Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
28
One from Column A, One from Column B . . .
Western cuisine serves each diner a plate with a complete meal for one. Not so
with the Asians, where, even in the finest restaurants, Chinese, Indian, and every
other kind of Asian fare is served “family style.” To fully appreciate the experience,
order a meat dish, a seafood dish, and a vegetable dish to share between two or
three people. With your rice bowl in front of you, take only small servings of each
dish at a time. For a larger party, add on a soup dish, plus other meat, seaf ood,
and veggie selections for a variety of tastes to go around.
cut into pieces, which y ou then wrap in
thin pancakes with spring onion and a
touch of sw eet plum sauce. The meat is
served later in a dish that's equally scrump-
tious.
SHANGHAINESE CUISINE
S hanghai-
nese cuisine is similar to its B eijing coun-
terpart but tends to be mor e oily. Because
of Shanghai's proximity to the sea, Shang-
hainese recipes also include more fish. The
exotic
drunken prawns
and the popular
drunken chicken
ar e both fr om this
regional style, as is the mysterious
vegetables into it, a la fondue. O ther Teo-
chew contributions to local cuisine are the
Teochew fish ball,
a springy ball made
from pounded fish ser ved in a noodle
soup, and the traditional S ingaporean
breakfast dish
congee
(or
moi
), which is
rice porridge ser ved with fried fish, salted
vegetables, and sometimes boiled egg.
Also, if y ou see
braised goose
on the
menu, you're definitely in a Teochew res-
taurant.
HOKKIEN CUISINE
Although the
Hokkiens ar e the most pr evalent dialect
group in S ingapore, their style of cuisine
rarely makes it to r estaurant tables, basi-
cally because it 's simple and homey . Two
dishes that hav e become local cuisine
favorites, however, are the
oyster omelet,
flavored with garlic and soy, and
Hokkien
mee,
thick wheat noodles with seafood,
meat, and vegetables in a heavy sauce.
MALAY CUISINE
Malay cuisine combines I ndonesian and
Thai flav ors, blending ginger , turmeric,
chilies, lemon grass, and dried shrimp
paste to make unique curries. H eavy on
coconut milk and peanuts, M alay food
can at times be on the sw eet side. The
most popular Malay curries are
rendang,
a
dry, dark, and heavy coconut-based curr y
served over meat;
sambal,
a red and spicy
chili sauce; and
sambal belacan,
a condi-
ment of fr esh chilies, dried shrimp paste,
and lime juice.
The ultimate Malay dish in Singapore is
satay,
sw eet barbecued meat kabobs
2
bird's
nest soup,
made from swift's nests.
SICHUAN CUISINE
S ichuan cuisine,
second only to Cantonese in theWest, also
relies on the rich flav ors of garlic, sesame
oil, and bean paste, but is heavier on the
chilies than S hanghainese cuisine—
much
heavier on the chilies. S ugar is also some-
times added to cr eate tangy sauces. S ome
dishes can r eally pack a punch, but ther e
are many Sichuan dishes that are not spicy.
Popular ar e
chicken with dried chilies
and
hot-and-sour soup.
Another regional
variation,
Hunan cuisine,
is also renowned
for its fiery spice and can be distinguished
from Sichuan style by its darker sauces.
TEOCHEW CUISINE
T eochew cuisine
uses fish as its main ingr edient and is also
known for its light soups. Many dishes are
steamed, and in fact
steamboat,
which is
a popular poolside menu item in hotels,
gets its origins fr om this style. F or steam-
boat, boiling broth is brought to the table,
and y ou dunk pieces of fish, meat, and
