Those who know me well know that I LOVE food. In my spare time, I like coming up with new recipes and trying new foods/restaurants. I also have this weird habit of watching BuzzFeed Food, Food Network, and TasteMade before going to sleep, so this country is truly a paradise for a food lover like myself!
On a normal day, I usually go to the closest hawker center or Food Republic, which is basically a food court. The food is definitely not just any ordinary food because there are so many options and varieties. It is apparent that Singaporeans love food because there is a restaurant or a mall with a giant food court at every corner of this country. I also found the frequency at which Singaporeans eat out to be quite interesting. When I am home, I probably eat out once or twice during the week and maybe once during the weekend with friends. However, Singaporeans eat out everyday here and sometimes, for multiple meals. My Singaporean friend told me this is the case because it is cheaper to eat out than it is to cook. I found this to be true because I have had a meal here for 3.50 SGD!! 3.50 SGD is equivalent to approximately $2.50 USD! Speaking of interesting things I observed here, one major difference between the meal etiquette in the States and Singapore would be the combination of utensils. I usually use a fork and knife, but in Singapore, people use a fork and a spoon.
Now, let us move on to the best part of this blog post, the Singaporean foods itself! There are so many Singaporeans food that I love: nasi lemak, mee goreng, fried kway teow, kaya toast, and the list goes on. I think the phrase “less is better” always reigns true because my all time favorite Singaporean food would be popiah. In the simplest terms, popiah is like Singaporean/Malaysian spring rolls that are not fried. This simple definition really discredits the complexity in making these delicious rolls because the process is quite laborious. Just the filling itself requires grating carrots and jicama, pan frying those two vegetables, making chili paste and sweet sauce from scratch, grinding up peanuts, blanching the shrimp, picking the ends off the bean sprouts, and julienning a cucumber. All these steps are required before assembling the popiah, so as one can see, it is definitely a food that looks deceptively simple.
