Pound for pound, Singapore has to be one of the world’s best countries for food. It’s little more than half the size of Hong Kong but it’s home to one of the most delicious and diverse cuisines we’ve experienced anywhere in the world.
Food is an obsession in Singapore. It forms an important part of their national identity and is viewed as a unifying cultural thread. As you can probably tell from the plethora of hawker centres and Singapore food blogs, eating is a national pastime and a frequent topic of conversation among Singaporeans.
Being from the Philippines, Singapore is a frequent destination for us and much of that has to do with delicious Singaporean dishes like laksa, nasi lemak, char kway teow, kaya toast, and bak kut teh. And let’s not forget about chilli crab and Hainanese chicken rice, Singapore’s national dishes!
Simply put, this island is overflowing with amazing food. If you’re visiting Singapore and looking for the best dishes to eat, then I hope this Singapore food guide leads you to many shiok meals in the city.
WHAT IS SINGAPOREAN FOOD?
Singaporean cuisine is characterized by its diversity. It’s a multiracial and multicultural country with a population consisting mainly of ethnic Chinese, Malays, and ethnic Indians.
Singapore’s geographic location – between the Pacific and Indian oceans – and its history as a former British colony helped lead to this confluence of cultures.
When Stamford Raffles sought to convert the island into a trading post for the British Empire in 1819, immigrants from China, the Malay Peninsula, India, Indonesia, Europe, the United States, and the Middle East flocked to Singapore. With them came their cultures and culinary traditions which led to Singapore’s food becoming the mixed cultural cuisine that it is today.
This culinary diversity is no better exemplified than at the many hawker centres and food courts found throughout Singapore. Walk into any of these hawker centres and it isn’t uncommon to find a food stall selling Chinese Singaporean food next to a stall selling Malaysian food next to a stall selling Indian food next to a stall selling Indonesian food.
This melting pot aspect of Singaporean cuisine is what I love most about this country. It truly is a food lover’s paradise.