Surviving (And Loving) Singapore’s Street Food Scene

By Donnie Sexton
Senior Writer

Friends kept telling me after hearing that I was headed to Singapore, “You have to try the street food. It’s amazing.”

I’ve passed by street food carts in places like India, Thailand, and Mexico, only to observe the dirty water used to wash the dishes or witness dirty hands and fingernails handling the food. This has been a no-no for me, thus avoiding a stomach disaster. But, as it turns out, I ate street food in Singapore and lived to tell about it!

Monster Day Tours

I’ve always dreamed of standing beneath the giant tree sculptures in Singapore’s futuristic nature park, Gardens by the Bay.

When a journey to Indonesia materialized in May, I decided to hop-skip to Singapore for a few days and turn my dream into a reality.

What’s a few more days when you’re already six plane rides from home? I was traveling with my good pal Terri, and together, we mapped out a plan for exploring Singapore, known as the Lion City. We signed on for an afternoon adventure with Monster Day Tours, billed as a private food and culture tour.

Off to Chinatown

Our very delightful and knowledgeable guide, Tony, picked us up at the hotel and whisked us away to our first stop, the Chinatown Complex. The building’s basement consists of a wet market, the 1st floor full of clothing, toys, shoes, and souvenirs, and the second is home to endless hawker stalls.

In the 1800s, Singapore was a melting pot of cultures, with immigrants from China, India, and Indonesia flocking to the city in search of a better life. Many of them set up food stalls, introducing their native cuisines to the locals. However, the conditions were far from ideal, leading to congestion and unsightly rubbish on the streets.

Hawker Centers

Eventually, these street vendors, known as hawkers, were required to be licensed and moved off the main streets and into back alleys, although there was still the issue of garbage and unsanitary conditions.

Those who skirted the license requirements faced fines. The government’s solution was to develop hawker centers, set up back in the 1970s, whereby the street vendors would have a clean, safe environment to sell their traditional specialties under one roof.

Today, these hawker centers have morphed into community dining rooms with a mind-boggling array of food available. With ample seating and clean bathrooms, customers are ensured a comfortable and hygienic dining experience.

On 16 December 2020, Hawker Culture in Singapore was successfully inscribed as Singapore’s first element on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Delicious Eats

Once inside the Chinese hawker center, we were overwhelmed by the sight of row upon row of stalls, finding it impossible to decide what to

eat. Tony had us sit, asked about our food preferences, and then darted off only to return minutes later with very full plates of Chinese food. The generous and very tasty serving included chicken, veggies, rice, and sweet and sour pork. We ate, and Tony talked about

Singapore’s history. He clarified that the stalls use very sanitary practices, thanks to government regulations, so the food is safe to eat.

He also mentioned you can drink the tap water in all of Singapore as it is filtered.

Buddhist Tooth Relic Temple

Letting our food settle, we wandered into the Buddhist Tooth Relic Temple, built in 2007 for $75 million. The temple houses the left canine tooth of Lord Buddha, which was recovered from his funeral pyre in Kushinagar, India.

We didn’t see the tooth, but we were privy to seeing and hearing monks reading and chanting as we walked through the complex. Outside, the streets were filled with endless stalls and shops—everything from antiques, clothing, curios, jewelry, fruit stands, and more eateries.

Little India

Next on the itinerary was the Tekka Center, an Indian-based hawker center. We headed to Little India via the subway, where Tony

provided an overview of using the subway system. The distinct smell of curry hung in the air.

We were treated to an appam, a thin crepe-like pancake shaped like a bowl made of fermented rice batter and coconut milk.

The center of the appam resembled an oversized cotton ball with a soft, spongy texture of the coconut-infused batter.

Most often, appam, a dish that originated in South India and Sri Lanka, is served for breakfast or dinner, topped with meat or egg, but for us, a side of shaved coconut and orange-tinted sugar made this into a dessert.

Tony, intent on helping us navigate the city with public transport, explained the taxi system, which we used to reach our final food stop at the very colorful Kampong Glam neighborhood.

It’s impossible just to flag down a taxi or wait at a taxi stand in Singapore. Once you are near a taxi sign with a locator number, you either call or have an app on your phone to order your ride, and then you wait for the taxi.

Kampong Glam

Kampong Glam, formerly the seat of Sultans in Singapore and the Arab-Muslim quarter of the city, has transformed into a melting pot of worldly cultures. It is dominated by the gold-domed Sultan Mosque.

This neighborhood sported every color in the Pantone palette, from painted facades to street art and graffiti. The shopping bordered on trendy, luring in customers with perfumes, textiles, and upscale clothing boutiques, all mingled with Middle Eastern eateries.

At the Kampong Café, we were introduced to Lontong, a dish made with compressed rice cakes swimming in a coconut curry broth, along with a soft-boiled egg.

The mixture was topped with toasted coconut shavings. To be polite, I took a nibble or two, but I was still feeling overstuffed from the Chinese food and couldn’t do justice to this last tasting.

Rules and Regulations

While we walked these neighborhoods, I was impressed with how clean the streets of Singapore were. The government’s rules and regulations seemed designed to keep everyone and everything in order.

It’s illegal to bring chewing gum into Singapore – I’m guessing they don’t want it stuck under tables. There are fines for jaywalking, creating graffiti, vandalism, littering, and selling drugs (the death penalty is possible).

The only legal way to show affection on the streets is by holding hands. It is against the law to use another person’s Wi-Fi without their permission. It’s best to mind your p’s and q’s when visiting the Lion City.

Our Good Fortune

The afternoon with Tony had been a fine-tuned blend of culture, gastronomy, and practical lessons in negotiating Singapore. Before dropping us back to the hotel, he mentioned the light and music show that takes place daily at the Gardens by the Bay after dark.

He drew a map of how to get there and where to sit. The show proved to be the magical highlight of our Singapore journey. When we parted, Tony gifted us with a red pan chang knot pendant.

The knot is a Buddhist symbol reflecting the belief that life has no beginning or end. Those who wear it are said to have a long, happy life and good fortune. While none of us knows what tomorrow will bring, the afternoon with Tony had been a stroke of good luck.