Singapore does not really have one native cuisine. It has Chinese, Malay, Indian and Peranakan cooking, all pushed together in the same hawker centres for long enough that the lines between them blur in interesting ways. That mix is the actual point of eating here, not a side note.
Here are 20 dishes that show you that mix, from a five-minute breakfast to a crab dinner that takes real effort. Every one links to the full recipe, and where a dish is not originally Singaporean, like nasi lemak, you will see that said plainly rather than glossed over.
1. Hainanese Chicken Rice
A whole chicken, gently poached and shocked in ice water, served over rice cooked in its own stock, with a sharp chili-ginger sauce on the side. Ask any Singaporean and this is near the top of their list.
Recipe: Whole chicken, poached and shocked in ice water, with rice cooked in the stock and a chili-ginger sauce.
Get the full recipe: Hainanese Chicken Rice.
2. Singapore Chilli Crab
Crab cooked hard and fast in a sweet, tangy chili-tomato sauce, finished with loose ribbons of egg. Fried mantou buns are for mopping up what is left in the pan.
Recipe: Mud crab, tomato and chili sauce, egg ribbons, and fried mantou for dipping.
Get the full recipe: Singapore Chilli Crab.
3. Katong Laksa
Rice noodles cut short enough for a spoon, in a rich coconut broth loaded with prawns and cockles, finished with torn laksa leaf. Katong's signature spin on a dish found all over the region.
Recipe: Short rice noodles, spicy coconut broth, prawns, cockles and laksa leaf.
Get the full recipe: Katong Laksa.
4. Hokkien Mee
Yellow noodles and vermicelli braised in a stock made from prawn shells, with prawns and squid tossed through, finished with sambal and calamansi. Not the dark version you find elsewhere.
Recipe: Yellow noodles and vermicelli, braised in prawn stock with prawns and squid.
Get the full recipe: Hokkien Mee.
5. Char Kway Teow
Flat rice noodles fried hard and fast with dark soy, egg, Chinese sausage and bean sprouts, cooked in small batches over the hottest heat you have. The smoky edge is the whole point.
Recipe: Flat rice noodles, Chinese sausage, prawns, egg and bean sprouts, fried over high heat.
Get the full recipe: Char Kway Teow.
6. Bak Kut Teh
Pork ribs simmered low for ninety minutes with whole garlic and crushed white pepper, in a broth kept deliberately clear. The Teochew style, and the one most Singaporeans grew up on.
Recipe: Pork ribs, whole garlic and white pepper, simmered into a clear, peppery broth.
Get the full recipe: Bak Kut Teh.
7. Satay with Peanut Sauce
Thin strips of marinated meat, grilled over charcoal until charred at the edges, served with a thick, sweet peanut sauce and rice cakes. A hawker centre and wedding table staple across the region.
Recipe: Marinated meat skewers, grilled over charcoal, served with peanut sauce and rice cakes.
Get the full recipe: Satay with Peanut Sauce.
8. Nasi Lemak
Coconut-and-pandan rice surrounded by sambal, crispy anchovies, peanuts, cucumber and egg. Malaysian in origin, but eaten at nearly every hawker centre in Singapore too.
Recipe: Coconut and pandan rice, sambal, crispy anchovies, peanuts, egg and cucumber.
Get the full recipe: Nasi Lemak.
9. Roti Prata with Curry
Dough slapped and stretched paper-thin, folded, and griddled in ghee until the edges turn crisp and the inside stays soft and flaky. Served with curry for dipping, usually at breakfast.
Recipe: Flour, egg and ghee dough, hand-stretched, folded and griddled, served with curry.
Get the full recipe: Roti Prata with Curry.
10. Kaya Toast Breakfast Set
Toast spread with coconut-pandan kaya jam and cold butter, served with soft-boiled eggs in soy sauce and a cup of sweet, strong coffee. The standard breakfast at a Singapore kopitiam.
Recipe: Kaya jam, toast, cold butter, soft-boiled eggs, and sweet milky coffee.
Get the full recipe: Kaya Toast Breakfast Set.
11. Chwee Kueh
Soft, mild steamed rice cakes topped with preserved radish fried until golden and fragrant, served with chili sauce. A Teochew hawker breakfast where the topping does all the talking.
Recipe: Steamed rice flour cakes, topped with fried preserved radish and chili sauce.
Get the full recipe: Chwee Kueh.
12. Hainanese Curry Rice
Rice doused in both curry and a dark pork braising gravy, with sides like crisp pork chop, braised pork belly and soft cabbage piled on top. A Hainanese hawker lunch, different from the chicken rice stall next door.
Recipe: Rice with curry and braising gravy, pork chop, braised pork belly and cabbage.
Get the full recipe: Hainanese Curry Rice.
13. Singapore Fish Head Curry
A fish head simmered whole in a tangy, spiced curry with okra and eggplant, a dish actually invented in Singapore, not imported. Richer and brighter than the name lets on.
Recipe: Fish head, curry spices, tamarind, okra and eggplant, simmered in coconut milk.
Get the full recipe: Singapore Fish Head Curry.
14. Ayam Buah Keluak
Chicken braised in a deep spice paste with buah keluak, an earthy, fermented black nut scooped straight from its shell at the table. A Peranakan special-occasion dish, not an everyday one.
Recipe: Chicken, spice paste and buah keluak nuts, braised until dark and fragrant.
Get the full recipe: Ayam Buah Keluak.
15. Mee Rebus
Yellow noodles drowned in a thick, sweet-savory gravy built on sweet potato and dried shrimp, topped with egg, bean sprouts and chili. A hawker noodle dish built entirely around its sauce.
Recipe: Yellow noodles in a thick sweet potato and dried shrimp gravy, topped with egg and chili.
Get the full recipe: Mee Rebus.
16. Teochew Bak Chor Mee
Springy noodles tossed in black vinegar and chili, topped with minced pork, braised mushrooms and crisp fried lard, with broth and meatballs served on the side. A hawker lunch built on contrast.
Recipe: Egg noodles tossed in black vinegar and chili, topped with minced pork and crispy lard.
Get the full recipe: Teochew Bak Chor Mee.
17. Chai Tow Kway
Steamed white radish cake, cubed and fried with egg and preserved radish until the edges turn crisp. Ask for it white or dark, a real choice that changes the whole dish.
Recipe: Steamed radish cake, cubed and pan-fried with egg and preserved radish.
Get the full recipe: Chai Tow Kway.
18. Popiah
A thin, soft wrapper rolled fresh around braised jicama, bean sprouts, egg and a sweet chili sauce. Soft all the way through, and never fried.
Recipe: Braised jicama, bean sprouts and egg, rolled fresh in a thin wheat-starch wrapper.
Get the full recipe: Popiah.
19. Oyster Omelette (Orh Luak)
A starch-and-egg batter fried with fresh oysters until the edges turn crisp and lacy and the center stays soft. A hawker centre favorite built entirely on texture.
Recipe: Sweet potato starch, egg and fresh oysters, fried until crisp at the edges.
Get the full recipe: Oyster Omelette (Orh Luak).
20. Ice Kacang
Shaved ice piled high over red beans, sweet corn, jelly and palm seed, soaked in colorful syrup and evaporated milk. Dessert built to be eaten fast, before it melts.
Recipe: Shaved ice, red beans, sweet corn, jelly and palm seed, with syrup and evaporated milk.
Get the full recipe: Ice Kacang.
good to have in the kitchen
A handful of things come up again and again across this list. None are strictly required, but they make the difference between a good version and the real one.
A carbon steel wok, the one pan that shows up again and again, from char kway teow to the oyster omelette.
A sweet potato starch, the crisp, lacy edge on oyster omelette comes from this, not plain cornstarch.
A belacan shrimp paste, the backbone of a real sambal and a real laksa paste. A little goes a long way.
A calamansi limes, sharper and more fragrant than regular lime, and the right squeeze for hokkien mee.
A rice cooker, makes the chicken rice and nasi lemak rice genuinely easier to get right.
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