What is Singapore’s National Dish of 2014?

PUBLISHED August 6th, 2014 10:00 pm | UPDATED May 19th, 2017 04:17 pm

Holy smokes Batman, it’s almost August… it’s almost National Day!!!

Well, being the mega-foodies that we are, we decided to take to the streets and ask random Singaporeans what their favourite Singaporean dish was, what they missed most when they were abroad…and of course, what dish that were most proud of.

Chicken rice battled with Rendang and Bak kut teh rumbled with Wanton mee…but in the end, there were 5 dishes which locals seemed to agree were their favourites when it came to local makanan, perhaps even the most representative of Singaporean cuisine!

In a glorious makan-fest celebration of this, last night the City Nomads team headed over to one of our favourite food centres – East Coast Park, and ordered the lot!

Being that it’s still Ramadan, we thought we’d get in the spirit of things and stick to a non-alcoholic beverage of choice – Coca-Cola. And after all the spices, sambal and chilli we went thought that, we were super pleased to have ice cold cans of Coke to balance out the spice. Chug chug chug!

No surprises perhaps that…

#1: Singapore Chilli Crab

Perhaps one of the most loved dishes from SG, it’s recipe has been exported and copied around the world…there’s Chilli Crab festivals in some places! Yet nowhere does Chilli crab like Singapore. It may be a pain to eat with all the shell and mess, but there’s nothing quite like soaking up those fried mantou buns in the eggy tomato sauce.

#2: Satay

The tender meat, the ketupat, the giant bowls of peanut sauce… Yummmmmm! Satay may exist across the region but it’s popularity in Singapore is ever strong… The site of the uncle waving away at the grill is so quintessentially Singaporean and part of our heritage.

#3: BBQ Sambal Stingray

Whilst frequently glossed over when considering Singaporean food, we found that BBQ Stingray was a firm favourite with Singaporeans and was something that was most missed when away from the Lion City for too long.

#4: Carrot Cake

Carrot cake may not be much to look at, nor does it have anything to do with carrots! However this radish/rice cake infused omelette with sambal was also a firm favourite and seems to be something that is ordered at almost every meal…and in the immortal words of Michael Jackson: ‘It don’t matter if you’re black or white!’

We all know that both taste awesome!

#5: Beef Rendang

Number 5 was the ever-popular Rendang. One of the most popular dishes in Singapore, Rendang has so many variations and styles… Nothing beats that slow-cooked beef with rich coconut and chilli spicing. Just glorious.

With all this chilli laying siege to out mouth fortresses, we were rather pleased at our non-alcoholic beverage choices…the cans of cold Coke came as a welcome reprieve and we have to admit, went very well.

“Coke and food, better together”

This article is brought to you by Coca-Cola®

Check out more local grub at Best Zi Char Restaurants in Singapore and 5 Traditional Coffeeshops in Singapore to Visit Before They Disappear