Singapore TidbiTs

Durians are tropical fruits. Considered by many as King of fruits of South-East Asia. Whether durian is the most favourite fruit here, that is a bit subjective given its' famous pungent smell that some find simply overpowering. It has that distinctive special smell or odour, that you can smell a kilometre away :). Some loath it, many love it. Green and thorny outside. Yellow, soft and fleshy inside. Do you know that that there are durian trees in Singapore? The scientific name for durian is Durio zibethinus. And yes you can find durian trees in Pulau Ubin and at Mandai and some odd ones at other parts of Singapore as well. During durian season you can spot the distinctive green-shelled thorny fruits up in the trees. Durian is native to Malaysia, Indonesia, Borneo and of course Singapore. Do you know that when the British arrived in Singapore in the early 19th century they found durian trees at Fort Canning Hill ? Apparently durian trees have existed in Singapore since the 14th ce

Barbequed marinated or seasoned meat on stick that some may likened like kebab. Meat is usually mutton, beef or chicken. Less common ones are babat (beef tripe) or prawn. Satay dipped in peanut sauce. Eaten with ketupat or rice cubes and slices of cucumbers and onions. The ketupat rice cubes (shaped like squarish cubes as can be seen in the below photo) are not glutinous rice but rice cakes packed traditionally in diamond-shaped woven palm leaf pouch then cut into rice cubes. The ketupat taste is similar to rice cakes in gado-gado, soto ayam or lontong . Thought to be originally from Indonesia, satay is commonly found in South-East countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and of course Singapore. You can find satay in most hawker or food centres and they are usually sold by the Malays. (L-R) Beef, chicken, mutton and babat (tripe) satay My favourite satay meat is mutton. Some may not like the smell of mutton, but I love mutton satay! When you put the meat, rice cube, cucumber an