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Smell of the streets

Fresh flavours At the Singapore hawkers' festival

They say eating is a national pastime and food a national obsession in Singapore. Bringing the flavours of this South-East Asian cuisine is a Singaporean hawker's festival at Blooms, The Intercontinental-Eros Hotel. “We have tried to bring the authentic flavours of Singaporean cuisine to the city. Two chefs, Dennis Foung and Chuan Seng have been especially flown in for the purpose,” says senior chef, Rahul Rana.

Crisp crabs

The area in front of the restaurant is turned into a food court which is lined with hawker stalls. The classic chilli crab served with the shell, is crisp and spicy, once you learn to navigate the crab. When gorging on Singaporean cuisine, how can noodles be far behind? The beginning is made with laska the seafood soup with a coconut milk base. Served with noodles, a choice of vegetables and egg on top, it is a complete meal in itself. Other varieties like cha kuah teow (flat rice noodles cooked with shrimp stock and vegetables), Hokkein mee noodles (egg noodles) and me goreng (Singaporean hakka noodles) are also worth trying. However, if you like chicken, go for the clear noodles soup made in chicken stock.

The barbeque and grill is a dream for sea food lovers. On the grill are varieties like the stingray, sea bass and jumbo prawns. Grilled to a perfect white, the stingray is tough outside yet soft within. The sambal sauce proves to be the ideal accompaniment to the tough stingray. The Indonesian chicken and lamb served with the subtly sweet and tangy peanut sauce is good while the roasted duck is made soft and juicy.

For those who are less adventurous, there is the roti prata. Said to have travelled from South India to the Southeast, it is almost like the Malabar parantha and can be had with mutton or chicken rendang. Cooked with lemon grass and coconut milk, the rendang has a light herbal aroma but not too much spice. The other specialty in main course is the Hainanese chicken rice. It has freshly roasted chicken pieces served with a soup of chicken stock and rice boiled in coconut milk with chicken shreds. The rice is rich as it is slow cooked in coconut milk while the soup and sauces provide the spice.

Though most items are meat based, vegetarians could try the radish and carrot cake tossed in chilli garlic sauce or the me goreng noodles cooked with vegetables.

A meal of the authentic Singaporean food with unlimited beer would cost Rs.1895 plus taxes per person. The festival is on till November 28.

CHETNA DUA

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