My Personal Quest
There’s nothing quite like food from home — in my case, Singapore.
And I really mean, nothing.
No bak kut teh, a flavorful, herbal pork rib soup. No prata, a deliciously greasy Indian pancake (except perhaps in the freezers at Asian grocery stores). And heaven forbid you ask someone about curry puffs, which are buttery pastry packages filled with a thick, spicy chicken curry sauce.
And I haven’t even begun to describe what else I’m missing. Nasi lemak, or coconut rice. Chwee kueh, a steamed rice cake garnished with salty preserved radish. Red snappers steamed whole in a simple yet delicious soy sauce mixture. Hot plate tofu. Chili crab. Fish balls. My mouth is watering just thinking about them.
Granted, you can find some of these things in the U.S. Some are good and some are heartbreakingly bad; all are overpriced.
And no one really knows what you’re talking about, unless they’re from Singapore too. Even though Singapore’s population is mainly Chinese, our tastes have changed through the generations. Our food is unique. There’s really nothing like food from home.
My personal quest involves three things: to find food in the U.S. that is as close as it can get to Singaporean food; to share it with others; and to try and make Singaporean (or Malaysian) food with the ingredients I can find here.
1) Finding food
Every time I visit a new town or city, I like to try and look up Singaporean restaurants. Usually, I find a Malaysian/Thai fusion place. Don’t get me wrong, they tend to have good food. But even though Malaysian food is similar in some ways to its Singaporean counterparts, when it comes down to it, we prefer different flavor profiles and spices. So I’ve yet to find anything that quite nails what I’m looking for. But my quest continues.
2) Sharing food
I think of this as “food evangelism.” I want more people to know about other Asian foods besides fried rice, green curry and kung pow chicken. The world is a smorgasbord! I want to introduce you to my little slice of it.
3) Making food
I’d like to give an unsolicited shoutout to MalaysiaChineseKitchen and RotiAndRice, two Facebook pages that are run by the same person: a Malaysian woman based in Colorado. She has such good recipes and uses ingredients that are readily found in the U.S. I have visited many other websites looking for recipes, but I rely on her a lot. It is a joy to be able to make familiar foods from home while so far away.
This is my first post about food, but it will not be my last. You have been warned.
