Eating In Translation

Cheers

From the brewery, it's only a short hop to Singapore.

Haji Kadir Food

Sup tulang (S$6.50), or "bone soup," is closer to a stew. When served, you'll be offered a spoon, as well as a plastic straw to slurp out the marrow ( ! ) and bread to wipe up a sauce that's more sweet than spicy. But as BBQ fans well know, often the best tools are your ten fingers; sup tulang isn't too much messier than a good wet rub.

The meat is mutton, though as in many South Asian kitchens, the label probably refers to an adult goat and not a sheep. I didn't confirm this, though I might've asked when the fellow brought over a second wad of paper napkins.

Haji Kadir Food
Golden Mile Food Centre, stall B1-13/14/15, Singapore
65-6294-0750
Closed every other Wednesday
(From a summer 2010 visit)

Lim Kee (Orchard) Banana Fritters

Actual banana much smaller, very sweet.

Kampong Carrot Cake

Black or white decision.

Lau Goh Teochew Chye Thow Kway

More often than not, "carrot cake" or chye thow kway (S$4) is slippery soft; this crispy-eggy rendition was closer to a broken-up omelette. Nicely charred, not to excess.

Lau Goh Teochew Chye Thow Kway
Zion Riverside Food Centre, stall 01-26, Singapore
(From a summer 2010 visit)

Ri Xing Xiang Ji

These golf-ball-sized dumplings (40 Singapore cents each) are made from mashed sweet potato mixed with rice flour. Fried, they're crispy outside, a bit chewy inside. Less "pure" varieties are filled with vegetables, ground peanuts, or red bean paste. You can make a meal from a mixed bag, though before you bite, it's not always easy to know which is savory and which is sweet.

Ri Xing Xiang Ji
Maxwell Food Centre, stall 76, Singapore
Closed Tuesday
(From a summer 2010 visit)

Food-court cat

Perhaps taking a break from pest-control duty, perhaps nodding off after a "friends and family" feast.

Food-court cat
Block 210 Lorong 8 Toa Payoh Food Centre, Singapore
(From a summer 2010 visit)

"Obsessively good"

In many countries this degree of attention is typically reserved for the likes of home makeovers; in Singapore, perfect produce is a mainstream obsession, too.

"Obsessively good"
Detail of a bus-stop ad for S&W brand pineapple, Singapore
(From a summer 2010 visit)

Cold Storage

Pringles, soft-shell-crab flavor (110 g., S$1.20). Also in seaweed or grilled shrimp, but all of them only for the Asian market, sorry.

Cold Storage
1 Kim Seng Promenade, Great World City, Singapore
65-6735-4730
www.ColdStorage.com.sg

Mdm Hoon Delicacy

All her world's an oyster.