Singapore's Hawker Food Culture: What to Eat & How to Eat

hey fillers floors one of the things I love about Singapore is the food here and in particular at Hawker centers there are over a hundred of these Hawker centers in Singapore where a whole ton of restauranteers have gotten together to provide cheap tasty and delicious food like for example this chicken rice and drink eight Singaporean dollars so about six U.S for a full meal now in this video I'm going to tell you everything you need to know to eat and experience the Hawker centers in Singapore I'm going to tell you what kind of like the etiquette is to eat at these places the process how to order I'm going to tell you what some of the best traditional dishes are to get and then I will conclude with some of the best poker centers in the city and I'm starting this one at Laos set which if you're staying in the central business district is in walking distance to many of the hotels I'm staying at the JW Marriott and I just walked here for about 20 minutes pretty convenient so when Singapore games independence from British rule and Malaysia the new government seek to clean up the food vendor scene with thousands of vendors selling food on the street in carts with questionable hygiene practices they seek to clean it all up which didn't mean to close it all down but it meant building facilities for these vendors to move into with the infrastructure that they need to prepare food cleanly and safely like electricity and running water things that people that sell food out in carts generally don't have I mentioned that there's over 100 of these in Singapore the biggest of them is the Hawker Center in Chinatown which has over 260 stalls they call them stalls because when they built these things they were literally stalls for people to push their cart skin from the street and just move them into one of these places why do they call them Hawkers well because that's the British English term for someone selling food or items out in the street they're Hocking their food out on the street now the food in these places much of it is quite amazing and delicious the Michelin guide has like given Michelin stars to food stalls one behind me here in La facet has a bib Gourmand award board and you can get a Michelin starred meal at a hawker Center in Singapore for like three dollars true story this will definitely not be a Michelin meal that will break your bank so but now how are they so cheap how can they afford to provide this food three dollars No Frills that's how uh all Hawker centers are open air they are outside but have a roof because it rains here so much that they need a roof so they'll often have a roof and some fans but no air conditioning that saves on money what are some other things that you don't get at Hawker centers many Hocker centers you have to pay to use the toilet you don't get tissues or Kleenex or napkins you need to bring your own napkins to use to wipe your hands or wipe your mouth one of the things I always bring when I'm out in Singapore is the hand towel from my hotel it's gonna be good for wipe in the mouth or even the forehead because it is so hot here uh now if the like if the no air conditioning really bums you out it's too hot to eat in these places for you most major shopping malls in Singapore will have an indoor air can conditioned food court that you can eat in air-conditioned Comfort though you're going to pay two to three times the price and the locals will tell you the food isn't quite as good in the food courts as it is in the Hawker centers I don't know at the tourists sometimes it's hard for me to tell the difference I like them in both places uh but I do like the variety and the cheapness of the Hawker center it's not today which is like a rainy day that I'm shooting this actually keeps the temperature down and so it's quite Pleasant to eat in here all right so how do you get your food at these stalls at most Hawker centers you will go line up at one of the Stalls and you'll pay for your food uh some Hawker centers are card only here at Lao Passat card only so if you have cash there's a stall where you can add your cash to a digital card and then you can use that to pay at the vendors at some Hawker centers Newton Food Center in particular the tables will have numbers on them and then if the tables have numbers first you'll get a table and then you'll go to the stall and then you'll tell them what table you're sitting at and then they'll bring your food to your table if you're ordering at the stall and then you take your food to your table generally you'll pay at the time you order it if it's one where they bring your food to your table then generally you'll pay at the time they bring the food to your table tables in the Hawker centers they're not reserved you can't call in and say like hey I'd like to have a table for five at six pm first come first serve but now the way local singaporeans will reserve a table is they might put something on it like a water bottle that claims the table or a pack of Kleenex if you see a package of Kleenex or facial tissues that doesn't mean the table is free that means the table's been reserved for somebody who's going to get their food the term they use is to choke the table now generally the food stalls in the Hawker centers only sell food and then there's another stall that will sell drinks and then maybe dessert here in La Pasta there are two drink stalls there's one in the center that sells like sugar cane juice lime juice mango juice also shaved ice for dessert and then there's another salt that sells beer there's like 100 stalls here but only two that sell drinks the 98 sell food and so if you want your drinks I recommend getting that first and then going to get your food often the drinks can be the same price as the food because ice and Refrigeration is expensive in such a hot country I also like to bring some extra bottled water from the hotel now get yourself something that has some soup because that'll help hydrate you too all right let's talk about some of the must eat Foods you need to eat while you're here in Singapore and strategically that's what I've got in front of me oh by the way hello pasta one of the things I like about it it's this old school um place and so like the Bell actually Chimes every 30 minutes you can hear that Central Bell chiming that it is it is one o'clock right now on a Saturday all right so the first must eat food in Singapore is chicken rice this is like the national dish of Singapore it comes in two Styles roasted or steamed and depending upon which one you get it comes on a bed of rice the rice has typically been cooked in chicken broth and also Ginger flavors usually serve with some carrots on the side some kind of soup and then some dipping sauces the dipping sauces are key um usually you'll get like a trio of dark soy sauce some chili sambal and then some like a ginger scallion oil so if you like you know the skin to be maybe a little bit crispy or tastier get the roasted one they're both good and you know what the portions actually pretty small Hawker centers so as like a big American guy like me I can probably get like three things from three different stalls to make up a lunch or dinner uh this one it's like five bucks for the chicken rice and the soup and a little over two bucks for the uh lime juice you know eight dollars total bring that down in the US Dollars about six US dollars for this um tasty meal the chicken's moist it's really flavorful it's not dry but I didn't dip it in the sauce like I was supposed to because I'm doing this and I just had it in front of me so I'm gonna go ahead and dip this into the this is a thick soy sauce actually it's not like a regular soy sauce soy sauce so it holds on to the chicken better and the sweet and salty kind of all together and then this one is more on the spicy side of the house we'll go ahead and dip right in there a little bit vinegary too without spice home just the right level of spice delicious this should be your first Hawker Center meal like pretty much every Hopper Center in Singapore you're going to find some stall that sells chicken right oh and when you're done with your food definitely clear your table and bring your trays back to the tray return area it turns out not clearing your table actually illegal in Singapore and can lead to a fine yes one of the many illegal things but now if you want to eat at the local favorite chicken rice it's the Tien Tien chicken rice in the Maxwell Road Hawker Center in Chinatown which is what I have right here six dollars for this dish only comes with one sauce it doesn't come with the dark soy sauce it just comes with the um this is like everything all in one I mean not soy sauce but it's like ginger spicy how do I know I've already had one bite but um I'll dig another one on camera it is so good this is so moist they have long lines I had to wait in line maybe 20 minutes something like that but it moves pretty quickly coming off hours this Hawker Center is so busy this is the Maxwell Road Hawker Center which is another great Hawker Setter to check out but it can be quite busy even at like two o'clock in the afternoon it's almost no place set so I had to sit out here kind of in the rain that's okay it's cooler out here and the chicken is just delicious oh I forgot to tell you what I was drinking I've got a lime juice right here from a stall just a couple doors down from the chicken rice Place 1.50 for this lime juice a classic Singaporean drink so sour makes you pucker another musty food at the Hawker centers is roast pork rice you'll find these kinds of stalls where they've got the roast pork and probably a lot of other roast Meats hanging in the window this one is from that stall back there in the People's Park food center this is another Food Center in Chinatown um it's good it's crispy but it's also moist at the same time and the rice sauce on the rice a few cucumbers to go with it and a little bowl of soup as usual no beverages at the food stalls there was a beverage stall right next door that I got the iced tea this one is a iced lemon tea now in Singapore they like uh sweetened iced tea with actual like piece of lemon in it that they squeeze this is the large cup for 2.30 perfect so ever since the Michelin guide has started giving Michelin stars and bib Gourmand Awards to hawker stalls there's become this whole cottage industry of franchising those popular hawker stalls and so I am at one of those franchised food courts this is the Jurassic food court at Gardens by the bay where every stall in here is a famous Hawker stall that's received a Michelin award somehow the one I'm eating from is Hawker chin famous for their soy sauce chicken rice that comes with beans as the side I also got a wonton soup and a iced tea those iced tears this is the Malaysian pulled tea with condensed milk that came from the drink stalk the dings you hear in here is because um you don't pay from the stall you there's like a common order kiosk and then the when your food's ready there's like a screen and every time it dings another order's ready it's busy and kind of annoying I mean I'd rather hear sounds of dinosaurs than of dings um let's try one of these uh pork pieces right here I'll dip it in the chili sambal give it a go good well is it better than the pork rice I had in Chinatown probably not just more famous you should definitely eat the fried prawn Hawken meat what is this this is noodles with some prawns shrimps and the noodles they're kind of in like a little soupy mixture walked up fresh and it typically served with some sort of chili sauce or chili sambal on the side I got this one from a stall at the Albert food center and she told me that it was very very spicy and uh let me tell you I had just a little bit and it's really spicy generally with the sambal that chili sauce you kind of like stirred and you mix it up because it's soupy and it mixes it up all together I think I'm gonna mix in just a just a tiny tiny little bit if you're looking for Indian food then the Hawker Center to go is the techa center in Little India which is where I am right now like half the vendors here specialize just in Indian food lots of great Biryani vendors and I was here for the prata which is an Indian flower bread cooked up fresh it comes in a bunch of different varieties I've got the one with honey so this is like a dessert prata but you can also get it with a curry as a dipping sauce two dollars and fifty cents right here for this hot soft but crispy chewy but not too chewy and sweet with the honey really quite delicious to drink from the stall right next door I got a honey ginger lemon lemonade I guess but oh it doesn't it doesn't taste like lemonade I mean there's a little bit of lemon in it but it's definitely like ginger is the prevailing Taste of this drink so if you want to like boost your immunity or something like that get a honey ginger lemon drink if you like spicy foods definitely get yourself a bowl of laksa what is in this bowl there's some noodles there's some seafood there's some bean sprouts there's some eggs a lot of stuff in a broth that they often call gravy it is curry coconut and some spices pretty good when you're in Singapore you should definitely get the carrot cake they may be thinking Chris that doesn't look like any carrot cake I've ever seen this is Carrot Cake in Singapore it has no carrots it is made of radish mixed with flour that are kind of steamed made into these little cubes with eggs stir-fried with egg and garlic and always served with some spicy chili sambal sauce pretty good and to drink I've got honey iced honey lemon which is more honey than it is lemon good though 13 here at the food Opera because it is hot today and I really needed some air conditioning in a food cart definitely check out the Indonesian cuisine while you're here and the way these Indonesian Places work is really the food's all out there prepared and you just sort of pick and choose what you want you get like one meat or you get two meat so here I've got the beef rendang I've got some chicken four different vegetables and some rice and some spicy sauce of course because everything's better with some spicy sauce these look like some spicy potatoes would indeed that's what that is some tofu over here um the beef which is like uh like juice or sauce on it right there that looks yummy there's it's really good a classic dessert in Singapore is shave ice and there's a lot of different types of Shave Ice um Malaysian classic is sendol which is Shave Ice Panda leaves this one they've got red bean you'll find these with lots of different toppings where am I eating this I'm eating this at the Chinatown Hawker Center not Maxwell Road that I was in earlier this one is a block and a half away and there's 260 more vendors in this place it's pretty crazy but you gotta eat it fast because it's hot outside and I better stop talking otherwise all my ice is going to melt and just another example of Singaporean shave ice this is at the Singapore Zoo at the inuka cafe this is called the Bobo Cha-Cha it's got yams it's got Taro and hmm like jello or jelly pieces well fellas floors if you enjoyed this video you might enjoy checking out some more of my videos from Singapore you'll find the links here on the screen or in the description below and as users I won't say goodbye because I'm going to see you in one of those videos

Channel: Yellow Productions

Views: 80,634

Keywords: Yellow Productions, singapore, singapore food, singapore hawker centres, singapore hawker centre, hawker centre, hawker center, singapore hawker center, singapore street food, street food singapore, best street food singapore

Id: 5bJAV0ljsFo

Length: 16min 34sec (994 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 07 2023