shell. Add as much or as little light soy sauce or white pepper as you like.
I've been on Mastodon. Quite a bit. Somehow, over there I've started continued doing what I was doing on Twitter: talk about food. But not just talk about food. I've been reminiscing about the food culture that I left, and how much I miss it. I realize now that growing up in Southeast Asia and living in a few parts of it and seeing almost all of it repeatedly (except East Timor, which is not at all), I've experienced a wealth of people, foods, food culture, and general deliciousness that I'm learning now is rather unique.
Back in that part of the world, it was just food. Not Asian food. Not Southeast Asian food. Just food. So in Othering myself by being an immigrant, I've had a lot of time and opportunity to really think about what this means.
i think about this when i go to dinner parties and people are like 'this dish was delicious' and the host is like 'oh i'll send you the recipe it's super easy it only takes 20 min!' and that's something that is fine
whereas
in indonesia or singapore the conversation would be 'this was delicious' 'yeah it's my great grandmother's recipe it took 50 hours to cook and i'm never going to give you the recipe' and everyone is like 'thank you for sharing it with me i quake in this complexity'
Like everything on social media, part exaggeration, part truth.
This was, in particular, a comment on the difference in food culture that I see. Many people prioritize simplicity and convenience where I now live, which is quite different from where I grew up and where I lived.
I have more thoughts on this from the resulting discussion. Most of it is about labor, ingredients, and food ways, but also, damn I miss that nasi and I miss those dinner parties.
Food is extremely subjective, and in Singapore it's a national pastime and passion. The following lists are based on my tastes. Other people may disagree, and you may want to do further research based on your own dietary preferences.
If you're from Singapore, resist the urge to tell me I missed your faves: I'm prioritizing picks that I think tourists will find more accessible. I don't expect anyone to travel to my corner of the woods to find the best of something.
Laksa: Sungei Road Laksa, Janggut Laksa, Wei Yi Laksa (my absolute fave laksa but the lines are.. long. I waited 60-90 min the last few times I went, and they sell out before noon. definitely one of the most 'local' and 'old school' of the bunch. This is the laksa I grew up eating), 928 Yishun Laksa
Chicken rice: 'what's the best chicken rice' is an explosive question in Singapore. Here are my my picks: Tian Tian (Bourdain's recommendation and has a line to show for it), Ah Tai (similar to Tian Tian, with a less long line, in the same building), Sin Kee (my fave Cantonese style chicken), Tong Kee (my fave roasted style chicken rice), Feng Ji
Chwee kueh: a Teochew breakfast delicacy made of steamed rice cakes (different from idlis, they are more.. glutinous and starchy) served with a delightful turnip / chillies relish. I like mine at Bedok Chwee Kueh @ Chinatown Complex, Jian Bo Shui Kueh, Pek Kio Chwee Kueh. This is one of the more unique foods that I can't really get many other places
Har jeong gai (fermented shrimp paste coated batter) and other distinct styles of fried chicken wings: Ah Tan Wings, Eng Kee, Ban Leong Wah Hoe, No 5 Emerald Hill (go here if you want booze in a bar in a hidden away spot behind busy Orchard Road, with gorgeous old world architecture. The wings are great. The drinks are middling (just have a bottled beer or something), there are better bars in Singapore but it's a unique spot for chicken wings, bottled beer and beautiful historic architecture
A large 'zichar' meal. If you're familiar with the 'dai pai dong' in Hong Kong, zichar is the Singapore equivalent. I always like Kok Sen, JB Ah Meng (hot take: skip the chilli crabs that tourist blogs / videos tell you to go to, and come here instead. Get the white pepper crab, 'san lou' beehoon. It's cheaper and better), Wok Master, Maddie's Kitchen (where I always eat if I'm in the Orchard area), Zhenyi for vegetarian option. Every residential neighborhood will have its own good zichar but I think this list of spots will give you a good introduction to it
Indian rojak (rojak means 'mixed'. Kind of like a salad, but most things are fried and very tasty): Siraj, Habib's, Haji Johan
Fishball noodles or minced pork noodles (very similar: dry noodles with soup on the side. Fishball noodles come with... fishballs. Minced pork noodles come with.. minced pork. Sometimes the lines are blurred): Soon Wah, Hock Lee, Ah Ter, Ah Huat Minced Meat Noodles, Liang Seng
Henghwa food: Ming Chung, Xing Hua Family Restaurant (there's a chain called Pu Tian that you'll see in malls all over, it is pretty decent if you've never had this food, but these spots are better). Heng Hwa / Xing Hua food is food from Fujian, but coastal, and therefore a lot of seafood. I really like it and think it's one of the more unique cuisines you can get here
Singapore-style Hokkien mee. Different from KL Hokkien mee. Singapore Hokkien mee is 'white' and not 'black'. also uses copious amounts of pork lard, but it's more 'broth'-based rather than 'dried' (although it isn't a soup). Hard to describe, but I love this stuff: Blue Star, Hong Heng, You Fu, Prince of Hokkien Mee
Dimsum, like everything else, has 'street' and 'fancy' version and it's here where I truly believe that splurging for dimsum is a better experience than the 'street' version (usually made a factories. Have you seen how much work it takes to make dimsum?! Also we have some really good dimsum spots). My pick for dimsum is Peach Blossoms (call, make a booking for lunch; I believe it's on par with some of the best dimsum in HK) and Ji Xian
Bebek goreng: if you can't make it to East Javan in Indonesia, bring East Java to you. Fried duck with lots of spices is a Surabaya / Madura specialty and one of my favorite dishes anywhere in the world. Thankfully, we have good ones in Singapore too (we also have a large Indonesian population) and my favorite is Pak Ndut.
Really good coffee: even though I live in the land of Sightglass and Four Barrel coffee, Tiong Hoe (and coffee shops in Indonesia) is probably the coffee I miss the most
Greatest hits hawker centres to go to for generally great food
If the list is too overwhelming, literally go to any of these hawker centres and eat anything you find interesting. If there's a line, join it. Anything called 'market and food centre' is a hawker centre with an attached wet market (no wildlife. Just good fresh produce, fish, meat. Generally pretty clean).
Pek Kio market (breakfast, early lunch. Many stalls here are Teochew in origin, run by very old folks, closes very early)
Haig Road (breakfast, lunch). Best option for halal food
Tekka Centre (breakfast, lunch and dinner). The main hawker centre in Little India. One of my faves. Lots of halal options and regional Indian, even Sri Lankan, options. Chinese food at the back. Get freshly made prata. idiyappam, appams, good prawn noodles, and lots more. Wet market at the back is spectacular and is a chef's dream. There's a stall that only sells banana leaves. Another that only sells eggs. Follow the sound of smooth jazz music in the wet market and find yourself at Chia's, an excellent vegetable shop that chefs shop at
Chinatown Complex (breakfast, lunch, dinner). I always say that this single building has more great Chinese food than San Francisco has Chinese restaurants. There are different versions of it, and it's massive. Come in the mornings for excellent mostly Chinese breakfasts. Try one of the last remaining handmade 'sachima' shops. Late night, claypot rice, craft beer. If you love seafood, very good, very affordable seafood in this section of this hawker centre in the evenings. Too many to name, but there are dozens like this clustered together around this stall.
Bedok 85 (good for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. One of the most famous eating spots in the east of the city)
East Coast Lagoon (good for supper, and 'on the way to and from the airport' meals as it's very close to the airport). Nice outdoor hawker centre that is probably the hawker centre to go to if you want a jovial, outdoor exotic hawker centre feel, especially if you've never been to one. Most of the stalls are quite good
Tiong Bahru market (good for breakfast and lunch). Very popular foodie-ish hawker centre.
There's more I want to post on this topic, especially the great regional Indian, regional Chinese and other foods you can get in Singapore, but this is a good starter list just for food somewhat unique to Singapore (and Malaysia).
I start the morning at Tiong Hoe Coffee, one of my favorite coffee spots anywhere.
Tiong Hoe was set up decades ago by Mr Tan Tiong Hoe, who started as an apprentice in a Dutch coffee company in 1960. Today, the cafe is run by another group of younger folks, but you can still see Mr Tan in the cafe drinking coffee and talking to people.
Their house blend "Gachala" is an all time favorite espresso blend. It actually tastes better than many single origins I've had elsewhere. They also tend to have a wide range of coffee beans from all around the world. Unlike many San Francisco roasters which, I find tend to lean way too sour (just like the damned bread in that city), Tiong Hoe's coffees are balanced. Fruity when they have to be, smoky or heavy at other times, but always with interesting notes (the "Gachala" house blend has 'gula melaka' flavors!).
The chicken rice I like at Sin Kee, S$6 with extras
For me, I prefer Cantonese-style chicken rice and I tend to not venture far from the south / west / central parts of the country. So Sin Kee is my spot for 'white' chicken rice, and Tong Kee for 'black' chicken rice. I don't claim them to be my best, they're just my spots.
If you've never had chicken rice like this before, don't make the mistake of thinking they're just plain, boiled chicken. Cantonese and Hainanese people do 'white chicken' in very skillful ways. They use specific types of chicken, different from the kinds we'd get in western supermarkets. They have a technique of blanching, steaming or boiling the chicken that I find difficult to replicate at home. It's definitely more than just boiled chicken. It's the flavor of home, for me.
Blue pea flower ice cream at Birds of Paradise, S$6.80
After walking through the city on a hot day (haha, that's every single day!), I am craving for ice cream. There's a significant craft ice cream scene in the city. It's one of the things I love about it. But today, I am closest to Birds of Paradise, whose Craig Road location actually used to be the space of a well known agile software development web shop (Pivotal), so I feel like it's my worlds colliding. Ice cream and software are the two main things I live for.
Macadamia blue pea flower ice cream with thyme-infused cone
I'm a sucker for blue pea flowers. I love them in drinks, in dessert, in everything really. I love them most of all in ice cream. In Tanjong Pagar alone, there are at least two places for bougie blue pea flower ice cream. Birds of Paradise, and Apiary. I'm a fan of both. And that's not even a fraction of all the good ice cream spots we've got.
While I like ramen, I love mazesoba. I think it's the perfect blend of supple noodles, tasty condiments and ingredients. It's a mix of Japanese and Chinese noodles for me. This style originates from Nagoya, Japan, which confusingly calls it a 'Taiwan mazesoba'. I like the one at Kajiken. There's a Kajiken in San Mateo now, which makes me happy.
All in, I got to check off a lot of things on my 'places I always go to'. I'm happy!
My all time favorite Indonesian food is nasi rawon.
I love it so much I will order it every time I see it. Surabaya, Malang and other East Java cities, tend to make the versions I love the most.
This spot has delicious rawon. Beefy, but light, with the spices and flavors of the keluak nut. Since I haven’t found a source for keluak in the US, I don’t make this at all. In a pinch, the Bamboe brand of premade spices (available at Richmond New May Wah in San Francisco) has a good rawon packet, but it’s obviously not as great as having it here. Still, I’d rather have rawon from a pack when I’m in California, than none at all.
I’ve also noticed that most of the Indonesian restaurants in NorCal where I live tend to be western Javanese or Balinese, or really some pan-Javanese / Asian flavors that are much, much lighter than the intensely savory Eastern Javanese food that I prefer.
So I am over the moon to be back in Surabaya, having the dishes and flavors that feel just right.
P.S. Apparently, if a restaurant in Java has ‘Setan’ in the name it means it is open late. Because obviously only devils stay out late (that’s what parents would call kids who stay out too late).
Rawon Setan
No 78/I, Jl. Embong Malang
Surabaya
(Map)
