Singapore's TidbiTs

Cheng teng is a uniquely sweet local dessert or comfort drink that has been around for generations. This icy cold dessert drinks are popular especially given our local weather that are hot and humid. You can also have your cheng teng (also spelled as cheng tng ) warm or hot. Bedok Corner cheng-teng Cheng teng can be served either hot or cold. It is a potpourri of ingredients that include longan , ginko nuts , lily bulbs , white fungus , red dates , lianzi , barley, etc. Cold cheng teng is added with shaved ice. It is a sweet ‘cooling’ tasting dessert, like most desserts here. Cheng teng is believed to be able to get rid of heatiness in the hot and humid Singapore weather due to the tonic effect of some of the ingredients, which are herbal in nature. Some ingredients are used as part of traditional Chinese medicine, which have been used for centuries. But with so many ingredients in a bowl, cheng teng tastes very refreshing and sweet instead of herbal-ish. The hot or warm version is ev...

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. Ok, that's an exaggeration. Probably 10 metres 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 and durian is indeed native to Singapore? A street named Lorong Lew Lian bears testament to it. Lew Lian is a Hokkien word for durian. There used to be durian plantations in the vicinity of Lorong Lew Lian (Lew Lian Lane). The scientific name for durian is Durio zibethinus. Duri is a Malay word for thorns, hence the name durian which means thorny fruit. 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...

Bedok Food Centre is a hawker centre affectionately known as Bedok Corner . Simply because it is located at the corner of Bedok Road and Upper East Coast Road. A compact place with 31 stalls where you can find and taste traditional local delicacies such as satay , ayam penyet , laksa , rojak , bubur kampong (kampong style porridge), sup kambing (mutton soup), mee soto , chicken rice, char kway teow, gado-gado, Hokkien mee, roti john and snacks such as banana or chempedak fritters, epok-epok or curry puffs. There is a popular local dessert cheng teng stall, a few seafood stalls that sell the perennial seafood dishes such as the spicy sambal stingray, cumi sotong (squid) and sambal lala. Bubur is congee or porridge and kampong means village. Chempedak is artocarpus integer , in the same family as jackfruit. Bedok Food Centre a.k.a. Bedok Corner The words food centre and hawker centres are used interchangeably, and they basically mean the same. In many countries the term hawker c...

A squarish-shaped potong ice-cream held together with wafer biscuits or sandwiched inside a slice of coloured bread depending on your preference. And it's only a dollar and fifty cents at most. Licking the yummy icy cold ice-cream is great in our hot and humid weather. You can find the portable or mobile potong ice-cream vendors (mostly middle-age or elderly uncles and aunties ) in their modified motorcycles complete with box freezers at parks, beaches, pasar malam (night markets), outside MRT stations, along Singapore River , at the Esplanade , even along trendy Orchard Road, in-front of Takashimaya department store. They will usually find a shade under a tree or put up a big umbrella for shade. These ice-cream vendors can also be found outside industrial offices or estates so office workers can also enjoy this cooling dessert that can be enjoyed during their lunch-hour! Thus, enjoying ice-cream need not be an expensive affair and can be enjoyed while you are strolling in the p...

In hot and humid Singapore icy stuffs are popular. Green and red syrupy ais or ice kacang, with red beans has been in existence since long ago. It was first made popular by itinerant road-side stalls. Now you can find it at almost dessert stalls in hawker centres of food-courts. Kacang is a Malay word for nuts or beans. Under the mountain of shaved ice you can find more red beans, sweet corn, attap chee or palm seeds and jelly. Condensed milk is also poured on the sweet coloured syrups. Syrups drinks with milk. Yummy. Ice kacang In Malaysia ice kacang is more commonly known as ABC or air batu campur , which means mixed shaved ice. Ice kacang typically cost around $2. If you top it up with durian it will cost another 60 cents or so. A sweet, icy cool and wonderful dessert indeed. Chendol (or cendol) is made of coconut milk, sugar and greenish jelly-like rice flour filled with shaved ice similar to ice-kacang. The green jellies may look like wiggly worms but those greenish jellies a...

Tau huay or beancurd is a whitish soft tofu usually added with liquid sugar. The sugar can be normal or brown sugar. One can also request for less sugar. Tau huay is a dessert sold at many soya bean chains such as Mr Bean and Jollibean. You can also find them at many drinks stalls in housing estates or at food centres. Tau huay is usually sold and eaten while still warm. Soya bean milk drink can be either hot or cold depending on preference. Tau huay and soya bean milk are typically sold for around $1.20 to $1.50 at chain soya bean stores. But if you go to hawker centre you can get beancurd for only 60 cents a bowl and soya bean milk for only 50 cents a cup. You can also find soya milk in packet or can drinks sold in many supermarkets islandwide but it is not the same as buying the original tau huay or a cup of freshly made soya bean milk at a hawker or food centre. Tau huay is delicious, relatively cheap and it's filling too. Bean curd Tau huay and soya bean milk from chain sto...