I’ve visited the lovely island country of Singapore at least a half dozen times over the years and have always considered it to be a foodie’s paradise. After all, Singapore boasts a wonderful mix of Singaporean, Malaysian, Chinese and Indian food, remarkably good food courts and colourful open-air hawker centres.
I’ve never thought of Singapore as a fine dining destination, however, so I was a little intrigued when an invitation to Singapore Takeout in Sydney popped into my inbox a few weeks ago.
While I always enjoy visting Singapore, die-hard travellers have been known to dismiss it as a safe but boring place – they say it’s hot, it’s humid, it has great hawker stalls and lots of shopping malls but that’s about it. It’s a perception that Singapore Tourism is determined to change with their provocative, new ‘Get Lost’ campaign, which targets both new and returning visitors:
Working in conjunction with ‘Get Lost’, Singapore Takeout is a travelling pop up food event, aimed to show a select audience a different, more sophisticated side to dining in Singapore.
Singapore Takeout has showcased the work of some of Singapore’s top chefs to leading media, food bloggers and competition winners in London, New York, Dehli, Paris, Moscow, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Dubai and, most recently, Sydney (12-14 March). The take-away message is clear: Singapore has evolved. It’s way more interesting and sophisticated than you may think.
At the Sydney event I attended, two dozen Aussie food bloggers were treated to a five course degustation by Ignatius Chan and Head Chef Akmal Anuar from Iggy’s, ranked 27th in The San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2011 and listed 1st in The Miele Guide 2011/2012 Asia’s Top 20 restaurants.
Simon from Simon Food Favourites has made a fantastic video of the night, which pretty much sums it up. Nice work, Simon! You can spot me in the front row in the aqua dress and white jacket.
For those that prefer old-school blogging, first up was nasi lemak, the classic Malaysian hawker dish. Iggy’s version was a nod to the authentic flavours of the dish (coconut milk, pandan, fish, peanuts, tamarind etc) while reinterpreting it in a completely modern and playful way. I actually liked this a lot although I really felt the lack of the usual sambal kick.
Next came sushi, Iggy’s style. Beautifully fresh fish was wrapped around a soy meringue base topped with wasabi paste – an intriguing concept that actually worked very well.
The next dish, cold capalleni, was a delightful dish inspired by the Chinese New Year dish, yu sheng (raw fish salad). It pleased on many fronts: the presentation was lovely, the flavours (sesame oil, yuzu and horseradish) were wonderfully pure and the ponzu granita and deep-fried quinoa added welcome textural and sensory contrasts.
The next dish, the slow-cooked beef cheek marinated in Bass Phillip pinot noir for 40 hours, was outstanding. The meat was melt-in-your -mouth tender, falling apart with a mere nudge of my knife, and presented on a gorgeous wedge of white radish. Top marks, team.
The final dish was a fantastic fusion of East and West. A funked up version of kaya toast (kaya is a coconut, egg and pandan jam) was accompanied by Teh Tarik (‘pulled’ tea with condensed milk) flavoured ice cream and deep-fried tea leaves. It was so good Penny from Jeroxie and I are going to attempt to make our own versions at home.
During the dinner the friendly bloggers at my table – Simon from The Heart of Food, The Food Pornographer, Thang from Noodlies, and Penny from Jeroxie – reminisced about our favourite Singaporean hawker dishes. Many expressed regret that dishes like Haianese Chicken Rice, Curry Laksa and Har Mee (prawn noodles) were not on the menu that night.
So after the Singapore Takeout dinner a bunch of us – my whole table plus Helen from Grab Your Fork, Susan from Chocolate Suze, Thanh from I Eat Therefore I Am, and Tina from Food Booze Shoes – went to Mamak, a Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown. We ordered way too much – namely, sweet and savoury rotis, satays, fried chicken, Teh Tarik, and Ais Kachang (red bean, coconut milk sweet corn and rosehip syrup on crushed ice) – and then proceeded to eat it all.
Afterwards, uncomfortably full and unable to sleep, I pondered. When I am next in Singapore would I do something similar? Could I imagine treating myself to a a fine dining experience and then following it up with a late-night supper at a hawker centre?
Of course I could.
Bloated belly aside, that’s having one’s cake – or kaya toast – and eating it, too.
Christina Soong-Kroeger visited Sydney as a guest of Singapore Takeout, part of the Singapore International Culinary Exchange (SPICE), a joint initiative of the International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, Singapore Tourism Board (STB), and SPRING Singapore. Thanks to Laura Barette at Frank PR for organising my flights and accommodation.
For more information about Singapore check out:
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By the way, a huge thank you to the anonymous person who nominated me for a Best Australian Blogs 2012 award. I’m truly touched and very grateful.
