Thanks to the runaway rom-com success of , we've got the food of crazy, rich food of Singapore - satay! cendol! kopi! fried carrot cake! - on our mind.
"This is one of the only places in the world where ," says the film's lead, heart throb Nick Young (played by Henry Golding), as he introduces his ABC (American-Born Chinese) girlfriend Rachel (played by Constance Wu) to the food smorgasbord that is the Newton Food Centre, one of Singapore's famed hawker market. "Each of these hawker stalls sells pretty much one dish and they’ve been perfecting it for generations," says Nick in the film.
Here's a just-released behind-the-scenes tidbit of the cast's reactions to eating and filming at the hawker market.
We asked our intrepid host, Adam Liaw, to share his absolute favourite hawker food eats from his time exploring Singapore's incredible food offering. (You can watch Adam eat his way through Singapore's hawker food in the video above.) Among the bustling hawker centres - the heartbeat of this island nation - he uncovered some seriously incredible hidden hawker gems, plus he shares with us few recipes to bring a taste of Singapore hawker to your very own kitchen.
Here are Adam's hawker must-eats
What Adam ate: Hainanese chicken curry puff
Passed onto him by a Hainanese sailor he met when he was a young man, Uncle Tham's curry puffs at Rolina's are a hugely popular snack in Singapore.
Source: Destination Flavour Singapore
What Adam ate: BBQ chicken wings
The father and son team of this stall in the East Coast Village show Adam just how Singaporean BBQ wings are done.
Source: Destination Flavour Singapore
What Adam ate: Cereal prawns, sambal stingray and lobster
The famous Newton Food Centre has a lot to offer in the way of hawker and Adam lines up a seafood feast like no other from Stall No. 70.
Source: Destination Flavour Singapore
4. Lau Goh Teochew Chye Thow Kway
What Adam ate: Black and white carrot cake
Carrot cake, but not as you may know it, this legendary "cake" is made with radish and egg and is breakfast must. Adam heads to Zion Riverside Food Centre to meet up with stall owner Lau Goh, who popularised the White Carrot Cake in the 1960s and now it's a Singaporean staple...
Singapore's 'carrot' cake Source: Adam Liaw
5. 'Satay Street'
What Adam ate: Beef Satay.
Every night at precisely 7pm the adjoining busy CBD at famous Lau Pa Sat market is blocked off to become a "satay street", where some of Singapore's best satay vendors fire up for a night of brisk trade and skewer tales.
What Adam ate: Red ruby, gangster ice & power cendol
A great way to beat the Singapore heat is with a hawker centre dessert. What a trio: Red Ruby - little cubes of water chestnut covered in red jelly with coconut milk; Gangster Ice - durian ice-cream, mango, condensed milk over the top; Power Cendol - thick gula melaka (palm sugar) tops this icy bowl of "noodles", called cendol, made of mung bean and pandan essence.
Uncover more of Singapore's vibrant food scene with . Visit the for more details, recipes and guides.
What a trio: Red Ruby, Gangster Ice & Power Cendol. Source: Adam Liaw
