Xiang Ji Wanton Noodle: "Wanton Noodles"

Wanton noodles are familiar even in Japan. While often imagined as a soup noodle dish, dry wanton noodles are also very popular in Singapore. The dish is served with springy egg noodles tossed with Chinese greens called 'choy sum' and char siu, accompanied by a separate bowl of soup with wantons.

"From the char siu to the soup, everything is meticulously prepared with time and effort. The overall balance is excellent. People have slightly different ways of eating dry wanton noodles. My method is to pick up a few noodles, place char siu and wantons on top, and eat them. Since I tend to run out of wantons, the trick is to order an extra bowl of soup at the beginning. Then, after finishing the noodles, I drink the soup. It's an obsessive ritual, isn't it? (laughs)"(Recommended byWIRIN LOW)

Xiang Ji Wanton Noodle
Bedok Food Centre, 1 Bedok Road #30, Bedok
Nearest Station: 2-minute walk from bus stop Eastwood Centre (B85019)
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 12:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Closed: Mondays

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Ye Lai Xiang Hot & Cold Cheng Tng: "Cheng Tng"

Cheng Tng is a dessert soup sweetened with brown sugar, containing over 10 ingredients including lychees, longans, barley, sago pearls, candied melon, and dried persimmons. Founded in 1937, the current owner is the third generation, still preserving the traditional taste.

"This is a familiar place I've been going to since I was a child. It's in the same hawker center as the wanton noodle stall, so my usual routine is to have the wanton noodles and then finish with Cheng Tng here for dessert. While many places nowadays use pre-made ingredients, the owner here still makes everything from scratch according to the old recipe. It's a laborious process, but the difference is clear when you taste it. You won't be able to eat other Cheng Tng after this."(Recommended byWIRIN LOW)

Ye Lai Xiang Cheng Tng
Bedok Food Centre, 1 Bedok Road #31, Bedok
Nearest Station: 2-minute walk from bus stop Eastwood Centre (B85019)
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 11:30 AM - 8:30 PM
Closed: Mondays
Price: From $2

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Chomp Chomp BBQ Seafood: "Stingray"

This seafood barbecue stall, established in 1987, offers "Stingray"—stingray seasoned with spices like belacan (shrimp paste) and chili, then steamed and grilled wrapped in banana leaves. The freshness of the stingray is paramount. It's an enduringly popular hawker dish in Singapore.

"The great thing about stingray is that it has no bones and is easy to eat. The small bones in the flesh are soft, so they're edible. This one, in particular, is exceptionally tender and juicy. Because it's steamed in banana leaves, the aroma of Southeast Asia's bananas gently fills your mouth. I tried it once, and it was so delicious that I've been coming back ever since."(Recommended byWIRIN LOW)

Chomp Chomp BBQ Seafood
Chomp Chomp Food Centre, 20 Kensington Park Road #01-01, Serangoon
Nearest Station: 2-minute walk from bus stop Serangoon Garden Circus (B66271)
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 5:00 PM - 12:00 AM
Closed: Mondays
Price: From $8

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Chia Keng Fried Hokkien Mee: "Fried Hokkien Mee"

Fried Hokkien Mee, a stir-fry of thick yellow noodles and thin bee hoon with seafood, is characterized by its rich, appetite-stimulating aroma. This fragrance comes from the 'dashi' (broth) made from prawns, which also gives the dish its name. Don't forget to add the chili and lime served alongside.

"There are various types of Hokkien Mee, but I prefer the one with thin bee hoon. It absorbs the broth better, don't you think? I recommend trying it with the two types of chili. The chili paste served on the plate is too spicy and overwhelms the broth's flavor, so I use it to dip the ingredients like squid and shrimp. The fresh cut chili they provide upon request is best mixed with the noodles and bee hoon. It multiplies the deliciousness."(Recommended byWIRIN LOW)

Chia Keng Fried Hokkien Mee
Chomp Chomp Food Centre, 20 Kensington Park Road #01-02, Serangoon
Nearest Station: 2-minute walk from bus stop Serangoon Garden Circus (B66271)
Hours: 5:30 PM - 1:00 AM
Price: From $3

Chomp Chomp Satay Bee Hoon: "Satay Bee Hoon"

Satay Bee Hoon is a unique Singaporean hawker dish, featuring stir-fried bee hoon, seafood, pork, and kangkong (water spinach) topped with a peanut sauce originating from Malay cuisine. The rich peanut aroma enhances the flavors of the ingredients.

"This is a creative dish born from someone picking up satay peanut sauce and thinking, 'Let's try putting it on bee hoon.' It's a delicacy you can only find in Singapore. Hidden within the sauce are many ingredients like pork, squid, shrimp, and tofu. Well, it might not be the most visually appealing dish (laughs), but I like that you can enjoy a variety of flavors and textures all at once."(Recommended byWIRIN LOW)

Chomp Chomp Satay Bee Hoon
Chomp Chomp Food Centre, 20 Kensington Park Road #01-17, Serangoon
Nearest Station: 2-minute walk from bus stop Serangoon Garden Circus (B66271)
Hours: 4:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Closed: Every other Monday
Price: From $3

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Ang Sa Lee Satay: "Pork Satay"

Singapore-style skewers of meat, marinated in a sweet and savory sauce and grilled over charcoal. They are eaten dipped in a spicy peanut sauce. While satay is originally a Malay dish that does not include pork, "Pork Satay" was added to the menu after its arrival in Singapore.

"While other satay is fine, my favorite is the pork satay with a good amount of fat. This place, in particular, lets you fully savor the juiciness of the pork. Nowadays, most stalls buy pre-marinated meat and just grill it, but the owner here still does everything from preparation to grilling himself. Also, the peanut sauce contains pineapple paste, so it's not too rich and has a refreshing aftertaste. It will change your perception of satay."(Recommended byWIRIN LOW)

Ang Sa Lee Satay
Chomp Chomp Food Centre, 20 Kensington Park Road #01-32, Serangoon
Nearest Station: 2-minute walk from bus stop Serangoon Garden Circus (B66271)
Hours: 6:00 PM - 1:00 AM
Price: From $0.50

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Chomp Chomp Fried Kway Teow Mee: "Fried Kway Teow Mee"

Flat rice noodles and thick yellow noodles are stir-fried in a wok with plenty of garlic and lard, then seasoned with dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, and chili sauce. Finally, seafood, vegetables, and Chinese sausage are added and stir-fried further. The key is to cook it quickly over high heat.

"Kway Teow Mee is also one of the hawker dishes I've been familiar with since childhood. I've eaten it at many stalls, but the preparation here is perfect. When stir-frying, they use lard according to the traditional recipe. Lately, I've seen stalls offering healthier versions without lard. While it might be better for health not to use it, it's undeniably tastier with it. The aroma and flavor are instantly enhanced. It's a 'sinful' condiment (laughs)."(Recommended byWIRIN LOW)

Chomp Chomp Fried Kway Teow Mee
Chomp Chomp Food Centre, 20 Kensington Park Road #01-35, Serangoon
Nearest Station: 2-minute walk from bus stop Serangoon Garden Circus (B66271)
Hours: 5:00 PM - 1:00 AM
Price: From $3

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Boon Tong Kee: "Hainanese Chicken Rice"

Boon Tong Kee
399 / 401 / 401 Balestier Road
Nearest Station: 11-minute walk from MRT Novena Station, 1-minute walk from bus stop Bef Balestier Plaza (B66271)
Tel. +65-6254-3937
Hours: Monday-Saturday 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM, 5:30 PM - 5:00 AM; Sunday 11:30 AM - 5:00 PM, 5:30 PM - 3:30 AM
Price: From $10
http://www.boontongkee.com.sg/

The Difference is "Love"

After our hawker tour, we headed to "Wild Rocket," the restaurant of chef Wirin Low, who has an unusual background as a former lawyer. He has always had a strong passion for food since childhood and possesses a discerning eye for hawker cuisine.

"I have many friends who love to eat, so when we find a delicious place, we share the information with each other. Then, places we've actually tried and found delicious make it onto my favorites list. For any given dish, I might visit about ten recommended hawker stalls, but only one or two make the cut. Once I find a place I like, I tend to stick with it. That's my pattern."



This time, he introduced seven of his absolute favorites. We were astonished. The dishes were complex, delicate, and profoundly flavorful, overturning our preconceptions of hawker food.

"Did you enjoy them? That's wonderful. I want people with limited time to experience truly delicious hawker food. When you go to a hawker center, don't all the stalls seem to sell the same thing? If you just pick one at random and try it, you might think, 'Ah, Cheng Tng isn't very good.' But that's because you haven't tried proper Cheng Tng."

Low's words resonated deeply. As we sampled the recommended stalls, we realized the stark difference between dishes prepared with care and time, and those made with convenience ingredients.

"Perhaps the difference is 'love.' The stalls I've introduced today are places I've frequented for years, and their recipes and flavors haven't changed at all since I first started going. You can tell when you eat it. That it's been made with time and effort."

Hawker Flavors Elevated to Restaurant Quality

"The menu at my restaurant is based on Singaporean hawker dishes. These are familiar flavors for Singaporeans, such as 'Yusheng' (a raw fish salad eaten during Chinese New Year), 'Otak-Otak' (a paste of seafood and spices, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed), and 'Laksa' (a noodle dish in a coconut-based broth with seafood and vegetables). I'm also often inspired by home-style cooking I encounter during my travels. Dishes like Thai 'Nua Salat' (beef salad with spicy sauce), Japanese curry, and Filipino 'Adobo' (chicken or pork braised in vinegar and soy sauce). I then add a modern twist to these."

Hawker Flavors Are First-Class

With Low's creative touch, even "Chendol," a quintessential Southeast Asian dessert (a dessert soup combining coconut milk, palm sugar, and pandan-flavored green jelly), transforms into a modern creation. Coconut ice cream, pandan panna cotta, and candied green beans are layered, topped with palm sugar fudge. At first glance, it's hard to believe it's based on hawker food, but the taste is unmistakably Chendol. Low explains that this unique technique was developed during his student days studying abroad.




Low has pioneered a new culinary territory: Modern Singaporean cuisine. We asked him what inspired him to adapt hawker food in such a modern way.

"Some of my chef friends who are active in Western cuisine say, 'Singaporean hawker food is delicious, but it's not refined.' When they say that, I always tell them, 'That's not quite right.' The flavors are first-class.

The immigrants who came to Singapore during the colonial era were all laborers. They didn't have time to refine their cooking aesthetically. And since it's a country without a monarchy, there was no need to cook for kings or queens. Visually, it's certainly humble. But the taste alone is on par with dishes from high-end restaurants. By presenting it with a restaurant-quality finish, I hope to highlight the brilliance of its flavors."

Satay Meets Burger?

French chef Bruno Menard, who opened two restaurants, "&Made" and "La Cantine," in 2012, is also revolutionizing Singapore's food culture. Having served as head chef at the Michelin three-star French restaurant L'Osier in Ginza, Tokyo, he felt immense potential in this country and decided to relocate.

"Singapore's food culture has undergone tremendous development in the past decade. This is largely due to the influence of various cultures like Malay, Indian, and Chinese. It holds the potential for exciting new dishes that were previously unimaginable. It's still evolving, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it changes in the future."




Although Menard has only lived in Singapore for a year and a half, his days here are filled with inspiration, as he finds himself "inspired anytime, anywhere."

"The foundation is my native French cuisine. My cooking is that, plus the daily inspiration I receive here. So, after being impressed by the satay I ate at a hawker center, I started using peanut sauce in chicken burgers. I also offer dishes in a hawker-style 'sharing table' format, where everyone shares a large plate of food. I've had many ideas since coming to Singapore. Eating is about feeling. I want people to feel the essence of hawker food in my cooking."

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How did you enjoy our 3-day culinary journey through Singapore's hawker stalls? "You can't truly understand the charm of hawker food without experiencing it yourself." We'd like to conclude this trip with these words, spoken by both chefs. While Singapore has many iconic symbols, if you want to touch the heart of this nation, head to a hawker center first. You'll find the unpretentious, true face of Singapore there.