20 Singapore Hawker Food You Can Make at Home

20 Singapore Hawker Food You Can Make at Home

No mountain is too high to conquer. As long as you have the will, we can show you the way. 🙂 We have rounded up 20 of our Singapore hawker food recipes for you. Which one would you like to conquer first?

#1: Hainanese Chicken Rice 海南鸡饭

Ask any Singaporean for a recommendation on what to eat when you are in Singapore and Hainanese chicken rice will always be on the top of the list. CNN even listed it as one of the 50 most delicious foods in the world — that is how good Hainanese chicken rice is. While chicken rice is commonly available at most food centres in Singapore, you can rarely find a stall that sells chicken rice balls. So other than showing you how to make typical chicken rice, we show you how to make chicken rice balls in our video too. Try this recipe. Your kids will enjoy moulding the rice balls.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/oCCikPxlUkA


#2: Teochew Braised Duck 潮州卤鸭

Braised duck is well-loved by Chinese Singaporeans. Different Chinese dialect groups have their own version of braised duck but Teochew braised duck is the most popular in Singapore. Our favourite stall is Yu Kee Duck Rice. They have branches all over Singapore and their duck rice never fails to satisfy our craving. We especially love their herbal soup that comes free with every meal. Yum! Now you can make braised duck at home too. Imagine serving your braised duck with rice drenched in delicious dark gravy. Heaven! Remember to cook some firm beancurd (tau kwa) or tofu puff (tau pok) and hard-boiled eggs in the gravy too. So easy!

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/TUCkqb9oF4w


#3: Kway Chap 粿汁

Kway chap is another Teochew dish we love. A typical set of kway chap consists of a bowl of flat rice noodles soaked in diluted braising sauce and on the side, you will get a variety of pig innards, different types of tofu, preserved salted vegetables and braised hard-boiled egg. Truth be told, while the cooking process is fairly easy, the process of cleaning pig innards can take a bit of time and effort. If you are game to cook this at home, we have some videos to show you how to clean pig innards. Are you game though? If not, just FoodPanda it and support Singapore hawkers.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/-Sn-qHuw4ek


#4: Pig Organ Soup 猪杂汤

Pig organ soup is one of the more popular Chinese soup in Singapore. This Teochew soup is usually served with rice as well as side dishes such as braised pork leg, braised tau pok, braised hard-boiled eggs and salted vegetables. The broth is boiled with different parts of a pig including liver, intestines, stomach, pork and some salted vegetables. Before serving this up, add some crispy garlic bits and garlic oil. Super yummy! If you are not a fan of pig innards or you are too lazy to clean them, just prepare the broth and add pork balls or sliced pork instead. If you want to know how to make the special chilli sauce to go with your pig organ soup, watch our kway chap video above. Our favourite pig organ soup stall is Soon Huat Pig’s Organ Soup located at Serangoon Garden — the other food market next to Chomp Chomp.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/hf8mKsy9gH4


#5: Otah-otah 乌达

We are huge fans of otah. We used to buy them in bulk (like 100 pieces — don’t judge us please. LOL!) when Sheng Shiong used to sell them freshly grilled just at the doorstep of their Serangoon North store. Otah-otah (or simply otah or otak) is a Malay snack commonly found in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. This spicy grilled fish cake is made of ground fish meat and a mix of spices. Traditionally, it is cooked in banana leaf or coconut leaf but you can also cook them without. You can easily replicate this recipe if you have a food processor or blender at home. We have a Magimix at home and it is truly life-saving. Once you are done preparing the otah paste, you can either roast them in an oven or steam them. Super easy!

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/KAPkdHtcgxI


#6: Bak Chor Mee 肉脞面

Our recipe was inspired by our favourite stall Xing Ji Rou Cuo Mian located at Blk 85 Fengshan Market and we are so happy that we managed to achieve 98% similarity to their bak chor mee. Yes yes yes! Although this bowl of noodles seems rather simple, it wowed the palates of the judges at the World Street Food Congress in 2017. Bak chor mee was one of the 14 dishes from Singapore voted to be amongst the top 50 dishes from around the world. You can get both the soup and dry versions in Singapore but we will only show you how to make the soup version because that is what our favourite stall only serve. If you intend to make this at home, remember to buy Lion Dance brand pork balls from NTUC, Sheng Siong, Cold Storage or Giant. They are the exact same pork balls used by Xing Ji.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/Af308H3rA0g


#7: Mee Hoon Kway 面粉粿

If you have all-purpose flour at home, you can easily make mee hoon kway from scratch. If the noodles are cut in long strips, they are known as ban mian (板麵). This popular noodle dish in Singapore is made up of handmade noodles served in a simple light ikan bilis broth with some vegetables, minced meat and a half-cooked egg. Simple goodness. Once you are done making the broth with the ikan bilis — do not discard them. You can add some salt to them and then bake them in the oven until crispy. Our favourite mee hoon kway stall is China Whampoa Home Made Noodles located at Whampoa (morning) market. Yum yum yum! Be prepared to wait up to an hour for your mee hoon kway fix there though.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/hPb-9In-lQ8


#8: Teochew Bak Kut Teh 潮州肉骨茶

Unlike the herbal-based Klang bak kut teh, Teochew bak kut teh features a clear pork broth with an overwhelming peppery taste. Imagine taking this when you are feeling groggy. Shiok! With our recipe, you will never need to buy another pre-packed Teochew bak kut teh mix again. It is really easy to make. Which style of bak kut teh do you like? We cannot make up our minds — we want them both! Our favourite Teochew bak kut teh is Old Street Bak Kut Teh. Their broth is super powerful. Best of all, they give unlimited free soup refill so you can have it until you drop.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/aESOgpgAuM4


#9: Chicken Satay 鸡肉沙爹

Does satay or sate mean three pieces in Hokkien? Hmmm. What we know for sure is this barbecued meat skewer is super duper yummy. Although satay is a national delicacy of Indonesia, we can easily get satay in Singapore too. Indonesian sate is coated with creamy peanut sauce when served but Singapore satay is served with chunky peanut sauce on the side. You can never go wrong when making chicken satay at home as long as you have the right recipe. We hope our recipe is the perfect one for you.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/Xe9_ihBpvbI


#10: Singapore Laksa 叻沙

Laksa is a popular Peranakan spicy soup noodle dish, available in different variations depending on the country of origin. Although you can find this dish in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, the ingredients used in each country are different. In general, laksa consists of rice vermicelli with chicken or seafood, served in spicy coconut-based broth. Call us biased but we think Singapore laksa is the best! Our favourite laksa stall is Katong Laksa but we are also happy with any Singapore laksa that comes our way.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/aUFZq15uZj0


#11: Kung Pao Frog Leg Porridge 宫保田鸡粥

If you have never been fed frogs since young, you are very likely to find this dish extremely gross. LOL! Like what they always say about everything else, frogs taste like chicken and we concur. When cooked properly, their flesh is even more tender than that of a chicken. Our favourite frog porridge stall is located at Hong Chang Eating House, the coffeeshop along Braddell Road. If you also like their kung pao frog leg porridge, you will like our recipe. We did not include the white porridge recipe in the video but it is very easy to make. All you need to do is cook 3/4 cup jasmine rice, 1/4 cup glutinous rice, 10 cups water and 1/4 chicken stock cube in a rice cooker or over the stove. This concoction serves four or five. One quick tip: put your uncooked mixed rice (without water and chicken stock) in the freezer first before cooking. This helps to shorten the time needed to make congee-like porridge.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/OcehBj5dG1A


#12: Goreng Pisang 香脆炸香蕉

Thinking of making some tea time snacks for your loved ones? Try making these super crispy banana fritters. In Singapore, this is commonly known as goreng pisang, which means fried banana in Malay. We have seen two types of goreng pisang in Singapore. One is coated with this traditional flour batter while the other is coated with a batter that results in a lighter and airier crunch. We prefer goreng pisang coated with traditional batter as it makes the banana fritters crunchier. Which one do you prefer?

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/eVkj_POEL-o


#13: Singapore See Hum Char Kway Teow 新加坡鲜蛤炒粿条

See hum means fresh cockles and char kway teow means stir-fried flat rice noodles in Hokkien or Teochew. Although char kway teow is also available in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, every country has their rendition of char kway teow. Singapore char kway teow is sweet and stir-fried with fresh cockles. This is the style that we have shared in our video. Fret not if you cannot get hold of fresh cockles. Just omit them. No problemo.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/1HtUfN4psf0


#14: Nasi Lemak 椰浆饭

We know most people only add coconut milk, salt and pandan leaves to make coconut rice but we have added a secret ingredient to make our rice even more fragrant. Watch our video to find out what our secret ingredient is. Other than the fragrant coconut rice, a good nasi lemak is defined by the sambal chilli that is served alongside. You might be pleased to know that we managed to create sambal chilli that resembles the one served by Punggol Nasi Lemak, our favourite stall. Super yummy!

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/DnhCfLuJgGg


#15: Carrot Cake 菜头粿

Carrot cake is one of our favourite Singapore hawker food. Contrary to its name, Singapore carrot cake does not contain any carrots. It is made of radish instead. Before serving, the steamed carrot cake is fried with eggs and preserved radish (chai po). You can choose to have your carrot cake in black or white. White is the savoury version and black is a mix of sweet and savoury. We usually go for black carrot cake as a side to go with other dishes whenever we eat at hawker centres. Give this recipe a try and let us know what you think. Happy cooking!

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/9lafRsGXio0


#16: Prawn Noodles 虾面

We love love love prawn noodles! Need us say more? Good news is — you can easily make prawn noodles at home as long as you have a good inventory of uncooked prawn shells and prawn heads. If you do not have an inventory yet, you can easily build it up. The next time you intend to cook prawns for other dishes without their shells, instead of discarding them, put them in a bag and freeze them. Our prawn noodle recipe is very different from what you normally get in Singapore because we have added five spice to the broth. We like our broth better this way. Try it and let us know what you think.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/WK-JRh3aoas


#17: Teochew Fish Porridge 潮州鱼粥

Teochew fish soup is another dish that is widely available in Singapore. You can get it at most foodcourts and coffeeshops. If you can find a fish soup stall, fish porridge very likely to be included on their menu. Teochew fish porridge is simply cooked rice soaked in a bowl of clear fish broth. If you are not a fan of rice, you can just replace it with vermicelli or any other types of noodles that you like. We have two favourite stalls in Singapore – one is First Street Teochew Fish Soup along Upper Serangoon and the other is Lu Jia Fish Soup located at A’Posh Bizhub in Yishun.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/vIQEKLymCPs


#18: Sambal Stingray 叁巴魔鬼鱼

From mala hotpots to sambal-loaded dishes, we can safely proclaim that Singaporeans love spicy food. We think you will love our sambal stingray recipe. The sambal chilli is to die for. Best still, it is very easy to make. You can also prepare this in advance for your BBQ parties (after the COVID-19 lockdown of course). We are very sure that your guests will love this. Remember to squeeze some calamansi juice over the fish for the extra punch. Our favourite kung pao frog leg porridge stall in Hong Chang Eating House also serves super delicious sambal stingray and sambal sotong. Do give them a try.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/iG2GigbraTg


#19: Teochew Homemade Fishball Noodles 潮州鱼圆面

Fishball noodles come in soup and dry variants. There are a few key components to making a good bowl of fishball noodles. When served dry, the sambal chilli has to be good and the noodles have to be springy. If you like the dry version, our chilli recipe used in our sambal stingray video is perfect for your fishball noodles. Our favourite stall for dry fishball noodles is Finest Song Kee Fishball Noodles located along Upper Serangoon Road. For the soup variant, the broth needs to be really good. We used to have a favourite stall (亚水鱼丸面) located around Kitchener Road but sadly it has already closed down. So whenever we feel like having fishball noodle soup, we will cook them ourselves. If you find making fishballs from scratch too troublesome, just buy them. Dodo fishball noodles are pretty good.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/qsWsa_ngWsU


#20: Hokkien Mee 福建炒面

Hokkien mee or fried Hokkien noodles is our ultimate favourite Singapore hawker food. If you were to ask us for a recommended list of food to try in Singapore, Hokkien mee is definitely going to be amongst the top three. The dish is made up of yellow cooked noodles and vermicelli fried in super flavourful prawn broth and most importantly — lard. This is another compelling reason why you need to start building up your inventory of prawn heads and prawn shells. Our favourite stall is Singapore Fried Hokkien Mee located at Whampoa (night) market. Which is yours? For the record, our top three recommended food to try in Singapore is Hokkien Mee, Hainanese Chicken Rice and Black Pepper Crabs.

Watch how we made it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/fk0uCh6XMfQ


Hope you are feeling inspired already. Head over to Spice N’ Pans channel on Youtube for more recipes. We have more than 400 recipes to let you try. Let’s start cooking!



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