Читать книгу Food of Singapore - David Wong - Страница 8

Eating Singapore Style

The search for culinary excitement continues

When Stamford Raffles, the British founder of modern Singapore, declared the little fishing village and occasional pirates' den a free port in 1819, he drew swarms of migrants in search of economic opportunities. The Chinese, especially from the southern coastal provinces of Fujian and Swatow, arrived by the boatload, following other Chinese who came to Singapore from settlements in nearby Java, Malacca and Borneo. The Indian community began with a small contingent of Indian soldiers in the British army Not long after being declared a free port. Singapore was designated an Indian penal station and convicts were sent here to work on public buildings. British labour policy also brought in droves of Tamils from South India as indentured labour for public works projects.

The island's small Malay population swelled with newly arrived Javanese. Sumatrans, Boyanese from Madura and other Indonesian islanders, as well as Malays and Straits Chinese from Malaya Arabs and Jews came from the Middle East; there was a fairly large community of Armenians and, of course, a strong enclave of Britons who administered the colony. By the end of the 19th century. Singapore was perhaps the most cosmopolitan city in Asia. These migrants all arrived, by and large, from places with long-established culinary traditions Now began the process of blending that has produced some of Singapore's most interesting dishes.

The hybridisation began the day a Malay girl married a Chinese man to form the first of the Straits or Peranakan Chinese families Not all babas (Peranakan men) and nonyas (Peranakan women) had a Malay ancestor, but they were distinguished from the more recently arrived Chinese by the Malay dress of the womenfolk and by their cuisine. Straits Chinese or Nonya cuisine combined the Chinese affection for pork, prohibited to Muslim Malays, with Malay ingredients, such as coconut milk, fragrant roots and herbs, chillies and dried spices for character. Certain Chinese dishes, such as braised pork, were not ignored, but took on a local overtone with the addition of lemongrass and galangal, and many a bland Chinese dish was given a shot of pungent Sambal Belachan, a salty, spicy condiment of belachan (dried prawn paste) and chillies. Another community, the Eurasians—from the intermarriage of Europeans and Asians—also developed a hybrid cuisine that shares much with Straits Chinese cuisine but does not forget its European roots in its focus on roasts, steaks and chops seasoned with soy sauce and eaten with Sambal Belachan or chilli sauce. Neither does the community forget its Indian roots in certain dishes such as Vindaloo, a pork curry tarted up with vinegar, and Devil's Curry which, as its name implies, can set your tongue on fire.

Even without intermarriage, it is not possible to live cheek by jowl with someone of another ethnic community without picking up new food ideas. Perhaps surprisingly, the British, not noted for their cuisine, were also sources of inspiration The colonial memsahibs employed Hainanese boys as cooks and they interpreted Western cuisine for their colonial masters in a way that produced Singaporean classics such as Hainanese Pork Chops: breaded pork cutlets fried in oil, then dressed with potato and tomato wedges, green peas and onions fried in a gravy of soy sauce thickened with starch.

Cuisines with more flourish than the British have also taken on multi-ethnic airs in Singapore. When a Singaporean thinks of Indian food, he thinks of Fish Head Curry, which is a dish that no one in India has heard of until he comes to Singapore. Indians may eat curry, but only the Chinese have the tradition of eating such things as heads, tails, ears and entrails. Mee Goreng, again prepared only by Singaporean Indians, is another Singapore Indian classic not found in India since the main ingredient, the starchy, yellow Hokkien noodles (mee), cannot be found there.

The recently restored Boat Quay and Clarke Quay areas along the Singapore River are ideal settings for alfresco meals.

While Straits Chinese cuisine may be Chinese food with strong Malay overtones, local Malay food has also incorporated Chinese ingredients, such as noodles, bean sprouts, tofu and soy sauce. This has produced Singaporean Malay dishes such as Mee Soto Ayam (yellow Hokkien noodles served in a rich, fragrant chicken broth) and Tauhu Goreng, a delicious dish of deep-fried tofu stuffed with bean sprouts and slivers of cucumber, and topped with thick peanut gravy.

Chinese food itself has evolved its own distinctive Singaporean touches that show the influence of the other ethnic communities. Hainanese Chicken Rice may sound like it came from the Chinese island of Hainan It was once indeed prepared only by the Hainanese in Singapore although you would be hard pressed to find it in Hainan, especially with that critical accompaniment of chilli sauce made with fresh ginger, chilli and vinegar.

While chillies may not be native to Southeast Asia, it is hard to imagine any Singapore-style noodle or rice dish without them Every home and most restaurants stock chillies in one form or another, be it finger-length red sliced chillies, whole chili padi, green vinegared, or ground in a variety of sauces—regardless of race or culinary preference.

Singapore's prosperity is taken for granted by its huge middle class. With the wherewithal to travel beyond the confines of a very small country, to eat and drink well, they carry on the tradition of eating out that started when the menfolk did not have the time to do their own cooking and thus depended on itinerant hawkers. This practice is now fueled by the growing number of women working outside the home Eating out and the constant exposure to good food have encouraged hybridisation of the cuisine, and the healthy competition has widened the range of new dishes created to tempt the ever adventurous epicure. The range of what people eat has grown tremendously While a proper meal once consisted only of rice and side dishes—burgers, sandwiches, and pizzas go down just as well as noodles and rice. Singaporeans eat very eclectic meals with components or dishes from different cuisines—a habit encouraged by hawker centres and food courts. A typical food court meal may include Hokkien-style Popiah (spring rolls in soft wheat skins), Indian Sup Kambing (mutton soup) and a Chicken Chop.

With the different communities eating together, the host has to be mindful of religious strictures and choose food acceptable to all. Malay and Indian dishes pose no problems, and the highly adaptable Chinese food can now be found in halal Chinese restaurants conforming to Muslim dietary restrictions; these even attract Chinese customers who can now eat comfortably with their Muslim friends.

"Flexibility" and "opportunism" have been watchwords with the migrant communities from the beginning, and define the Singaporean mindset when it comes to the pursuit of economic advancement as well as eating. The resulting mix has livened up the Singapore food scene, enriching it with unique combinations that did not exist in the culinary traditions from which they stemmed.