Singing the praises of Singapore's street food

Anyone who grew up in 1960s Singapore would have fond memories of watching outdoor Chinese operas, and will recall, even more fondly, the street snacks sold at the sites. But thanks to some enterprising businessmen, these delicacies have found their way into modern food courts and shopping malls and in some cases, replica settings of Old Singapore for that extra authentic feel.

Walk into Food Republic at Wisma Atria and you'll think you have stepped back to that era. This food court chain, owned by Breadtalk Group, can be found at various locations in Singapore. From wood-lined walls, to rough-hewn timber dining tables, uneven wooden shelves and wood hangings at doorways, nothing is left to the imagination. Saunter down the aisles, you dodge waitresses in samfoos and handkerchief head scarves, peddling timsum and an assortment of drinks on pushcarts.

Sweet

The Ice Shop stall, despite its name, sells hot as well as cold desserts -- Tau Suan (split green bean soup) eaten with Youtiao pieces (Chinese donut), Pulot Hitam (black glutinous rice), Cheng Tng (sweet dessert soup made containing longans, barley, gingko nuts and white fungus). Served cold or hot, red bean paste is among the newer inventions --  sea coconut jelly, mango puree, lycees, all topped with shaved ice. Many of us enjoyed these treats before, seated at street stalls under tarpaulin covers and hurricane lamps to the strains of opera singing.

The modern-day version is Ice Kacang. Syrup, milk and sweet corn cream are dribbled over the ice shaving cone and red beans, palm seeds, grass jelly and Agar Agar cubes hidden at the bottom of the plate. 

Close by is the Kueh Tutu stall, smoke hissing from two low stainless steel steamers sitting atop a stove. Previously you were likely to spend more time watching the hawker at work than the opera show. Standing by the tricycle, your face warmed by the tiny glow from the kerosene lamp, you watched him spoon shredded coconut, sweetened by Gula Melaka, or crushed peanuts into tiny moulds, followed by rice flour (or glutinous flour), then wrapped them round a tiny cloth and put into the steamer. Some vendors (Tangs Market, Tangs basement) have added new-fangled tastes, Durian Kueh Tutu.

These days, the same vendor is likely to sell Muah Chee, another glutinous rice snack. A strip of the sticky steamed flour, usually flavored with sesame oil, is scissor-cut into smaller pieces and rolled on grounded peanuts and sugar.

Deep-fried

Deep-fried snacks like youtiao, butterfly buns and salted buns, are always crowd-pullers. At Jing Jing Youtiao (Tangs Basement) the youtiao are extra large and make those sold in the past look emaciated. 

Rojak (which means ‘mixture’ in Malay) is a fruit-cum-vegetable salad, a blend of soft and crunchy textures and sweet, sour and spicy tastes. Bite-size slices of pineapple, cucumber, turnip, bean sprouts, taupok (deep-fried tofu), youtiao and kangkong are drenched in a tamarind-chilli-shrimp-paste-sugar-peanut dressing and sometimes perfumed by bits of pink ginger. For extra bite, the dish is topped with heaps of crushed peanuts. The stall at Toa Payoh (Bus Interchange basement) issues a queue number to customers, to cope with its long queues.

Saltish-sour-sweet

Preserved and dried fruits, known in Hokkien as saltish-sour-sweet, these tidbits are as ubiquitous as Kueh Tutu. Apricot slices, sugar-frosted lotus root rings, salted plums, liquorice plums, wrinkly prunes, olives, cuttle-fish strings, candied winter melon strips, sweet almonds, honey dates, hawthorn flakes, nutmeg cloves, grated nutmeg-white sugar mix and a myriad of colors and flavors displayed in rows and rows of open trays all previously drew human crowds as well as houseflies and bees. Now, these delights are sold from capped bottles and pretty boxes (Umeya food chain widens the choices to include jelly and chocolates). The plethora of novel snacks can be distracting, but these age-old tidbits will always retain their allure, especially among those who refused to grow up.

Recommended snacks and stalls

Ice Shop: hot and cold desserts (S$1.10-1.80 per bowl)
Food Republic, Wisma Atria, 4th Floor, Orchard Road, Singapore

Tan's Tutu Coconut Cake: tutu coconut cake (3 for S$2)
Food Republic, Wisma Atria, 4th Floor, Orchard Road, Singapore

Jing Jing Youtiao: salted bun, ham chee pang, youtiao (80c each)
Tang's Market (Tang's Basement), 320 Orchard Road, Singapore

Duan Pandan Rice Dumpling: durian kueh tutu (3 for S$2), muah chee (S$2 per packet)
Tang's Market (Tang's Basement), 320 Orchard Road, Singapore

Lee Wee & Brothers Foodstuff: otah (prawn, fish, squid; S$1.10-1.30) 
Tang's Market (Tang's Basement), 320 Orchard Road, Singapore

Xi De Li Youtiao: salted bun (S$1.20), butterfly bun (S$1), youtiao (S$1)
The Food Opera, 2, Orchard Turn, ION Orchard, Basement 4, Singapore

Umeya Food Services: saltish-sour-sweet tidbits
3rd Floor (shop without walls, next to escalator), Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road, #02-21/22/23 Tiong Bahru Plaza, Singapore 168732