Singapore Halal



Famous HK Fried XO Seafood Noodles




Fried rice with seafood XO sauce




Chongqing Chicken in a basket




Fried oyster omelette

Hello.  This post is about food and travelling.  I go to Singapore a lot…… not so much to shop but more for the food.  Gosh, Singapore has a variety of food, Chinese, Indonesian, Western, Japanese, Korean, you name it, it can be found in Singapore.  I recently discovered that a majority of eateries in Singapore are halal.  Don’t believe me?  It’s true, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) is responsible for halal certification in Singapore and restaurants have to undergo a really strict assessment before halal certification can be obtained (you can go to muis.gov.sg for further read and to view free online halal directory).

For your further information, most of the fast food outlets in Singapore are halal, including places like McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut and Burger King.  Also, food courts in shopping malls normally have one stall that sells halal food. 

Recently, I was in Singapore with my family and a good friend who worked in Singapore took us out to several of these halal restaurants.  First, we went for Hong Kong food at the Streats Hong Kong Café, located at City Square Mall, 180, Kitchener Road.  We ordered ‘Famous HK Fried XO Seafood Noodles’, ‘Chongqing Chicken in a basket’ & ‘fried rice with seafood XO sauce’ (see photos).  In case you’re wondering, XO is not the alcohol drink but I think stands for extra original or something!  Anyway, the food was really yummy and tasty and surprisingly had a tinge of spiciness (kind of like Szechuan style) which was something different than the Chinese food I normally have.  And, it served one of the best iced Nescafe I’ve ever tasted.

The next night, we went for Chinese food at this halal food court called The Banquet.  This food court has several outlets and the one we went too was also at the City Square Mall.  I’ve eaten at another outlet at The Raffles Hospital but this one has less selection than the one at City Square Mall. They have several stalls selling amongst others, Japanese, Korean and Indian food and there’s hawker food as well.  I had fried kuey teow which was delicious and my husband had yong tau foo which was also nice.  I was so hungry I forgot to take photos of the food we ordered, sorry! But I managed to snap a photo of this food…fried oyster omelette something which our friend ordered for us to try and which we didn’t like, not because it wasn’t nice or anything, but the texture of the oyster…. wow, just not my cup of tea, it’s definitely an acquired taste. 

So, on the last night, we went for Indian food at this restaurant called Sakunthala’s Food Palace at 66, Race Course Road.  We ordered fish head curry, cereal prawns (at least we didn’t feel guilty eating the prawns since it came with cereal, ha ha), butter chicken and Bhindi fry (deep-fried okra).  The fish curry was soooo nice and the spice wasn’t too over-whelming (which is what we tend to get in Malaysia).  It was really authentic Indian food.  Again, I was too busy peeling the prawn’s shell I forgot to take photos!

Well, my Singapore trip was filled with food and more food and the 3 restaurants that I went to didn’t disappoint and I highly recommend them.  So, the next time you’re in Singapore and looking for halal food, just look out for the halal Singapore sign at restaurants.  You don’t have to survive on fast food again!

Soto Ayam (Chicken soup with rice cubes)

First and foremost.  Welcome.  Since this is my first post, I’d like to share the recipe of one of my favourite food that is often cooked and enjoyed in my family.  Mind you, this dish can be a bit of a hassle since it requires a lot of preparation.  If you’re doing it all by yourself, start early!  Fortunately for me, I have someone to help me out in the kitchen, particularly in shredding the chicken meat, which I realllllly hate doing.  To make things easy, I normally prepare the rice cubes and beef cutlets a day earlier, so I’m not rushed the next day.  Enjoy!      

Ingredients

• 1 medium chicken, quartered
• 2 in ginger
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 chicken cube
• Soup-spice pouch

Blend into a paste

• 4 medium onions, peeled
• 10 garlic cloves, peeled
• 5 candlenuts
• 3 lemon grass
• 1 in galangal
• 3 tbsp coriander powder
• 1 tbsp cumin powder
• 1 tbsp fennel powder
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp white pepper
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ cup water

Garnish

• Spring onions/ Chinese celery – finely chopped
• Bean sprouts – blanched in hot water
• Fried onions (bawang goreng) – finely sliced and deep-fried until golden & crispy
• Rice cubes (nasi impit) – rice pre-packed in heat-resistant plastic can be bought at the supermarket, boiled for 1½ hrs, cooled and cut into bite-sized cubes.
• Beef cutlets (bergedel)
• Shredded chicken meat
• Chilli paste

Beef cutlets

• 6 medium potatoes - peeled and cut lengthways into thin slices
• 1 cup minced meat
• 2-3 stalks spring onions/Chinese celery - finely chopped
• Fried onions
• Salt
• White pepper
• Egg

Chilli paste

• 8-10 bird’s eye chillies
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• Juice from ½ lime
• 1 tsp sugar

o    Cover chicken with 1½ litre water, add chopped ginger and bring to a boil.  Cook over moderate heat until chicken is cooked, about 30 mins. Remove chicken, leave to cool and shred the chicken meat.  Place the shredded chicken in a hot oven until lightly browned. Reserve the chicken stock.

o   To prepare the soup, in a big pot, heat 1 cup oil and gently fry the blended paste until aromatic, about 5 mins.  Add the reserved chicken stock, bay leaves, chicken cube and soup-spice pouch and bring to a boil.  Season to taste with salt.

o   To prepare the beef cutlets, heat enough oil and deep-fry the potatoes until cooked. Pound the fried potatoes while still hot in a pestle and mortar.  Place the mince meat in a pan and stir over low heat until half-cooked.

o    In a bowl, add potatoes, mince meat, spring onions/Chinese celery and fried onions and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Ensure the mixture is slightly sticky and can be moulded into balls. Pinch a bit of the mixture and roll in your hands to form a ball, then press down slightly to flatten to roughly a diameter of 1½ in.  Repeat until all the mixture is used.  (At this point, you may freeze the cutlets in a freezer if you’re not cooking them immediately)

o   Otherwise, break an egg into a bowl and lightly beat with a fork.  Dip the cutlets into the egg and fry in hot oil until cooked, about 5 mins. Drain on kitchen towel.

o   To prepare the chilli paste, blend the chillies and sugar until fine, add soy sauce and lime juice.

o   Place 6-8 rice cubes in a bowl, add the garnishes and pour the hot soup.  Yummy!