Delicious and tender Hainanese chicken rice, unique bak kut teh, Nyonya-style curry chicken, fragrant satay skewers... those who immigrate to Singapore are all captivated by Singaporean cuisine. Singaporean food blends regional Southeast Asian characteristics, features a wide array of exquisite ingredients, and boasts unparalleled cooking techniques. Among these, local hawker food holds an enduring status, embodying memories and emotions.
Recently, faculty and students from Temasek Polytechnic launched a hawker food cookbook, decoding local classic hawker dishes and analyzing the scientific principles behind the cooking processes of various ingredients, hoping to enable people to cook delicious "authentic" flavors at home. In addition to introducing the origins, cooking methods, flavors, textures, and nutritional values of classic hawker dishes, this cookbook also provides new interpretations for each dish, encouraging people to innovate based on traditional flavors. For example, chendol can be made into popsicles, and Hainanese chicken rice can be cooked as risotto, etc.
Over the past four years, more than 20 students from the Baking and Culinary Science course at Temasek Polytechnic have participated in the compilation of this cookbook under the guidance of faculty members.
Shen Rong (22 years old) participated in writing the fish head curry chapter of the cookbook. After graduating the year before last, he has been working at a French restaurant.
He and his classmates went from searching for widely recognized "authentic" flavors to experimenting in the laboratory with different proportions of ingredients, and finally cooking the most satisfactory finished products. At each stage, 20 or more chefs and catering industry professionals were invited to taste them. "To find the most authentic taste in people's memories, the tasters we invited were all 40 years old or older. We hope to record the taste, ingredients, and cooking methods of the dishes as accurately as possible, and contribute to preserving our country's culinary traditions."