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SINGAPORE, Don't get Singaporeans started on food.

Eating is a national pastime in the multi-cultural city-state and it takes little to trigger a heated debate over which is the best and cheapest place to eat a signature local dish like chicken rice or chili crab.

"Have you eaten?" is the social equivalent of "How are you?" in the Southeast Asian island where Oriental and Western influences have given birth to a rich fusion cuisine, and good but inexpensive meals are widely available.

According to a study by Sydney-based research firm BIS Shrapnel, the recession last year failed to kill Singaporeans' big appetite for eating out.

The island devoured almost 1.5 billion meals worth more than 4.5 billion dollars last year, or an average of more than 1,000 dollars spent per capita at food stalls, cafes and restaurants.

BIS Shrapnel managing director Gary Tilsley said this was a "very high figure by world standards," and put Singapore alongside Hong Kong and Australia among the top three dining centres in the Asia-Pacific region.

Singaporeans actually spent more money per capita eating out than dining at home, which is not surprising for a densely populated, workaholic economy where most people live in apartments within sniffing distance of food centres.

Close to 80 percent of Singaporeans are ethnic Chinese, but there are large Malay and Indian minorities plus a huge army of foreign workers and tourists in this former British colony of four million people.

Immigrants back in the 19th century came in search of better lives and inevitably brought their food cultures which over the years have helped shape the identity of Singapore.

Singapore gained independence only in 1965 when it broke away from Malaysia, and food is one of the glues that hold various races together.

One of Singapore's most renowned "foodie" gurus, KF Seetoh, who wrote a food guide called Makan Sutra and hosts a TV show of the same name, calls food the "fifth culture" after Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian cultures.

Political activity is highly regulated in Singapore, so food rather than ideology is a safer subject to discuss.

Seetoh remarked that food is "politically insensitive" and a "very neutral" subject, and Singapore food is "underpriced like hell."

Violet Oon, a food columnist and businesswoman popular for her "Peranakan" dishes which blend Chinese and Malay styles of cooking, noted that people of different races often sit at the same table eating their own preferred dishes, "which is nice."

A delicious meal cooked right before your eyes at a "hawker centre" -- open-sided buildings where rows of food stalls offer a huge variety of dishes -- can be had for less than two dollars.

"It's very affordable to be obsessive about food," Oon said.

Seetoh found while combing the streets that many of the dishes Singaporeans love are what he calls the "third taste," dishes which have evolved into a uniquely Singaporean form.

Along with Hainanese chicken rice, with the grains flavoured by chicken broth and the meat either steamed or roasted, another favourite is "Bak Kut Teh," an aromatic pork ribs soup which can be traced back to Chinese immigrants.

"It's so Chinese and yet, it's not in China, this is what I mean, we came up with a third taste," Seetoh said.

Another example is the Indian "rojak" which is a mix of prawns, bean curd, hard boiled eggs, cuttlefish, vegetables fried in batter and the crucial final ingredient, a sweet potato-based chili sauce.

Seetoh found that Indian "rojak" started about 60 years ago, when an old man used to walk up and down the streets carrying over his shoulder two pots balanced at opposite ends of a pole.

Another Singapore dish is the fried prawn noodle and prawn noodle soup which had their beginnings from Hokkien migrants from China who used to squat along the sidewalks and fry excess noodles bought below market prices from noodle factories at the end of the day.

Another famous dish is "Yue Sheng," a Lunar New Year favourite featuring six types of shredded, marinated and flavored vegetables, topped with raw fish, crackers and prune sauce.

There are close to 14,000 food outlets, half of which are in street-side eateries, in Singapore.

"Everywhere you turn in Singapore, somebody is selling you food," Seetoh said, and consumption statistics show that Singaporeans don't mind at all.(AFP) 

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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