We landed in Singapore very early in the morning and yet our hotel still allowed us to check in and get to our room. Though we felt like napping, we couldn’t and wouldn’t as we were meeting Ivan of food.recentrunes.com and he was going to take us to the Old Airport Road Hawker Centre. Connecting with a local is always a great idea when travelling – Ivan took us to places we’d never think of going and he’s fun and a wealth of information on all things food. For example, this hawker centre he bought us to is well away from the centre and we didn’t see a single other tourist or expat there. According to him, it’s also got the highest concentration of award winning stalls so yeah, a good place! If you’re wondering about what a hawker centre is, imagine a giant covered outdoor food court.
When we got there, we met up with another local food blogger, Catherine of Camemberu, who’d been holding down a large table for us. They sat us down (me and two colleagues) while they scoured the hawker centre (my French colleague thought I said “hooker centre” each time) for good eats. From a stall nearby, I bought big tumblers of refreshing and sweet sugar cane juice for everyone and we sat there waiting to see what would happen.
Oh boy, did things happen! Ivan returned with two plates of my favourite childhood dish – chai tow kway (or fried carrot cake – I have a cheat’s version here) – in both black and white versions. My favourite is still the white one as it’s what I grew up with but the sweetness of the black version (cooked with a dark caramelly soy sauce) was addictive. Off he went again.
Now Catherine returned with a big plate of char kway teow. Brilliant stuff with a good chilli kick – I wish it was just as good and just as cheap here in London.
Then back Ivan came again and this time with two plates of popiah. Flour based skins are rolled around a mixture of stewed jicama (yam bean) and various sauces and the rolls are extremely moreish. These were vegetarian ones but it’s not uncommon to find some Chinese sausage or crabmeat in them.
He returned one final time with three (THREE!) plates of Singaporean fried Hokkien mee. This one hails from the famous Nam Sing stall (given the highest rating of ‘Die, die must try!’ in Singapore’s fabulous Makansutra guide) – the noodles soak up the stock in which it’s cooked and what results is a dry Hokkien mee, very unlike the slightly soupier versions one tends to find. They were delicious and I was just sorry we couldn’t finish them all.
Though we were rubbing tummies by this point (jetlag always seems to shrink stomach volume), Ivan wasn’t done with us. He ran off again for a bit and then reappeared with a trayful of desserts!
Breaking them down, we had an ice kacang (pronounced ‘kachang’) which is a mountain of shaved ice on top of beans and corn and jelly and atap seeds and it’s doused with multicoloured syrups. Very cold and very sweet – I used to eat this a lot as a kid but just cannot deal with all the syrup now!
Or nee is a yam paste – and that’s about it. Ivan told us that it used to be cooked with lard but with health at the forefront of everyone’s mind nowadays, it’s now cooked with shallot oil.
How about a thick and gooey mung bean soup? It wasn’t very sweet and it went well with the crispy cut up Chinese fritters on top.
Finally, there was cendol (pronounced ‘chendol’). The soupy mixture is a mixture of shaved ice, coconut milk and brown gula melaka (a dark palm sugar) and hidden underneath it all is a treasure trove of green noodles. Though I’ve never been the biggest fan of Asian desserts, my mouth is watering thinking about this again.
Needless to say, we didn’t finish everything; I only wish we hadn’t been so jet lagged as then we’d have been able to eat more food! Thank you again, Ivan and Catherine!
There were so many food stands, each one offering different things. If, for example, you weren’t interested in the dishes above, perhaps a crocodile paw hotpot is more to your liking?
Old Airport Road Hawker Centre
Blk 51 Old Airport Road
Singapore
Wed, 16 Jun, 2010 at 00:36
garagragrgaraarraggg. so envious! the golden egg in the white chai tow kway is being very persuasive, and what i wouldn’t do for two plates of pohpiah. i still love ice kacang, but it is scarce in sydney, or $12. SIGH.
Wed, 16 Jun, 2010 at 04:03
Fantastic. Reminds me of visits to Lau Pa Sat. I remember my eyes nearly popping out when we were brought an enormous platter of chilli crab…. 🙂
Wed, 16 Jun, 2010 at 10:13
A great post that is getting me in the mood for my own trip to Singapore. I love hawker centres and this is a bit off the beaten track. Mind you whilst I’ve eaten crocodile, I think I’ll give the paw a miss!
Wed, 16 Jun, 2010 at 10:31
Ooooo!!! Thanks for the post! I’m looking forward to following in your footsteps and visiting the Hawker Centre next week 🙂
Wed, 16 Jun, 2010 at 11:34
Oh how wonderful, this is just the kind of experience that can really make a trip special.
How did you come to know Ivan and Catherine? Was it via their blogs for both?
Fabulous!
Wed, 16 Jun, 2010 at 14:01
I adore sugarcane juice. Its my fav & so refreshing! Sounds like the perfect trip something that I hope to do soon. The food looks fab:)
Wed, 16 Jun, 2010 at 16:51
Sounds fantastic! I wish I had heard of it when I was in Singapore last year. Although I was a solo diner but I still got to enjoy food and beverages from different stalls at Newtons.
Wed, 16 Jun, 2010 at 20:26
What a good way to start your Singapore trip! 😉 You’ve given me a huge cendol craving though…
Wed, 16 Jun, 2010 at 22:04
Hawker centres in Singapore are the places to eat. For what you pay and for what you get, it’s bargain city. Never had a bad meal at a hawker centre.
Wed, 16 Jun, 2010 at 22:44
Ah! So, that’s where all those roadside food stalls I remember fron the early 1960s went!
The food sounds fantastic … although I’d have reservations straight off a flight from London.
Thu, 17 Jun, 2010 at 03:54
As always, a great write-up. It was a stroll at a stately pace, not running about, because I am afraid of falling down. 🙂
Oh yes, here’s a write-up of a luxe version of Popiah: http://food.recentrunes.com/?p=3055
The use of Jicama is fairly recent and not “old school” where they use bamboo shoots.
Thu, 17 Jun, 2010 at 11:30
Starving now!!
Thu, 17 Jun, 2010 at 13:53
Wow, that looks like something special! Definitely an improvement on Changi airport cuisine (which isn’t bad compared to other airports). Particularly like the look of that roll. Mmm-mm.
Fri, 18 Jun, 2010 at 06:08
One word. Drool. 🙂
Fri, 18 Jun, 2010 at 11:16
Just looking at this is bringing back some wonderful memories! I adore carrot cake, and remember having a fab version at Maxwells food centre a few years ago. I will definitely be re-creating it now.
My dad was born and brought up in Singapore until he was a teen – I can’t believe i”ve only been there once in my life!
Sat, 19 Jun, 2010 at 00:09
*sigh* your photographs make me really miss Singapore food! It’s been way too long since my last visit.
Sat, 19 Jun, 2010 at 12:24
was that ALL you got to eat? I worry about you. no seriously this looks just too delicious for words. I would love to be there, now.
Tue, 22 Jun, 2010 at 14:57
bowb: $12?! I think it’s time to invest in an ice shaver! One of those plastic hand crank ones ought to do!
Gourmet Gorman: I bet that was quite the sight! I can just imagine it now.
Mr Noodles: Oooh, when are you heading over there?
catchychan: You must be there right now and I hope you’re having a good time!
Kavey: It was via their blogs and their Flickr streams. I was active on Flickr before my blog and I still do find interesting photographers and bloggers on it. Twitter less so but that’s increasing too.
Maunika: I bet you’d adore it there – there’s sugarcane juice everywhere!
Robert: It would have been a shame to go to Singapore and not eat at a hawker centre so I think you did pretty well already!
breadetbutter: It was definitely a fun trip and I hope to head back to South East Asia soon!
Dave: They’re pretty fantastic, aren’t they? I love the variety you can get there and the fact you could eat in just one all year and probably never have the same meal twice!
travelrat: I bet those food stalls were all cleaned up by the government and forced into proper covered hawker centres! Straight of the flight? Oh yeah, can’t be wasting any good eating time!
Ivan: With our jet lag, you sure seemed to be running around! 😀
William: Head to Kopi Tiam on Charing Cross Road – their Penang char kway teow is pretty good!
The Grubworm: :O Changi Airport has the best food ever – have you been to the staff canteen? It’s just a little hawker centre down there and it’s open to the public! Terminal 3 also has some excellent food chains past security.
June: Droooooool…. drip drip drip. Whoops.
Sharmila: Oh, I bet he has great food memories! I have a post about the chicken rice I ate at Maxwells up soon!
Lorraine: Ah, then you must go back soon! I think you’re closer than we are!
ilse: Later that same day, we had the Thai meal in the next post! 😀
Sun, 4 Jul, 2010 at 21:53
[…] hooray for Singapore Airlines’ entertainment system!). Oh, and I was looking forward to our first meal in […]
Wed, 1 Dec, 2010 at 15:25
one of the better hawker centers in singapore:)
Sat, 14 May, 2011 at 09:13
I never thought of it that way, well put!
Fri, 27 May, 2011 at 11:00
[…] happened in the last year? A celebratory dinner at El Celler de Can Roca in Girona. A work trip to Singapore. A big trip to Beijing. Overeating in Barcelona. Little trips to Leicester, Lille and Hastings. A […]
Sun, 17 Jun, 2012 at 23:48
Gosh, I enjoyed going through your Singapore posts – such visual and, I can only imagine, tasty feasts!
Wed, 1 Jan, 2014 at 23:27
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