Sunday, March 6, 2011

Best And Top 10 Singapore Hawker Dishes

Since my last best of list on hawker food back in January, I had been wanting to compile another best of Singapore hawker dishes, but decided to hold off as I kept on discovering great new hawker stalls.

Like all of my lists, this list is also subjective and based solely on my own opinions and taste. I am sure, there are many great hawker dishes that will be equally deserving, but I have decided to come up with my 10 personal faves.

Before I dive into the top 10 list of hawker dishes, I would just like to also add that this list is focused on hawker food, and would not include the likes of zhe char or chinese restaurant dishes.

That said, let's get into the top 10 Singapore hawker dishes!

10. Teck Kee Pork Porridge

10. Teck Kee Pork Porridge

This excellent pork porridge scores for its wonderfully natural broth and its amazing pork livers. The congee rice is also smooth and easy on the palate.

While the stall also serves an amazing pork noodle, it is this pork congee that has Pauline and I coming back for more, especially on weekends.

9. Uncle Kun Chee Cheong Fun Kosong

9. Uncle Kun Chee Cheong Fun Kosong

In the first of 2 entries in the top 10 from our favorite Uncle Kun, this chee cheong fun is a unique oddity in the sense that it does not come paired with either char siew or prawns.

Instead, it is served plain, or kosong, and yet it is the best chee cheong fun we have tasted. Undeniably addictive, you just can't stop yourself the moment you put one of these lovely babies in your mouth!

8. Sin Ming Roti Prata

8. Sin Ming Roti Prata

No best of Singapore hawker dishes list would be complete without a mention of a prata entry. And the best prata we have had is this very popular one from Sin Ming.

The pratas here are prepared in the most traditional way, yet this tradition is well served as the prata is both fragrant, crispy on the outside, and beautifully textured when you bite into one of them.

7. Meng Kee Char Kway Teow

7. Meng Kee Char Kway Teow

Char Kway Teow is one of our most beloved dishes, and also one of the most sinful plates you can ever consume. So choosing the best one can be quite difficult, but we do feel this one located at Beo Crescent ranks highest among all the char kway teows we have visited.

It is smooth, full of smoky fragrance, and the combination of the sweetness from the cockles brings out the best flavors ever for a char kway teow dish.

6. Founder Bak Kut Teh

6. Founder Bak Kut Teh

Another of our most treasured eating pleasures, Founder Bak Kut Teh has retained the top spot for us for this particular dish. And with good reason too. Just check out the queue everyday and you will begin to understand why Founder is so popular.

But it is the beautiful pork and prime ribs that have gotten our seal of approval, both of which are beautifully cooked and tender, and falling off the bone. And coupled with a delicious and aromatic broth, this is almost the perfect bak kut teh out there.

5. Fu Shi Traditional Roasted Char Siew

5. Fu Shi Traditional Roasted Char Siew

Though the actual stall sells wanton mee, it is their plate of char siew that has captivated us since the first time we had this. And it is somewhat unique that a wanton mee's standout is the char siew instead of the noodles or wantons.

This amazingly roasted and beautifully glazed char siew has to be eaten to be believed. It literally melts in your mouth, and the charred honey glaze is so delightful you will be coming back for more each time.

4. Punggol Noodles Meatballs

4. Punggol Noodles Meatballs

We have had our fair share of fishball noodles, but nothing can really compare with this amazing bowl of meatballs in soup. All handmade, and filled with ti poh fish, these meatballs just ooze natural sweetness and texture.

And when paired with their mee kia or mee pok, these meatballs' flavors just come alive with alarming clarity and balance. And the broth that comes with it is wonderfully sweet as well.

Uncle Kun Elongated Glutinous rice

3. Uncle Kun Elongated Glutinous Rice

Uncle Kun's highlight at his stall is this beautiful glutinous rice filled with chinese sausage and salted egg yolk. He does the rice himself every morning, which explains why the rice is so rich yet soft to the bite.

Literally melting in your mouth, the flavors within are just absolutely mind blowing, and when you finish that last bite, you yearn for one more. And the chilli that comes with it, is almost equally fantastic, which he makes himself as well.

2. Kovan Ri Yi Beef Kway Teow

2. Kovan Ri Yi Beef Kway Teow

Little did we expect that a beef noodle dish will end up 2nd on this list, as it is almost difficult to find well cooked beef in most beef noodle or beef kway teow stalls in Singapore. Yet, this not only cooks medium tender beef slices to perfection, it also has a delicious broth to go along.

We recommend having the soup variant as the broth tastes very natural and when you request black beans to go along with it, the broth's flavor is elevated to a near masterpiece greatness. They also serve shallots on the side, and it really brings out the flavor of the beef and broth perfectly.

1. Jiang Ji Hainanese Chicken Rice

1. Jiang Ji Hainanese Chicken Rice

It is appropriate that our top Singapore hawker dish happens to be Singapore's favorite hawker food too. And Jiang Ji's steamed chicken really stands head and shoulders above every other competitor in town.

The boneless chicken is really boneless to the core, and the tender, succulent chicken is delightfully smooth and incredibly flavorful. Paired with the tasty and not oily chicken rice, this is the perfect Singapore hawker dish to introduce to anyone who is looking for an introduction to our best hawker fare.

And there you have it, my current list of the top Singapore hawker dishes out there. We will review this every few months or half a year to include more of our favorites as we discover them. Look for more favorite lists coming real soon too!

Note: For the addresses and more information of each hawker stall, please click on the individual heading to read the original post.

4 comments:

  1. It's always difficult to come up with a Top 10 dishes but I'm glad your Top 5 are also my favorites. You have a great blog and I love your videos too. Well done.. Keep it up!!..

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  2. Addresses and opening hours might be helpful =)

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  3. Hi Glenn, thanks for pointing that out. Instead of cluttering the addresses on this post, I have included links in each heading to point to the original post of each hawker, where you can find the addresses.

    cheers

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  4. Could really hope to have the location of this TOP 10 selection

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