Singapore

Singapore is the smallest of all the Asian countries. It’s Asia’s roundabout, crossroads and underpass to the world. It’s where concrete and glass meet bamboo and paper; businessman, foodstall hawker; Hindu, Buddhist; curry leaf, pandan leaf. And its food is a melting pot derived from all who surround - and pass through - it. Singapore is the grand-daddy of fusion food. Multicultural and multiracial, it’s a melting-pot cuisine of Chinese, Malay, Indonesian and Indian; Asia’s glorified wok. Singaporeans have blended Malay cooking with Chinese; the oomph of South-Asian shrimp paste and tamarind flavours buddies-up with the bland, thin, clear saucings of Southern Cantonese and Hokkien, known as Nonya cuisine. Vet the Chinese influence also remains in all its unadulterated glory. Indonesia and India join hands with their curries, satay and coconut-sauced things. Curries and satays are flavoured with rempah, a Nonya spice paste of pounded lemongrass, nuts, ginger or galangal, garlic, shallots, chillies, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, sugar and salt. And Singapore noodles. Uhat are they? Every takeaway in every land has its own version, for nowhere does noodles more varied than Singapore.