Singapore's TidbiTs

Literally "boiled noodles", a delicious dish that can be found in many hawker centres , mee rebus is a popular and tasty Malay culinary creation. It is a simple yet satisfyingly filling dish of the common yellow Hokkien noodles and sweet-spicy flavourful gravy garnished with boiled egg, beansprouts, Chinese celery, green chilli, and fried shallot. A squeeze of fresh calamansi adds tang and brightens up the dish. Mee rebus Mee is a Hokkien word for 'noodles' and rebus is a Malay word for 'boiled', thus we can see how different cultures complement and influence each other.The most crucial element in mee rebus is the gravy, which the soul of this deceptively simple dish. Traditionally, it is made from a stock base of dried shrimp, tau cheo (fermented soy bean), fresh herbs and spices, which is thickened with mashed sweet potato, thus giving rise to umami flavour. However, different vendors have put their own unique spin on the traditional recipe. Some hawker c...

Laksa is a popular tasty dish that originated from the Peranakan, an inter-marriage between the Chinese and Malay cultures which gave rise to the fusion of flavours from the ingredients used, thus this dish is very popular with both Chinese and Malay alike, and of course to the many tourists or visitors to this island who have got hooked on it. The curry laksa is a rich spicy coconut-based noodles soup, the ingredients which may include bean sprouts, tofu (taupok), cockles, slices of chicken and egg. It is usually topped with a spoonful of sambal belacan , a fermented shrimp and chilli paste, and laksa leaf for the added zest. The Malays called laksa leaf daun kesum rather than daun laksa. Daun means leaf. Cockles' laksa is the more common type of laksa but there are other options such as those containing prawns or pieces of chicken for those who are allergic to seafood. Laksa leaf is a herb which is an intrinsic part of this dish. It has a strong flavour just like curry leaf. I...