Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
27
Tips How to Use Chopsticks
Don't stick them upright in any dish, don't gesture with them, and don't suck on
them. Dropped chopsticks are also considered bad luck.
reflected in its many different tastes, ingre-
dients, and preparation styles.
A lot of hawker center far e is inspir ed
by regional Chinese home cooking. Local
favorites like carr ot cake (white radishes
that are steamed and pounded until soft,
then fried in egg, garlic, and chili), H ok-
kien bak ku teh (boiled por k ribs in an
herbal soup), Teochew kway teo w (stir-
fried rice noodles with egg, prawns, and
fish), and the number-one fav orite for
foreigners, Hainanese chicken rice (poached
sliced chicken br east ser ved o ver rice
cooked in chicken stock). S ee section 8,
“Hawker Centers,” in chapter 6 for mor e
on the hawker food scene.
Fusion cuisine has been hitting the
market hard as globalization takes contr ol
of S ingaporean palates. Also called “East
meets West” or “N ew Asia,” this cuisine
combines Eastern and Western ingredients
and cooking styles for a whole ne w eating
experience. S ome of it wor ks, some of it
doesn't, but tr ue gourmet connoisseurs
consider it all a culinar y atrocity.
CANTONESE CUISINE Cantonese-
style food is what y ou usually find in the
West: Your stir-fries, wontons, and sw eet-
and-sour sauces all come fr om this south-
ern r egion. Cantonese cooks emphasiz e
freshness of ingredients, and typical prepa-
ration involves quick stir-frying in light oil
or steaming for tender meats and crisp ,
flavorful vegetables. These are topped with
light sauces that ar e sometimes sw eet.
Cantonese-style food also includes roasted
meats like suckling pig and the red-roasted
pork that 's ev er pr esent in Western Chi-
nese dishes. Compar ed to nor thern styles
of Chinese cuisine, Cantonese food can be
bland, especially when sauces and br oths
are overthickened and slimy. Singaporean
palates demand the standar d dish of chili
condiment at the table, which sometimes
helps the flav or. O ne hear ty Cantonese
dish that has made it to local cuisine fame
is clay pot rice, which is rice cooked with
chicken, Chinese sausage, and mush-
rooms, pr epared in—y ou guessed it—a
clay pot.
Shark's fin soup can be found on the
menu of many Cantonese restaurants, but
if you have an inter est in animal w elfare,
you may wish to steer clear , as it's consid-
ered to be endangering the world 's shar k
population.
The Cantonese ar e also r esponsible for
dim sum (or tim sum, as you'll sometimes
see it written around Singapore). Meaning
“little hear ts,” dim sum is a v ariety of
deep-fried or steamed buns, spring r olls,
dumplings, meatballs, spar eribs, and a
host of other bite-siz e treats. It's a favorite
in S ingapore, especially for lunch. A t a
dim sum buffet, dishes ar e offer ed fr om
table to table and y ou simply point to
what appeals. Food is served in small por-
tions, sometimes still in the steamer . Take
only one item on y our plate at a time and
stack the empty plates as y ou finish each
one. Traditionally, you'd be charged by the
plate, but sometimes y ou can find gr eat
all-you-can-eat buffets for a good price.
BEIJING CUISINE Beijing cuisine, its
rich garlic and bean-paste flavoring betray-
ing just a touch of chili, comes to us fr om
the north of China. H eavier sauces allo w
for greater selections of beef and mutton,
rarely found on southern Chinese menus.
The most famous B eijing-style dish is
Beijing duck (also kno wn as P eking
duck). The crispy skin is pulled away and
2
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