Singapore is a modern city in Southeast Asia known for its skyscrapers. Tourists around the world love its luxury buildings, gardens, and parks. These make it one of the favorite holiday destinations for families.

Aside from sightseeing in the city, one must not miss its delicious dishes. Singapore is a melting pot of cuisines. Its national dish, Hainanese Chicken Rice, is fragrant and has a special tang and flavor. It is an excellent source of high quality lean white meat protein with very low-fat content. Below is a checklist of local cuisine you should eat when you visit the Lion City.

Chicken Rice

Hainanese Chicken Rice is a well-known and celebrated dish of Singapore. They steep the whole chicken in sub-boiling pork and chicken stock. It absorbs the flavors as it cooks. There are also variations of this dish. Black chicken is when they roast the chicken. Some stalls will even de-bone the chicken for you. They use chicken stock, ginger, garlic, and pandan leaves to cook Chicken Rice. It is often served with chili sauce made with garlic and red chili. Some stalls top it with sweet dark soy sauce and a spoonful of chopped ginger.

Ice Kacang or Ice Beans

This is a mountain of shaved ice on top of a bowl full of assorted ingredients. This includes red bean, attap chee or palm seed, agar agar jelly, chendol, grass jelly, and any other filling. It is then drizzled with evaporated or condensed milk on top. Red rose syrup and Sarsi syrup is then added for the multi-colored effect. Variations of this include adding ice cream or other toppings such as durian.

Singapore Day Food Tour

Roti Prata

This popular dish has a Malay name but is of Indian origin. Roti Prata is a fried flour-based pancake. Variations of this dish include adding cheese, mushrooms, or onions to the batter. Some even add strawberries, chocolates or eggs. They toss, flip and stretch the dough several times into a large thin layer. Then they fold the edges inwards. Another famous variation is the Paper Prata which is crispy because of its very thin dough. Roti Prata is often served with fish or chicken curry. You can also try sprinkling sugar onto it.

Bak Kut Teh or Meat Bone Tea/Pork Ribs Soup

This dish has been around in Singapore since it is still a developing country. It is a simple, humble dish of boiled leftover pork bones with spices to flavor the soup. Such as star anise and pepper. Pork rib meat is often preferred for a more tender bite. A variation of this dish includes the mild use of herbs. Another variant is a dark herbal soup originating from Malaysia.

Popiah

Popiah is a thin paper-like wheat crepe. It encases all the ingredients. The laid-out flat skin is first slathered with a sweet sauce called hoisin. Fillings are then added. This may include small prawns, boiled eggs, Chinese sausage, lettuce, and bean sprouts. They also add cooked carrot and turnip strips.

Tourists who come to Singapore for the first time may find it difficult to walk around the hawker center. Some are not comfortable to roam around on their own. If you are one of those tourists, you may want to try out Singapore Day Food Tour. There are different offers you should check out.