2007-09-21T03:37:00.000-07:00

The cuisine of Singapore is often viewed by her population as a prime example of the ethnic diversity of the culture of Singapore. The food is heavily influenced by Malaysian, Chinese, Indian (specifically southern Indian styles), Indonesian, and even Western traditions since its founding by the British in the 1800s. In Singaporean hawker stores, for example, chefs of a Chinese ethnic background might experiment with Indian influences such as tamarind, turmeric and ghee ,
while an Indian chef could serve a greater amount of coconut products.
This phenomenon makes the cuisine of Singapore significantly rich and a cultural attraction. Most of the prepared food bought outside home is eaten at hawker centres or food courts, examples of which include Lau Pa Sat and Newton Food Centre, rather than at actual restaurants. These hawker centres are relatively abundant which leads to low prices and encourages a large consumer base.
Cross-cultural/fusion
A number of dishes, listed below, can be considered as truly hybrid or multi-ethnic food.
Fish head curry ,
traced to Chinese and Indian roots. The head of an ikan merah (literally "Red fish") - which is red snapper, is stewed in curry with vegetables. Usually served with either rice or bread.
Satay bee hoon, thin rice vermicelli served with spicy peanut satay sauce
Spicy kangkung, a dish of leafy green vegetables (water convolvulus) fried in sambal.
Tauhu goreng, fried tofu with sweet sauce
Singapore-style Western food, Chinese interpretations of Western cuisine, although Malay-inspired versions also exist. Hainanese cooks in Singapore hybridised Western dishes for local palates during the country's British colonial era, creating such dishes as stewed pork chop in tomato sauce served with green peas.

Nyonya food
Nyonya food was invented by the Peranakan people of Malaysia and Singapore. It uses mainly Chinese ingredients but blends them with South-East Asian spices such as coconut milk, lemon grass, turmeric, screwpine leaves, chillies and sambal. It can be considered as a blend of Chinese and Malay cooking.
Examples of Nyonya dishes include:
Laksa lemak is a type of laksa served in a rich coconut gravy.
Otak-otak
is a fish cake grilled in a banana leaf wrapping. The town of Muar is famous for it.
Ayam pongteh, a chicken stew cooked with tauchu and gula melaka that is sweetish
Ayam buah keluak, a chicken dish cooked using the nuts from Pangium edule or the "Kepayang" tree, a mangrove tree that grows in Malaysia and Indonesia
Cincalok, a distinctly Peranakan condiment made of fermented shrimp
Se Bak, pork loin, marinated overnight with herbs and spices, cooked over a slow fire and simmered to perfection.
Rojak (Malay Influenced: 水果囉喏). A fruit salad with a topping of thick dark prawn paste

What makes us uniquely Singaporeans in relation to Food and Habits

2007-09-20T04:31:00.000-07:00

Main Post

Singapore is a mixture of people of many races, religion and nationalities. However, all the races are capable of communicating efficiently and well with one another.

Here are some people’s views about what makes Singaporean unique among all the other countries:

The fast moving and challenging lifestyle has always been the same daily routine for all Singaporeans. – Tuan Gengxing, full-time national serviceman,

Multi-racial, Singlish speaking, Always for the better seeking.

Studying hard for a degree, Pay for one and get one free.

Hawker centres and smelly durians, Those things make us Singaporeans.

-Vanessa Manap, student, 12

Do you…

… speak with a Singlish slang?

… eat from the meepok man

… aim for 10/10?

… shop at NTUC?

… dream of winning lottery?

If you do, SINGAPOREAN you’re through and through!

- Lynne Chan, student, 12

“Multi-everything” makes us Singaporean:

Multi-lingual, multi-racial, multi-religious,

Multi-cultural, multi-tasking, Not to forget out multi-storey carparks.

-Otsuka Keiko, student, 10

Everywhere in Singapore,

The people sing a song.

“Lah, lah, lah, loh, loh, loh.”

Groove to the tune of the Singapore Song!

- Joanna Lee, student, 15

TEN THINGS THAT MAKE US SINGAPOREAN

1. We use too many acronyms yet keep creating new ones.

2. We think that $100,000 is a reasonable price for a Toyota Corolla, and $1,000,000 is a reasonable price for a bungalow, but $5 for a plate of fried noodles is a barbarous

outrage.

3. We think that everything should be ‘topped up’.

4. We wear winter clothes indoors and summer clothes outdoors.

5. In a country where people use smart cards for public transit, we have no problem with construction workers riding in the open backs of pickup trucks.

6. We’re not ashamed that the government needs to care if we know how to use a toilet or urinal correctly.

7. We’re sure that the best way to change social behaviour is through consistent and comprehensive government-sponsored campaigns that permeate as many aspects of life as possible. And when they don’t work, we never speak of them again.

8. We think a bus is incomplete without a TV.

9. Every task we take on and every group we form is incomplete without a mission statement and a cheesy slogan.

10. We understand everything on this list.

- Chin Liong Choon, public servant, 23

We also have our own unique state icons:

· Singapore Flag

· State Crest

· Merlion

Furthermore, all men in Singapore are to serve 2 years of compulsory National Service and Singaporeans are the creators of the SAR 21 gun.

The 1 typical characteristic of Singaporeans is the sense of kiasu-ness.

Singapore’s port also contain more than 600 shipping lines sending their ships to share the busy waters with coastal fishing vessels and wooden lighters.

Moreover, Singapore has a lot of different cuisines by the various different racial groups. Some of them would include the black pepper crabs, curries and the mee goreng that many of us eat quite often.

Videos

A video made by pre-university students to depict what are unique about Singaporeans.

A funny video regarding Singapore.

Acknowledgement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKMUjHCbh-U
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:BWTYmBb4ZQwJ:www.nexus.gov.sg/resources/NDP03book.pdf+what+makes+us+singaporean&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=sg

3. http://trigram.wordpress.com/2004/06/07/what-makes-a-singaporean/
4. http://sp1.mm-a2.yimg.com/image/2241137059
5. http://re3.mm-a10.yimg.com/image/374240609
6. http://re3.mm-a6.yimg.com/image/3606736072
7. http://re3.mm-a3.yimg.com/image/2788735386
8. http://re3.mm-a4.yimg.com/image/3045485920

3E7 ACE Project

What makes us uniquely Singaporeans in relation to Food and Habits

TEN THINGS THAT MAKE US SINGAPOREAN