What lah the mother-in-law says

[sundaymorningstaple]

My wife makes it all the time!

In fact, in NTUC, you can buy frozen boneless pork already diced to the ideal size for SS Pork!

[x9200]

I once had Singaporean noodles outside of Singapore but I didn't find that dish here in Singapore when I first visited here 4 years ago. I'm now based here for more than 3 years but I still can't find that Singaporean noodle dish.

Maybe someone made it up so that he doesn't have to serve Peranakan/Nyonya food which Singapore shares with Malaysia

Isn't Laksa a flagship with the Singapore name next to it? I do not really like it - smells somehow phononymously laxative.

And I think you are a bit harsh on the food in SG. Quality is good, variety maybe not extreme but reasonable and whether somebody likes it or not is obviously subjective.

[nakatago]

Maybe someone made it up so that he doesn't have to serve Peranakan/Nyonya food which Singapore shares with Malaysia

Isn't Laksa a flagship with the Singapore name next to it? I do not really like it - smells somehow phononymously laxative.

And I think you are a bit harsh on the food in SG. Quality is good, variety maybe not extreme but reasonable and whether somebody likes it or not is obviously subjective.

I'm confused...who's your reply directed to?

In any case, wikipedia says laksa is Peranakan...found in Singapore and Malaysia and to a lesser extent Indonesia.

BTW, the sweet and sour pork in the hawker center near our office is pretty good. It's not the usual sweet and sour pork but I like their recipe. Goes well with stir-fry veggies.

[poodlek]

Everyone in every country likes food, seems in Singapore they just like to talk about liking it more than elsewhere.

Plus after years here I still don't get what they're on about, and I've tried just about everything. The local stuff is ok sometimes but usually a letdown or nothing special or of low quality.

The food in Thailand or the States or Japan is way better and the variety as wide or wider. Not to mention Europe of course.

Have Chinese food, have Indian food, have Malay food, have Indonesian food, so many ah! Your country - easy lah: Only Western food!"

Hmm, food, glorius food! That's why I wnat to be in SG.
But some S'poreans must have ikan bilis only for very meal - We're spoilt for choice. You can have all these in London but nothing like the hawker centres, food courts, mall courts, hotels and club food in SG, Penang and KL. Don't know about the rest.
We are what we eat.

I have yet to find any food in Singapore that I couldn't get as good or better in Toronto. (Edit: except those little Tutu cakes with the delicious coconut filling) The only difference is the food courts and hawker centres are much cheaper than typical fast food in TO. And TO has a *much* broader variety...African, Caribbean, Central/South American...in addition to "Western" food varieties unknown here like Hungarian or Russian. The list goes on and on. And Toronto isn't even known for its food!

[x9200]

I see (and taste) it this way: Singapore as per average culinary experience beats up many countries (esp. surrounding) with the quality of the ingredients used and maybe (maybe) with more watched food processing procedures. Practically everything is prepared from fresh meat/veggies what is not the case for less tropical countries. I do not think the cooks here are a ubermasters of cooking nor the recipes are somehow unique. They are average. If somewhere in the wild West there is large enough Asian community there is no reason why their cooking should be worse.
What I like here is that I can go to the most sh**ty place, seat on a dirty plastic chair and get a cheap and good Asian food and not be sick after it. I like the food part, not the dirty chair and the sh**ty place

I am very much into Indian food and the best one I ever had I had in Singapore, not in India, for the reasons I mentioned. It tasted roughly the same but was made from clearly inferior ingredients: bones, veins in meat and things like that in a pretty posh restaurants while in Singapore, in much more down to earth places nothing really like this. 2nd best Indian food I ever had was in HK.
But I agree that Western food (say cuisine) is practically not present in Singapore. I like local spicy food so not really a problem for me.

Oh, maybe one exception: have not managed to find any decent Thai restaurant in Singapore. I gave up after few failures.

[EADG]

Agree on the scarcity of decent Thai food here, though have recently found a fairly good one.

I don't agree on the Western point, because over the years there's been more and more good high-end restaurants. And thankfully some really good brunch places too. But high-end places don't really factor in to this conversation, as they, like scarce but beautiful women, can be found in every country - I think what we're talking about are average places, common foods and average conditions.

And totally disagree on quality and freshness. Every average local place I see has food or condiments pre-cooked and lying out until someone buys it - to me this is not fresh or even sanitary, as that's how bacteria thrives and give flies something to feed on. And it is often of questionable quality. I'm spoiled coming from Japan though this too in the States appears generally more sanitary like in delis.

I don't know how many times me and the SO have gone back to food courts and local places, eager to sample something local and good, and been completely disappointed.

And for precautions, though some use plastic gloves, at a disturbing amount of places the workers are eating while they work - something verboten in Japan or the States and really puts me off to a place that I might otherwise go to. So too the practice of people washing hands but not using towels, then wetting the door handles, etc. I consider the cleanliness here to be very questionable, but this of course varies from place to place.

I would have to agree though, that I have not got sick here very often.

And for spicy, like you I like Indian, used to have it twice a week in Japan where it's pretty good but my SO doesn't' like it, really like Thai but don't find much good here, have to resort to Mexican and Korean for spicy which are not hard to find and there's some good places here.

What I don't buy is the practice that add chili=spicy, which to me is a cheap way of covering up something that otherwise has no or questionable taste.

I see (and taste) it this way: Singapore as per average culinary experience beats up many countries (esp. surrounding) with the quality of the ingredients used and maybe (maybe) with more watched food processing procedures. Practically everything is prepared from fresh meat/veggies what is not the case for less tropical countries. I do not think the cooks here are a ubermasters of cooking nor the recipes are somehow unique. They are average. If somewhere in the wild West there is large enough Asian community there is no reason why their cooking should be worse.

I am very much into Indian food and the best one I ever had I had in Singapore, not in India, for the reasons I mentioned. It tasted roughly the same but was made from clearly inferior ingredients: bones, veins in meat and things like that in a pretty posh restaurants while in Singapore, in much more down to earth places nothing really like this. 2nd best Indian food I ever had was in HK.

But I agree that Western food (say cuisine) is practically not present in Singapore. I like local spicy food so not really a problem for me.

Oh, maybe one exception: have not managed to find any decent Thai restaurant in Singapore. I gave up after few failures.

[carlsum1986]

I totally agree.....food in singapore is talked about so much that they dont actuallly realize that they dont have too much variety and the taste of the food is not very good......

+1

@carlsum1986: That's why there must be lots of chili added! So that the food will taste better.

[JR8]

Chicken tikka masala, the UKs favourite curry dish is an English recipe that you will not find in India.

Singapore noodles is either an US or UK recipe I expect, and you will never find it in SG.

p.s. reminds me of an interview with Bernie Ecclestone during the first SG grand prix. asked if was enjoying the food in SG, he ummed and ah'd and bit, and then replied that he really enjoyed the singapore noodles. What a plonker lol...

[x9200]

I don't agree on the Western point, because over the years there's been more and more good high-end restaurants. And thankfully some really good brunch places too. But high-end places don't really factor in to this conversation, as they, like scarce but beautiful women, can be found in every country - I think what we're talking about are average places, common foods and average conditions.

Yes, this is what I meant. Western food is mainly in high-end restaurants. Fish&chips&steak-by-name products do not count in. Same for pizzas and such. Besides, high-end is mostly French cuisine. Brunches are typically Western but it is like everything poured to one pot, made average (for obvious reasons). I am missing the national distinctive restaurants in some larger numbers, Russian, German, mentioned Hungarian, other Eastern European. There are some around but what they are serving is again some kind of understandable compromise. I guess even in 4-5 million country there must be some critical mass willing to dine there.

And totally disagree on quality and freshness. Every average local place I see has food or condiments pre-cooked and lying out until someone buys it - to me this is not fresh or even sanitary, as that's how bacteria thrives and give flies something to feed on. And it is often of questionable quality. I'm spoiled coming from Japan though this too in the States appears generally more sanitary like in delis.

This is just practical but I believe within sanitary regime and some common sense (not a strong point here perhaps). In some other, colder countries it would be just put to a fridge and used on the next day and maybe on the next next next day too. Here this is not an option. The bottom line is, nothing can be left here for longer. It will rot inevitably and this is not something you can miss even with a ton of spices.

I don't know how many times me and the SO have gone back to food courts and local places, eager to sample something local and good, and been completely disappointed.

Maybe you simply do not like it? The food variety served in such places is pretty limited. It would be just a personal preference not the food itself. I could probably say something like this about Chinese food, all the noodles and soups and more - I never had anything, anywhere It made me wow. And I am not against noodles and soups at all. Had this wow reaction eating one curry udon in Osaka.

And for precautions, though some use plastic gloves, at a disturbing amount of places the workers are eating while they work - something verboten in Japan or the States and really puts me off to a place that I might otherwise go to. So too the practice of people washing hands but not using towels, then wetting the door handles, etc. I consider the cleanliness here to be very questionable, but this of course varies from place to place.

I would have to agree though, that I have not got sick here very often.

True. They have weird hygiene habits and eat everywhere but I think at the end of the day it is rather an aesthetic nuisance than a health hazard - at least judging by results.

[ScoobyDoes]

Chicken tikka masala, the UKs favourite curry dish is an English recipe that you will not find in India.

Glasgow actually.

Singapore noodles is either an US or UK recipe I expect, and you will never find it in SG.

p.s. reminds me of an interview with Bernie Ecclestone during the first SG grand prix. asked if was enjoying the food in SG, he ummed and ah'd and bit, and then replied that he really enjoyed the singapore noodles. What a plonker lol...

Maybe he meant to say Singapore Noodles, as in..... Noodles made in Singapore. So far the best i had was in a little cafe in Sai Kung, HK.

[missis]

Singapore noodles - a British invention. Bit of a misnomer but yummy anyway

[EADG]

It's a consensus, who knew?

Odd, I was expecting flames....

Everyone in every country likes food, seems in Singapore they just like to talk about liking it more than elsewhere.

Plus after years here I still don't get what they're on about, and I've tried just about everything. The local stuff is ok sometimes but usually a letdown or nothing special or of low quality.

The food in Thailand or the States or Japan is way better and the variety as wide or wider. Not to mention Europe of course.

I totally agree.....food in singapore is talked about so much that they dont actuallly realize that they dont have too much variety and the taste of the food is not very good......

+1

[nakatago]

It's a consensus, who knew?

Pretty much.

[vbelle]

me and most of my friends agree on that too...
although...which one is real SG food actually? i know those teochew noodle is not good...at all! nasi lemak?hm...so so....wait...thats not singapore food?

[frankspore]

Welll... gotta love the open minded Asians eh?

Having read through just a few posts on this forum, I have got to say that the irony is thick with this one.