WHERE TO FIND THE BEST TOP 10 ALL-TIME FAVOURITE SINGAPORE HAWKER FOOD

As an entry point or travel hub centre, Singapore's food culture was vastly influenced by its geographical location and the various ethnicity that had since migrated to the country. And for most of you who have traveled in Singapore, you know that majority of the race is comprised of Chinese, Malay and Indians and knowing this fact alone you would know that the variety of dishes available could be aplenty.

Being a bustling trading pot, street peddling or hawking by different nationalities was a common sight during the early days. The proliferation, however, led to problems (mostly sanitary) that at the beginning of 1970, the first hawker centres were "created". This is of course through the effort of the Singapore government to resettle these street hawkers to more permanent locations.

Fast forward to now, many hawker centres are now part of many Singaporeans' lives. Hawker centres or cooked food centres are mostly open-air complexes that comprises many stalls selling a wide variety of local food that are affordable in price. These are mostly conveniently located in or near housing estates, usually some with nearby or adjourning wet and dry markets. These places are important part of the social culture where you will observe family gathering and social interaction as majority of the people have their three (3) meals a day in these places.
After living in Singapore for nearly eight (8) years now, we still do cook our food at home (sorry I am really for home-cooked meals) but these top 10 all time favourite Singapore hawker food will not escape my wandering palette for great food.
Source for identifying the best hawker places is through a published book entitled City Hawker Food Guide by City Gas Pte. Ltd. and Shin Min Daily News produced and published in Singapore.
Here are my top 10 all time favourite food (in no particular order).
Try and indulge!

1. CHICKEN RICE
Perhaps what could be called as the country's national dish, chicken rice originated from Hainan province in China (hence the name Hainanese chicken rice as it most popularly known for). It is very popular in Hainan and of course was introduced to Singapore by the immigrants from the same place.
I will let you in on some cooking tips, the secret ingredients to having a perfectly home cooked version of this dish is a blend of silky smooth white chicken, rice cooked in chicken broth and of course served with blended chili, garlic and dark soya sauce. Nowadays, you can also buy ready made mixes - not authentic but hey good enough if you are a newbie in cooking. 

Photo credit: www.thebestsingapore.com

You can get this in many places but best place to get this is at #02-16 Toa Payoh Lorong 1. Go to the nearest Toa Payoh MRT (red line) and head out for a bus and it could easily take you there.
2. LAKSA
There are two varieties, Curry Laksa and Asam Laksa, favoured by Singaporeans and Malaysians respectively. Curry Laksa uses fish cakes, shrimps, bean sprouts (or togue) cooked with coconut milk gravy base while Asam Laksa is a fish sour soup flavoured with cucumber, pineapple, shredded fish, lettuce, mint ginger buds served along with noodles. Finally added with sweet prawn paste.
Best place to get: #01-26 Upper Thomson Road (nearest MRT: Marymount - yellow or circle line)  

Laksa Curry

3. NASI LEMAK
A traditional Malay dish, this dish is usually fragrant and aromatic as the rice is cooked in coconut milk along with pandan leaves. Usually served with dried anchovies (or what is called ikan bilis)or fried fish or chicken, toasted or fried peanuts, sliced fresh cucumber and chili paste. As some eat it for breakfast, some dish comes with fried egg.

Best place to get: #02-15 Market Street Food Centre (nearest MRT: Raffles place - red line)

4. CHAR KWAY TIAO (or Fried Kway Tiao)
Literally stir fried cake strips, cooking styles are varied but those who are said to be the best usually have ingredients of fresh cockles, Chinese sausages, good quality soya sauce, Chinese chives and bean sprouts. Variations to the dish allows you to add more vegetables, hence, healthier.

Best place to get: #01-91 Beach Road, Golden Mile Food Centre (nearest MRTs - Nicoll Highway circle/yellow line; Lavender or Bugis both in green East West line)

5. HOKKIEN MEE
The story behind this ever Singapore favourite is that it was introduced by Hokkien-speaking immigrants from the province of Fujian China. It was said that after the Second World War, the Hokkien dock workers will gather around Rochor Road to cook this dish over kerosene stoves.
The noodles are usually a combination of two, thick yellow noodles and Beehoon (vermicelli or thin glass liked noodles) garnished with pork belly, egg, de-shelled prawns, bean sprouts and squid. The dish is basically stir fried over high heat in a typical Chinese wok covered with a lid so that the noodles soaked up the juices. Most interestingly served in dried nipa palm leaf. Best eaten with a serving of lime (or kalamansi) and shrimp chili paste (known as belachan to locals)...makes me crave for one by just writing...

Best place to get: #01-11 Chomp Chomp Food Centre in Kensington Park (nearest MRT - Kovan and Serangoon both in purple/North East line)

As I've eaten the dish before I took a photo, here's a photo taken from the sg-city-asia website. Thanks!
 

6. FISH SOUP
One of my favorites, fish soup is usually served with rice or as I would prefer it with Beehoon (vermicelli) so that it is light and nutritious. There is also an option for other type of noodles like egg or flour noodles.
The original version is actually a fish head soup but most stalls will just serve with thin slices of white fish - some stalls would actually offer a replacement of deep fried fish or a combination of both.
Some diners can also opt for condensed milk to be added in their soup. Always best to garnish with fish chili sauce and white pepper for a more flavourful indulgence.

Best place to get: #02-15 Market Street Food Centre (nearest MRT - Raffles place red line)

7. ROTI PRATA
Perhaps my first introduction to Indian cuisine is the roti prata. Roti actually means bread and prata means flat. This particular snack loved by many is popularly known as Indian pancake. Texture varies from soft to crispy and best to eat when freshly cooked and therefore hot. Varieties to this simple bread comes from adding egg into the mix before heated in a large hot griddle which I would normally prefer. However, several variations to this wonderful dish are now available almost everywhere. When ordered, it usually comes with curry for dipping or if you want sweet stuff, you can ask for sugar.

Best place to get: Jamila Food Stall Bedok North Street 3 - an HDB estate

Egg prata

8. YONG TAU FOO
This rich Hakka tradition made its way to Singapore with the variation of pork and fish paste stuffed in the tofu, tau kwa, chili, bitter gourd and okra and is usually served steamed or boiled with noodles in soup or dry versions. You can either top it with a combination of sweet sauce and chili sauce. Nowadays, some stalls serves healthy variety and you can mix and match the items you want included in the dish. Best for those who are into healthy diets.

Best place to get: #02-112 Amoy Street Food Centre - close to the Tanjong Pagar MRT station

Photo credit: healthguru.sg

9. BAK KUT TEH

Photo credit: healthguru.sg

Reading through the history, this dish originated a century ago in the province of Fujian province in China. This dish was introduced into Singapore by then labelled as "coolies" (this was a term used for unskilled workers. These people were mainly impoverished Chinese immigrants who moved to Singapore to seek better fortune but serving instead as unskilled labourers. As the story goes, immediately everyday after work, these coolies would buy pork bones, add pepper and spices and Chinese herbs to form thick, tasty broth for breakfast the next day. It was believed that this particular breakfast tea makes them endure the hard day's work. This comes into 2 varieties - the dark brown broth from Fujian and the Teochew clear broth. It can be best eaten with rice or dough fritters and never forget some dipping sauce of dark soya mixed with red chillies.

Best place to get: #01-04 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 (nearest MRT - Ang Mo Kio red line)

10. WANTON NOODLES

Photo credit: enews.sg

It can be served either dry or with soup, this particular dish has its origin in the province of Guangzhou in China.  It usually comes with char siew (roasted pork), fresh chai sim (green vegetables) and tasty wanton (dumplings) on springy noodles.
The wantons that is served with the noodles basically comprises of minced pork, soya sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, and cornstarch. These are mixed and then wrapped in the wanton skin or wrapper and sealed with water. These wanton noodles can either be steamed or deep fried. The seasoning sauce is key to a good wanton noodles dish. Hawkers have their own versions to lure diners. Take your pick to the many varieties being offered.

Best place to get: #01-45 Tampines Street 11

Keep this list fellow travelers and the next time you are in Singapore you will be hungry no more.

Keep safe dears!

For any questions, comments - please write them down below. I will be happy to guide you.