The Tastes of Singapore

One of the cool things about Singapore is the diversity of the culture which brings with it, my favorite thing, food.  It is has become known for its rich, diverse culinary scene and has yet to disappoint.  Singapore offers Indian, Chinese, French, Thai, Spanish, Indonesian, Italian, and Fusion food which has driven a spurt in tourism here.  So, as you can imagine, I dived right in and have been wanting to learn how to cook some of these delicacies. 

Joe's favorite of the moment - pork rib soup

 

Indian Chicken Curry





Laksa - sooooooo good



Indonesia Chicken or Mutton Satay

  

Thai Tom Yam Soup



Chinese Chili Wontons














As luck should have it, my friend invited me to join a cooking class with her friends that meet once a month.  They meet at one of the girls house and you are to bring a knife, cutting board and apron.  The chef is Singaporean lady who is lots of fun and a great cook.  If you have any interest, you can check her our at:  http://www.kkaruna.com/main.htm .  Anyway, she goes over all the ingredients with you and you can ask questions, etc. and then she splits you off in teams to take on different tasks.  After everything is prepared, you sit down and enjoy your masterpiece with wine of course. 

The first class I learned how to make hummus (from scratch-using fresh garbanzos), falafel, chicken tagine, moussaka, spanikopita and these incredible coconut balls.  The thing I learned was that I have never been an eggplant fan but she won me over with the moussaka.  I have made it twice since the class.  Additionally, coconut has never been at the top of my list but these little balls were balls of heaven!  Basically, coconut and sweetened condensed milk... yowza.  You have to use fresh, grated coconut that you get from the wet markets so unless you know someone willing to grate fresh coconut, you probably won't get to tastes these unless you come visit!  After that class, my friend and I decided to cook for our guys and invite a new couple over that just moved from Austin.  It was a success and we have decided to make it a regular date once we all get back from the holidays.

Vietnamese Pho

Last night we learned how to make Vietnamese Pho (pronounced "fa").  Joe and I love pho so I now know how to make it and it was delish.  Along with it was Chicken Cabbage Salad and Sticky Rice with coconut cream and mangos.  Yummmmmmmm... coconut is a big thing in Eastern dishes.  I am now the new host of these cooking classes since our current host is moving back to the states (that's one of the sad things around here, you get to know great people and then they move away).  We will have one more class before we leave and it is an Indonesian menu and it sounds awesome.  Hopefully, I'll be able to find the ingredients when I'm home so I can show off my new culinary talents. 

Lastly, the chef also conducts wet market tours to teach you about all the local fruits, vegetables and spices and where to buy them.  The smells come with the tour at  no extra charge.  They call them wet markets because ice is constantly melting on the floors and they are constantly being washed down so sandals are not recommended.  I've decided it is best to go early as the seafood is fresh off the boat and hasn't been sitting there all afternoon.  Anyway, it was fun to learn and it will be a stopping point of my tours when people visit.

Tick, tock... time is getting shorter!!  22 DAYS!




This picture has nothing to do with the topic but I figured it wouldn't be complete without one picture of the girls.  First day at the pool.  They weren't too sure but they'll get it eventually!