Over the weekend, a commentary that I wrote on hawker prices was published on CNA and has sparked a bit of debate. Much of the discussion has been robust and I thought I’d share my views on some of them:

“Letting hawkers set their own price at will is going to raise the cost of living for everyone. Thus, price controls are justified.” Some have argued that even though Singapore is a first world nation, the cost of housing and car ownership (though whether this is truly a necessity in Singapore is debatable) is a lot higher than many of its counterparts. The only thing that is keeping our cost of living in check is cheap hawker food and it’s been this way for decades, with keeping hawker food affordable being “a cornerstone of government policy”. But while cheap food might have been a possibility when hawkers were offered rent subsidies by the government, now with more than half of our hawkers not being on subsidised rents, that narrative is broken.

“If it’s not cheap, it’s not hawker food.” Because the ideology of hawker food being cheap food has been so pervasive, anyone who has grown up in Singapore in the past couple of decades would feel bothered by price hikes. This is an intuitive, reflexive response which is inevitable, even for someone like me who has grown accustomed to paying at least S$15 the minute I leave my home for a sit-down meal in Australia. Also, given that hawker prices are in the single digit range, any price hike feels significant (for example a rise of S$4 to S$6 is a 50% increase) and feelings of outrage even more knee-jerk.

If hawker food is not “cheap” and patrons have to clear their own trays and put up with no air-conditioning, some say that there is no reason to eat hawker food. “Might as well eat in an air-conditioned eatery.” Therein lies the problem - inherently, do we recognise the value of our hawker food? Do we truly feel that it is unique, world-class, and intangibly precious - everything we claim we believe when we nominated it for UNESCO? Because if we do, then the best way for us to demonstrate that belief is to put our money where our mouth is.

Comments that I read that grind my gears include things like: “Hawkers are using the excuse of inflation to charge higher.” or “Only when your food is good, then you can increase the price.” There was also this 8days article that I find troubling on many levels - the journalistic angle that emphasised the hawkers’ “uncommon sense of gratitude” when they choose to keep prices low amid economic pressures, and the way hawkers have internalised society’s expectations of them fulfilling the role of a social worker or charity in feeding “people with no money”. I referenced the article and addressed the line of thinking in these comments in the CNA938 radio interview that I’ve embedded in this newsletter.

What is worth our time discussing are solutions, especially with regard to considerations for low-income households & the problem of high rental and miscellaneous fees that plague hawkers. While 40% of hawkers are on the subsidised rental scheme (who pay between $56-320 per month), most have their rentals determined via a bidding system. The upper limit for this is usually S$5,000 but it can go up to even $10,000 a month as the fees are entirely dictated by the free market. And then you have hawkers whose landlords are not the government, but corporations such as Timbre who have been reported to charge an average of $4,000. How many plates of chicken rice would a hawker have to sell to break even and not make a loss - and we are only talking about rent as one part of the cost equation!

KF Seetoh, our country’s loudest voice for the hawkers, proposed that “the authorities get rid of the bidding process, offer a fair rental and give it to the most deserving ones, may it be based on the menu, talent and preservation of Singapore’s unique food culture.” But this opens up a can of worms. With demand surpassing supply of available stalls, how do we decide who is the most deserving? How do you quantify talent, especially amongst hawkers who cook in such varied styles?

A lot of food for thought, and definitely important discussions we should all have, if we are to ensure that our hawker food culture is to be preserved and kept alive for generations to come. If you have a perspective, please comment via the link below - I would love to hear from you:

Singapore Noodles is a reader-supported publication. If you are able, please consider becoming a paid subscriber (or gifting a subscription to a friend). Thank you!

Five to six years ago, when I was working on Wet Market to Table, I came across the menu at Nouri where regional vegetables and fruit were celebrated in new and unexpected ways. Lots has changed since then and it is not uncommon now to see young chefs working with produce from our markets, but back then, it definitely got my interest. I’ve wanted to have a conversation with Chef Ivan for quite some time, but it never happened, owing mainly to the fact that I was leaving for Australia… so it was great that this chat finally happened and that it is on this podcast!

Ivan believes strongly in how food can connect us all, and he expresses it with eloquence. Towards the end of the conversation, he talks about how to keep tradition alive is to embrace “the Indian hand cooking Hokkien mee, and the Chinese hand folding prata”, and it is such a moving, beautiful picture of what our society and the Singaporean food fabric could look like. Instead of having sharp boundaries drawn around dishes, food can be such a unifier and common ground for us all!

I hope you enjoy this episode. And please let me know if you do... I always love getting comments and suggestions from listeners.

Christopher Tan: “I think what everyone needs to realise is that we all have a say in how the food culture of our country evolves. We all have a stake, we all have a say, and we are all culture makers. Your national food culture is not something that you should have to order in. It should be something that you stand in, you cook, you practice, and you live out. Your heritage is your anchor, your compass, and your passport from which you go and explore other places, but you hold your passport. I very much hope that the younger generations will take up home-cooking as an activity, as a hobby, not as a luxury but as a necessity…”

Christopher Tan, writer, author of The Way of Kueh, and culinary instructor shares about the importance of home-cooking, plus: *Growing-up years in the UK* *How Singaporean food culture has shifted* *Motivation behind writing The Way of Kueh* *Agak-agak* *Challenges of kueh-making* *Parallels and differences between Western pastries and desserts, and kueh* *Vegetables in Asian desserts* *Why make kueh* *Social media, mastery, and repetition* *The shift from kampungs to HDBs* *‘Authentic’ and ‘traditional’*

Christopher Tan: @thewayofkueh 

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Desmond Shen: “We basically tried not to throw anything away, and I think one of the steps to do that is to name the thing by its part, instead of just calling it ‘waste’. If you are trimming carrots, you take away the carrot head, end, and peel – and you call that that. You don’t call it ‘trim’, you just call it ‘carrot peel’. What are we going to do with the carrot peel? What are we going to do with the carrot tops? What are we going to do with the end bits of the carrot… Especially with meat, there are so many parts that you throw away – in a chicken, you have the cockscomb, the windpipe. Once you start calling it ‘waste’, you tend to not regard it.”

Desmond Shen, chef and founder of Tiffin Bicycle Club and Alter Native, shares about his food influences growing up, plus: *Decision to be a chef* *His interest in Asian flavours* *Creative process of pushing Singaporean flavours forward* *The importance of eating out and embracing kitchen failures* *Motivation behind starting Tiffin* *Reducing plastic and food waste* *His vegetarian menu* *Favourite technique for making vegetables delicious* *Challenges and considerations of serving food in a tiffin* *The Tiffin experience* *His upcoming project, Alter Native*

Desmond Shen: @tiffin.bicycle.club

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Sheere Ng: “Our understanding of inmates is they are either repentant or incorrigible. It’s black and white. But I think that the masak shows them to be abit more multifaceted, showing them to be loyal but ill-disciplined, angry but funny as well. I learnt something from trying to understand masak, and I simply wanted to tell that story…”

Sheere Ng, author of When Cooking Was A Crime and co-founder of In Plain Words shares about the twists and turns in her career, plus: *How her love for food began* *Her journey into food writing* *Her experience as a food editor of Makansutra* *Working in the hospitality industry* *Where she got the idea for writing about prison food culture* *Why inmates cook in prison* *Food that Singaporean inmates were cooking in prison* *How writing the book helped her understand inmates better* *How she decided on food writing* *The importance of satisfying her curiosities and doing food research* *Challenges as a food researcher* *The importance of bilingualism* *What is Singaporean food*

Sheere Ng’s book: https://inplainwords.sg/when-cooking-was-a-crime/

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Rebecca Koh: “Asian ferments used to be passed down by the word of mouth – from grandma to the mother, and from the mother to the daughters. If one generation decides, “I do not want to learn it”, then that's it… When I wanted to learn how to make rice wine, my maternal grandma had already passed on, so there's no way I could ask. I had to call my aunt and ask, “Is there anyone in Singapore you know who knows how to do it?”. And she said, “No, not in Singapore, but in Malaysia, maybe I can find out from you.” So that's why in Singapore, it is literally like a vanishing art. You can hardly find someone who can really teach you how to do it properly, step-by-step.”

Rebecca Koh of Midnight Fermentary and Midnight Food Co., shares how fermentation helped her cope with insomnia, plus: *Different colours of glutinous rice wine* *Difference between red yeast rice and white wine cakes* *Process of making glutinous rice wine* *Superstitions/ science of fermentation* *Home-brewing shops in Singapore* *Fermentation fridges and storing wine under the bed* *Enjoying glutinous rice wine and lees* *The value of fermenting your own food* *What’s within the reach of a home fermenter* *Why there are chemicals in commercial ferments* *Why is there a lack of documentation for Asian ferments* *Where should a beginner start*

Rebecca Koh: @midnightfermentary @midnightfoodco

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

I reflect on 2 years of Singapore Noodles, answer your questions and share about my plans for the platform in 2021, plus: *How I decide on guests to feature on the podcast* *Behind-the-scenes of the podcast* *How I stay inspired in the kitchen* *How being married improved my cooking* *My upcoming cookbook* *The Singapore Noodles Membership*

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Gladys Foo: “When we made love letters pre-pandemic, we all will go over to my mom’s place to help out. I come from a family of six siblings, so we have everybody in the different areas. I am in charge of rolling it, my elder sis is in charge of removing the love letters from the mould to pass it to me, one of my sis is in charge of monitoring it, my second sis is in charge of scooping it. My brother is the firewatcher to ensure that the fire is consistent… My siblings and I, we have a very special bond because we grew up with very little, and so the bonding is there. The sacrifice that all my siblings made for one other – we really appreciate it… That’s why we have a lot of these family activities. It’s that family closeness that brings everyone together, and so does the cooking.”

Gladys Foo, founder of Kuehdys Foo, shares about her kueh-making business started, plus: *Her growing up years* *Love letters, nian gao, and yibua* *Factors contributing to the slow death of traditional kueh-making* *Why eating kueh is typically seen as an ‘old person thing’*

*The importance of homecooking and exposing children to traditional food* *COVID and the resurgence of heritage food and other upsides* *The communal aspect of kueh-making* *Origins of Hainanese cuisine* *Her family’s version of roast pork belly* *Chicken poop kueh and art buah*

Gladys Foo: @kuehdysfoo

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Shen Tan: “Passion doesn’t feed people – it doesn’t pay your CPF, it doesn’t pay your mortgage, it doesn’t pay for medical insurance. Singaporeans who say we are losing our hawker heritage, are, on the other hand, complaining on socials that ‘standards drop, so expensive, so little’. They can count, ‘Only got three prawns, only got two pieces of pork ribs.’ You have to ask yourself why? It is not the hawkers’ job to feed you guys for very little money. I was asked a question recently: How do Singapore’s hawkers put out the food at such low prices? It’s because they are subsidizing with their salaries!”

Shen Tan, hawker, chef, and founder of OG Lemak & Ownself Make Chef, shares about her journey of transitioning from the corporate world to hawker life, plus: *Stereotypes and expectations of hawkers* *The baggage of family recipes and why ‘old’ is not necessarily better* *Nasi lemak and the twice-steaming method* *Her approach to healthful eating* *Evolution of hawker food* *Innovation in the heritage food space* *Reasons why heritage dishes vanish* *How hawker profit margins are stifling the growth of hawker culture* *Social media and hawkers* *Advice to aspiring hawkers* *Cloud kitchens* *Argument for embracing local vegetables* *How we can encourage hawker food to be more nutrient dense and healthy*

Shen Tan: https://www.oglemak.com/ https://ownselfmakechef.com/ @chefshentan

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Marcus Leow: “If there ever is a lao po bing (wife biscuit) in a more modern flavour, I honestly don’t think that’s bastardizing a recipe. I would say that that’s a way of keeping up with times and moving forward, but at the same time, reminding us of our roots… Like with kueh, you have so many flavours nowadays but the ones that get sold out are the traditional flavours – like regular kueh salat but done very well. Even for ang ku kueh or bingkah ubi, the original flavours are still the best. So even though there is a lot of modernizing of flavours, as long as it is part of the conversation, we are still going on the right track.”

Marcus Leow, head of product development at Naked Finn, shares about his Peranakan heritage, plus: *Kueh-making vs pastry* *Using vegetables in kueh* *The journey towards embracing his heritage* *Buah keluak and belimbing* *Applying techniques to keep heritage dishes and snacks alive* *Learning about new heritage ingredients* *His hopes for Singaporean food* *Favourite eats in Singapore*

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Sowmiya Venkatesan: “In chicken rice, chicken is the primary flavour. Your rice has the chicken flavour, your chicken has the chicken flavour, and the stock has the chicken flavour, because it is a celebration of the chicken. Whereas in India, the first thing you’d do for any meat dish is dumb down the meatiness of the meat. Whether it is a fish, mutton, or chicken, the first thing that they would do is marinate it. They would add lemon or spices so that fish doesn’t smell fishy, a chicken doesn’t taste like chicken – so it is a completely different approach from a cuisine perspective. Therefore, I understand and appreciate how difficult it can be [for Singaporeans to go vegetarian] because here, the primary flavour, is the meat. So if [one is] asked to make a dish without the meat, then [he or she does not] know what to do.”

Sowmiya Venkatesan, founder of Kechil Kitchen, shares about the nuances in Indian cooking, plus: *Roti prata in Singapore vs paratha in India* *Things that people misunderstand about Indian cuisine* *How living in Singapore has impacted her approach to Indian cooking* *Tempering in Indian cuisine* *Cooking fats of India* *The concept of meat substitutes, or the lack thereof, in India* *Soya chaap, chunks, nuggets, and granules* *The recent shift in attitudes towards vegetarianism* *Envisaging delicious vegetarian dishes* *Concentrating umami* *Black salt* *Vegetable desserts of India* *Why Singaporeans find vegetable cookery so tricky*

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Sharon Wee: “I always thought my mom deserves a book of her own, and I thought, why not a full-fledged cookbook… Peranakans are very guarded about their cooking secrets and recipes. I was going up against older sisters and relatives who weren’t sure if I should be doing this, sharing this publicly. You can ask a lot of families – they would feel that way. You can ask them, ‘How do you make that achar’, and they’ll say, ‘Cannot tell you – it’s a family secret!’ But I took a leap of faith – I actually wrote them down because I felt like if I didn’t do that, over time, we would forget how the achar was crunchy in the first place, or the different things that they did.”

Sharon Wee, author of ‘Growing Up in a Nonya Kitchen’ shares about her journey of learning to cook and connecting with her heritage, plus: *The way that vegetables were viewed in the past* *Motivations behind writing her cookbook* *Challenges encountered while writing her cookbook* *Saffron and evaporated milk in nasi briyani* *Reconciling health concerns with the Peranakan diet* *The fading generation of professional housewives and its impact on Singaporean food culture* *Her mantra of ‘practice makes perfect’* *The argument for cooking at home* *Keeping traditions alive in her new home* *How can heritage cuisine be preserved*

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

The Singapore Noodles podcast is back... and integrated into the newsletter! In this episode, I chat with Jimmy Teo, a young hawker who runs Huang Da Fu Bak Chor Mee at Commonwealth Crescent Market Food Centre. Pricing has always been a hotly debated issue when it comes to hawker food, and Jimmy shares candidly about struggles that hawkers face, and how we can keep hawker heritage alive by simply stepping into our own home kitchens. If you’d like to visit Jimmy and taste his bak chor mee, you can do so at: 31 Commonwealth Cres, #02-94, Singapore 149644.

On the same note, I recently wrote an article for CNA on hawker food prices abroad. Feel free to check that out if you’re keen, or leave a comment here on what you think about the pricing of hawker food in Singapore or overseas:

Anthony Leow: “In the past, grannies used to pound their own spices, but when they were old, they couldn’t pound spices anymore. While making spice blends for them, we were, at the same time, learning the secret recipes from all these old grannies, because they were actually very good and experienced at cooking. This is how we picked up the trade and kickstarted our business.”

Anthony Leow, founder of Anthony the Spicemaker, a spice shop at the wet market, shares about how his business began, plus: *Why he chose to set up shop at the wet market* *Chinatown market* *Modernizing the business* *Challenges faced* *Thoughts on whether wet markets would survive*

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Mandy Yin: “It’s better to have tried and figured out you don’t like something. It’s not failure, it’s really not. Sometimes you have to go through an incredibly bad, difficult time to understand that’s not what you need to do, and you take a different route. One door closes, another opens. I do think there’s merit in following your passion, but also in understanding your limits and knowing when to cut your losses… Life is for living.”

Mandy Yin, founder of the restaurant Sambal Shiok and author of the cookbook Sambal Shiok, shares about her experiences learning how to cook Malaysian food from her mother, plus: *The problem with the word ‘authentic’* *Her journey learning how to make heritage food* *Beginnings of Sambal Shiok – pop up to a restaurant* *Veganizing laksa* *Iban cuisine* *Importance of recognizing diversity in Malaysian food culture* *Making Malaysian cuisine accessible*

Sambal Shiok: https://www.sambalshiok.co.uk/ @sambalshiok

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Rovik Jeremiah Robert: “When we draw those lines, we end up ostracizing or excluding a lot of groups who are in Singapore who are making an influence regardless of what we think, and we also lose an opportunity for our food to evolve. To an extent, I can empathize, because as a young nation, identity is determined by some level of boundary-drawing, to say this is who we are, and this is who we’re not. But I also think that for food, “Why?” – food is such an exciting space to have innovation and experimentation. I think we need to ask ourselves critical questions on what really does it mean to be Singaporean. In my personal take, it cannot just be CMIO for the next 50 years.”

Rovik Jeremiah Robert of The Hidden Good and SGExplained podcast talks about the overarching mission of his work, plus: *Expanding our understanding of diversity* *The importance of the intangible* *Hawker pricing and providing value* *Role of content creators in creating sustainability for the hawker trade* *Why going beyond Chinese-Malay-Indian-Others is important for the growth of Singaporean food culture* *Fine dining and street food* *Imagining a more inclusive Singapore*

SGExplained podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4f3ErNGtWmtoG6Ht8jvZzE?si=7e1826e9d0bb4d37

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

 Chang Pick Yin: “After I had my surgery, I couldn’t smell. Zero sense of smell. You can’t imagine how it feels like until you experience it, because can you imagine being in a kitchen and you can’t smell… At this point, because I can’t smell and therefore I can’t taste very well, the process of eating is different and diminished, so I take more joy in the process of cooking.”

Chang Pick Yin of @pickyin shares about her changing relationship with food, plus: *Learning how to cook* *How her blog came about* *Photographing local food* *Exposure to South Indian food* *Appreciation of heritage food* *Losing her sense of smell*

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Gan Chin Lin: “When it comes to substituting meat products, a lot of people can only imagine the didacticism of swapping one protein for another protein, but I think that it really expands your horizons when you think about taste and experience and how a substance reacts to heat over a duration of time… It’s really interesting to see the diverse ways people try to reimagine certain memories of food. I wouldn’t say that they are replicating meat wholesale; I think there’s a certain extent to which these recipe-makers and cooks know that this is not the real thing, but it’s just so clever and creative the way different ingredients and what we have in our fridge can be recombined, and you get closer to a memory and I think that that part is what counts, because that part is what counts and that is in itself, as nourishing as what you eat.”

Gan of @tumblinbumblincrumblincookie, shares about how her personal relationship with food, plus: *Asia’s history with vegetarianism* *Privilege and food choices* *Culinary ingenuity when it comes to transforming vegetables* *Constraints with vegan baking* *Ethnicity, religion, and our relationship with animals and animal products* *The porousness of authenticity* *Food education in Singapore and TAF Club* *Hopes for Singaporean food culture*

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Woo Qiyun: “Keep Cup is designed for an Australian audience. So many of these reusable cups are not designed to be culturally sensitive or culturally specific, so I’ve always been worried. I’ve even emailed Keep Cup, saying, “Your cups do not fit the way that Singaporean or tropical countries drink bubble tea for example. It does not make sense for our context. Your silicone cups don’t always fit our uncle pouring the kopi because they are so unstable. There can be alternatives if we think about it from a Singaporean angle, or if someone here were to design it to suit our need, understanding certain nostalgic elements, because I can totally imagine the same experience but designed with a better material, while retaining the essence of it all.”

Woo, founder of The Weird and Wild, shares about how her instagram page came about, plus: *The power of social media and illustrations* *Keep cup and cultural context* *Generational gap* *Veganizing Singaporean favourites* *Meat substitutes* *Baking vegan substitutes* *Cosmetic filtering of food* *Difficulties of shopping for food sustainably in Singapore* *Seasonality of fruit* *Environmentally-conscious businesses to support*

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Lace Zhang: “During Chinese New Year, I saw my maternal grandmother, the only one who could cook the Chinese New Year feast for everyone. She was piling the table up with her signature dishes like her ngoh hiong and her kong bak bao. In that room with three or four generations, I took a look around. She was standing there, saying that she was really happy that everyone’s gathered around. I saw that amongst everyone there, no one has learnt how to cook her food from her. No one else really had interest in cooking but I was the only one who enjoyed being in the kitchen, so I started questioning myself: ‘Why am I learning about foods of other culture and not my own?’”

Lace, author of the cookbooks Around the Dining Table and Three Dishes One Soup, shares about how her interest in heritage food began, plus: *Porridge kueh* *The influence of her dad and Aunty Alicia* *Her dad’s pineapple tarts* *Cookbook writing* *Good starting points for beginner cook* *Homemade chicken essence*

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Yeo Min: “In my generation, very few of my friends eat Chinese pastries. They don’t really buy Chinese pastries to eat… A lot of the people who ask me if I am selling snowskin mooncakes are actually around my age. They would ask why I am selling traditional mooncakes, “I don’t think this kind of old taste would be what me or my friends would eat.” I felt a bit sad because I think that maybe it’s because they have not tried these traditional pastries from many different shops. There are some that maybe are not suited for our palates, but there are some that are honestly really good, but maybe they don’t give them a chance.”

Yeo, founder of Pastories, shares about how her interest in Chinese pastry began, plus: *Chinese laminated pastry* *Differences between Western and Chinese puff pastry* *Why Chinese pastry is a looser term than Western pastry* *Homemade golden syrup and the role of sugar inversion* *The use of alkali in Cantonese mooncakes* *The collision of sweet and savoury* *Youth perception of traditional mooncakes*

-

Pastories: @pastoriessg

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http:s//sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Yugnes Susela: “A lot of people are not aware that even in Tekka market, it is a hawker centre that caters to all races. We have very good Indian food, very good Chinese food. To be honest, one of the best duck rice is there in Tekka centre. There is an aunty selling Western food for 20 years. If you want a really good prata served by a Malay couple, it is there. Tekka is one place where all races and cuisines are there… It is the most beautiful thing!”

Susela, founder of The Elephant Room, shares about his personal history with Little India, plus: *The multicultural side of Tekka Market* *Conceptualization of drinks inspired by Little India* *Forgotten trades in Singapore* *Importance of gold in Indian culture* *Different parts of the plantain* *Waste reduction at the bar* *Championing of local ingredients and cuisines*

-

The Elephant Room: https://www.theelephantroom.sg/ @elephantroomsg

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http:s//sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Sook Yoon Yang: “There have been instances where some people say that they ate the best laksa in the whole world in Australia. I usually have a problem with people making statements like that not because I think Singapore or Malaysia is the best. But you cannot claim to have the best when you’ve not had all the different types of laksa… There are so many types of laksa that exist in Singapore, in Malaysia – different states, different ones. And people don’t know that.”

Yang, founder of Café Rumah in Sydney, Australia, shares about how this business came about, plus: *The journey of learning to make kueh* *Nuance in Asian cuisine* *Differences between Singaporean and Malaysian cuisine* *Can a foreigner position himself or herself as an expert of a different cuisine?* *Transformation after living abroad* *Pricing Asian food* *Serving hawker food at the café*

Café Rumah: http://www.caferumah.com.au/ @caferumah

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Vasunthara Ramasamy: "There are so many styles of chicken curry; there is even a white chicken curry. If Clarissa cooked that, people would say that that is not a Singaporean chicken curry. So what is Singaporean chicken curry? Do we have one? The consensus is that we can never have a national dish because it is very hard to represent Singapore. But why seek for singularity when you are so diverse? Why do we seek such homogenous experiences with Indian food?"

Vasunthara Ramasamy, Culinary Teacher and Masterchef Singapore Season 2 Contestant, shares about feeling pride as a Singaporean Indian, plus: *No-grind thosai* *How we can bring Indian home dishes to the masses* *Singaporean Indian food as a diasporic cuisine* *How Singaporean history impacted Indian food in Singapore* *Sardine curry* *Caste and Indian food culture* *Sense of inferiority that Singaporean Indians feel towards their food* *How the palate of Singaporean Indians differ from Indians in India* *Fish head curry* *Caste in Singapore* *Homogenization of Indian food in Singapore and Malaysia* *The rise of curry powder* *The case for making your own curry powder and spice blends* *Grinding your own turmeric powder and asafoetida* *Preconceived idea that Indian cuisine is not on par with European cuisine* *The need for more champions of Indian food* *Singaporean chicken curry saga* *Fear of failure as Singaporeans* *Home-cooking* *Her Masterchef journey*

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Syazwan Majid: “We will never be able to understand fully how it is like to live in a kampung, to work hard for your food, to forage for this food. The tedious nature needed to keep our day going, that itself contradicts the notion that we are a lazy people. This narrative that paints the Malays as lazy native is really just not true. If we were really that lazy, we would have all starved to death – we would not have been working in the fields, we would not be fishing out at sea for days at certain times just to make sure that we are able to provide food and shelter for our children. How on earth is that a sense of laziness of the natives?”

Majid, founder of Wan’s Ubin Journal, shares about his journey of connecting with his islander identity, plus: *Pulau Ubin being more than a place of recreation* *Kampungs as more than symbols of third world status* *Cultivating kampung spirit in Singapore* *Foraging on Pulau Ubin* *How we can support the islanders of Singapore*

Surekha & Alia: “So much of food content is focused on relevance and convenience. But relevance and convenience to who? Who is it relevant and convenient to? And who owns the seat at this table? Who is dictating what is relevant and what is convenient? We have to rethink how we position recipes to be relevant or accessible or convenient, because we also don’t want to erase the cooking cultures of more marginalized communities.”

Surekha and Alia, co-founders of Periuk, share about the motivation and journey behind the online platform celebrating Malaysian home cooking, plus: *Italicization of food names* *White-washing of Asian food in Western food media* *Diversity of food culture in Malaysia* *Guarding of heirloom recipes* *Creating content for a local audience rather than a white audience*

To check out Periuk: https://www.periuk.my/

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com

Instagram: @sgpnoodles

SEASONINGS Magazine: https://seasoningsmag.com/

Krisada Virabhak: “When I went to the Peranakan museum, they had the altars all set up, but there was just no feel. Because it was empty – it is not sustainable to keep putting food there. The exhibits did not really reflect the offerings that they prepared. I thought maybe through my sharings, I could share with people what we prepare. Because, in fact, all these recipes and offerings for prayers, they differ from family to family. Even amongst sisters, recipes differ for the same dish.”

Virabhak, founder of All Things Peranakan, chats about how All Things Peranakan started, plus: *His journey learning about Peranakan cuisine* *The difference between home-cooked vs restaurant food* *Representations of Nonya cooking in the media* *Wet market adventures* *Naming of Peranakan dishes* *The complicated relationship between the Peranakan and the Chinese* *Women in Peranakan culture*

Dhruv Shanker: “A lot of people did mention that, ‘Oh you know what, you’re not gonna miss Indian food. I’d imagine that the first thing you’re gonna miss is the food, so you’re sorted – Singapore has lots of Indian food.’ So I came with a very open mind, but I realized after moving here that the Indian food here is very different from typical Indian food. And that was fascinating for me because I had not seen that facet of a cuisine that I thought I was quite an expert in.”

Shanker, founder of Mad Onion Slicer and the Boring Food Workshops, chats about his move from India to Singapore, plus: *Impressions of Singaporean Indian food* *Roti prata and roti John* *Chindian food* *Ingredient discoveries* *Simple ways of cooking vegetables* *The role of technology in influencing the way we eat and cook* *Is virtual tourism here to stay?* *Favourite places to eat at in Singapore*

Chriss Prowler: “The problem is that everyone looks at the world now from their own perspective. It’s all me, me, me, me. You look on Instagram, ‘It’s me eating their food’. And this is the wrong thing. It should be, ‘I went to their place and ate the food’, not ‘I’m doing them a favour’. You mentioned a couple of food bloggers and video guys earlier… They literally just go anywhere. If it’s got something on the menu that they don’t really know, they’d just buy it and make a video of it because they know that outside of a very small circle, everyone would think that that’s the wildest thing in the world. They are playing to a market that is completely ignorant.”

Prowler, founder of Follow the Farang and an avid traveller who shares the best places to eat on his Instagram @prowlergram, chats about how his life experiences led to him developing an adventurous palate, plus: *His gripe with food influencers these days* *The dish that was a turning point for him* *First impressions of Singaporean food* *Aspects of Singaporean food culture that Caucasians might find hard to accept* *How to introduce people to new cuisines* *Food recommendations in Singapore*

Loh Yi Jun: “Experimentation is very natural. Having food evolve over the years is a very natural occurrence, and within all these experimental foods, there will be some that don’t taste good – there will be some bastardized versions. But at the same time, there will be some really great, inventive dishes that drive the food industry forward as well. An example that comes to mind is Dominique Ansel’s cronuts. Croissants and donuts, those are two things that you wouldn’t think of putting together. When you first hear about the cronut, you’ll think it’s the bastardized version of a croissant and a donut, but when you actually taste it, it’s really good and there are lessons you can learn there in terms of technique or inspiration, so it is a natural step in moving the food industry forward.”

Loh, a food writer, content creator, and founder of Take a Bao podcast, chats about how he started on this journey of sharing about Asian food, plus: *What drives the work that he does* *What does it mean to preserve food culture?* *The role of experimentation in traditional dishes* *Motivation behind the Take a Bao podcast* *Balancing personal curiosity as a content creator and audience curiosity* *Shining a spotlight on the older generation and the challenges involved*

Sarah Benjamin Huang: “Growing up, everyone called me angmoh all the time throughout my entire childhood and adolescence. Even though I grew up in a house where we spoke Mandarin at home, everyone on the outside was telling me that I was angmoh and I said, “Fine, I’m angmoh, I will leave this place.” I felt that since I’m not wanted here, I’m gonna leave.

I feel very Singaporean but I never felt like other people felt that I was Singaporean enough for them. We understand Singaporeanness as Chinese, Malay or Indian. But what if you don’t fit neatly into those categories?

When I was growing up, people were very obsessed about breaking me down into fractions. My dad said you’re not one quarter or one half of something, you’re just British, Chinese, Jewish, Peranakan – and you’re all those things at the same time. One identity does not diminish another. I do feel British too – there are parts of British culture I identify very strongly with. I can feel that way and I can also feel like a Hokkien girl. I can swear in Hokkien, speak a bit of Malay, eat Peranakan food all at the same time – none of these things diminish the other!”

Huang, a content creator, food host, and director of Ethnographica, shares about embracing her Singaporean identity as a person with mixed heritage, plus: *Hakka history and cuisine* *Her hawker research* *Who defines Singaporean food/ Singaporeanness?* *How her mixed heritage is reflected through the food she cooks* *Is globalization and food cultures becoming more homogeneous a good or bad thing?*

Lim Boon Kian: “I want people to understand that Bangladeshi food is not just for low-level people. Bangladesh is a country; they have their own culture and they are very proud of their food. I started Bangla Lim with the intention of introducing this cuisine to the public, and to let poorer workers have another option, to have better food… I have been a businessman for many years and I have always been very profit-driven. This stint with Ministry of Manpower opened my eyes to another world; money is not everything. During this pandemic, you can see that they are helpless, they miss their families, they have no life, they cannot even get out of the dormitories unless you are S pass and above. There’s so many of them who cried in front of me. There are some who miss their families so much that they wanted to commit suicide.”

Lim, founder of Bangladeshi food stall Bangla Lim, shares about his first taste of Bangladeshi cuisine, plus: *First impressions of migrant workers* *Catered meals that Bangladeshi migrant workers typically eat* *Why Bangladeshi cuisine is not mainstream in Singapore* *Types and characteristics of Bangladeshi curries* *Food as a medium to bridge the gap between Singaporeans and Bangladeshis* *Vision for Bangla Lim*

Robert Chohan: “The Singaporean world of coffee offers something completely different – there’s no espresso, there’s no latte, there’s no cappuccino. It’s strong coffee with old school milk and sugar, and for people that want something different, they have evaporated milk. This entire world of coffee is the backbone and blood of Singapore because everything happens around kopitiams and food joints in general. This coffee – not only does it come from Singapore, it is accessible by everyone, it is so affordable. But here’s the thing – from what my Singaporean friends have told me, to them it’s just normal. It’s probably a case of you’re so exposed to it, you’ve grown up with it. If you have a food or product that is so everyday life, that means it is important because everyone celebrates it.”

Chohan, founder of Kopi House UK, shares about his first encounter with kopi, plus: *The history of kopi* *Eurocentrism and coffee* *Small-batch kopi* *Agak agak in kopi brewing vs the ‘fuss’ behind European coffee brewing* *Kopi beyond the Hainanese community* *Origins of kopi guyou (butter coffee)* *Torrefacto roasting in Europe and Singapore* *Differences between European cafes and kopitiams* *Mcdonaldization of kopitiams*

Dana Safia: “When it comes to jamu, people always think that it is a placebo effect as it has a long tradition. To them, it does not fit in the modern world anymore. This is the reason why I think it is time to redesign what jamu is and rethink how we convey the message of what jamu means to the general public… We are all immigrants in Singapore – the only indigenous people are the Malay Malays. The Singaporean identity is derived from different cultures, backgrounds, and religions. This is why I believe that traditional medicine like jamu is part of our Singaporean culture.”

Safia, founder of JAMU by Dana Safia, shares about her journey of rediscovering jamu, plus: *The different types of jamu* *The perception of jamu amongst young Singaporeans and why jamu-making is unpopular* *Misconceptions of tongkat ali* *Her vision of a jamu garden* *The traditional process of making jamu* *Can jamu transcend ethnic boundaries?*

Preston Wong: "The goal should always be to make the message of sustainability and reducing food wastage as mainstream as possible. What point is there if it is just within that echo chamber of eco-conscious people? For us, we can break that barrier because price is not a big issue unlike other sustainable merchandise that may face challenges of accessibility due to price point issues. I would think that surplus food is a good bridge and show people that things can be affordable, and yet can be good stuff if you look beyond the exterior and short-dated condition of the item."

Preston Wong, CEO and lead innovator at Treatsure, shares about how his business tackles the problem of food waste, plus: *Reducing wastage from buffet lines* *The difficulties that buffet restaurants and hotels face in estimating the amount of food to prepare* *Grocery wastage* *Collaborations between partners and artisans to convert waste to new products* *Building a community* *The importance of education* *What keeps him going* *Using technology to reducing waste* *Why develop an app*

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Hung Zhen Long & Jason Chua: “We enjoyed the hawker life, but we were thinking that we cannot do it for a long time. Back then, our neighbouring stalls were all old people who have been doing this for 40-50 years – they have been doing it since they were young. A lot of them are now actually having a lot of health problems. We want to work towards financial freedom – everyone’s dream – and having more work-life balance. If we are hawkers until we are old, we can foresee ourselves being in a position where we have health problems due to a lack of regular meals. Sometimes we did not even eat back then. We felt stagnant as hawkers and saw that we had to do something on a bigger scale.”

Hung & Chua, owners of the restaurant Beng Who Cooks, share about the name of their business, plus: *The motivation behind their community-mindedness* *Why they decided not to sell traditional food at their stall* *Beng Who Cares foundation* *Why they chose to leave the hawker life behind* *The transition from hawkers to restaurant owners*

Seasonings Magazine is a collaboration between Hafizah Jainal (Hafi) and I, Pamelia Chia. It is a quarterly food publication that provides an insider's view into Singapore's festivals and festive food. In each issue, we highlight the beauty and cultural richness of one "season" in Singapore, to show that you don't have to belong to a specific race or religious group to appreciate a festival, because we have more in common than we think. In this current social climate, it is important for us to have more safe spaces to talk about sensitive issues such as race and religion. That is why we are discussing certain topics that we did not include in our first issue.

In this Hari Raya Puasa edition of the Seasonings roundtable, we invite issue contributors – Firdaus Sani, Azfar Maswan, Hairil Sukaime, Nor Hadayah, Delfina Utomo, and Taahira Booya (and the lovely Mama Zi) – to join us in a sharing session on: *The pressures of adhering to the ‘expected mould’ of being Muslim during this festival* *How can non-Malay Muslims be better represented in the promotion of Hari Raya Puasa* *The Sarah Bagharib wedding photo/ decoration saga* *Role of plant-based food in the Malay diet* *Misconceptions of Raya food*

Tan Ding Jie: “I never really appreciated cooking or Singaporean cuisine until I went to the UK to study. Over there, you really see what everywhere else has to offer. Even though there were a lot of Singaporeans in London, strangely enough, you don’t see a lot of Singaporean restaurants. Coming back to Singapore, that was when I started to rediscover Singaporean cuisine. I realized that we have such a rich history, our cuisine is so interesting and intricate – it tells stories about who we are and where we came from. You can trace the provenance of these ingredients and I thought, if there was going to be a story to tell, I wanted to tell a story of local Asian ferments.”

Tan, founder of Starter Culture SG, shares about how his interest in Asian ferments began, plus: *Challenges in learning about Asian ferments* *Overcoming peoples’ resistance towards fermentation* *The art and science of fermentation* *Why has fermentation fallen by the wayside today* *Double standards towards fermentation in the West and East* *Fermentation as a way to reduce waste*

Buy Seasonings #01 (Hari Raya Puasa issue): https://hahahafi.com/Shop-SEASONINGS

Sign up for the Seasonings #01 rountable: tinyurl.com/seasoningspanel

Vasanthi Pillay: “The Western world has a way of repackaging our culture and selling it back to us. So firstly, I would say that we as Asians must be more aware of our own food and lifestyle, and embrace that… Yoga comes from India, it was taken to the West, repackaged and sold it back to us. And now everyone is asking for yoga that is RYT Alliance, which is from the West. That’s totally misunderstood, the word that I would use is ‘bastardized’... The West right now is promoting turmeric pills and all, which is very detrimental according to Ayurveda.”

Pillay, founder and president of the Ayurveda Association of Singapore, shares about how her fascination with Ayurveda began, plus: *Basic principles of Ayurveda* *The place of Western medicine and Ayurveda* *What the Western world has gotten wrong about turmeric and yoga* *The Ayurvedic principles that govern the thali* *The benefits of using traditional cooking utensils*

Ken Koh: “We had been losing money for years, not because our sauce was not good, but we had no marketing, no awareness. It was a sauce that survived for 60 years purely because of word of mouth and the quality of our products. We don’t have a price advantage – my cost is a lot higher, nine months versus two weeks of soy sauce brewing. I visited 13 soy sauce breweries around Asia and realized that no one makes soy sauce like us anymore. I went to a soy sauce museum which showed how soy sauce was made in the Qing dynasty. I started taking pictures and, after a minute, I stopped and my hair stood up and I was like, ‘Why are we making soy sauce the same way as them in modern day Singapore?’ And that’s when I realized we had something worth preserving. That became our unique selling point (USP), our weakness became our strength.”

Koh, director and third-generation successor of Nanyang sauce, shares about what soy sauce means to him, plus: *Light, dark & sweet sauce* *Soy sauce crystals* *Why some soy sauce producers choose to use defatted soy beans* *Ken’s strategy to revitalize the brand* *Ways of enjoying premium soy sauce*

Shamsydar Ani: “There came a point in my life where our family dynamics changed and Hari Raya was different. That was the year my mom was taking a step back and was just like, ‘I don’t want to celebrate Hari Raya this year – I don’t want to cook, I don’t want to make ketupat.’ When Hari Raya came around, she herself felt that something was missing. So we’ve kept on with the traditions. No matter how life changes, the traditions are something that you want to continue each and every Hari Raya. And what better way to keep traditions alive than through food?”

Ani, Masterchef Singapore finalist and author of Spices & Lime, shares about Hari Raya Puasa traditions, plus: *Ways to make cooking Malay food less time-consuming and more approachable* *Cooking rendang in the oven vs on the stove* *Everyday rendang vs Hari Raya rendang* *Traditional rendang Minang* *Rendang tok* *Everyday sambal goreng vs sambal goreng pengantin* *Learning how to weave ketupats* *COVID’s impact on Ramadan and Hari Raya* *Kuih-making* *Three Malay items that you need to master* *Healthy Malay dishes*

Khee Shi Hui: “We tried to explain to some relatives that cared very much for things like shark’s fin. We took that off our wedding menu and tried to explain as best as we could. Not everybody would understand, but we tried to stay true to at least that. It was not possible to omit meat, so we tried to discuss options with the restaurant to see what were some essentials that we needed to keep because meat can be quite symbolic to the Peranakan culture where my husband comes from. If we do away with the buah keluak chicken, it’s like a real travesty. How can you not have buah keluak! So it was a negotiation of what do we keep and what do we try to substitute for.”

Khee, Tabaogirl on Instagram, discusses how we can reconcile our Singaporean identity and cultural heritage with sustainability, plus: *How her interest in caring for the environment was sparked* *Misconceptions about caring for the environment* *Gifting mooncakes, buying new clothes, Hungry Ghost Festival from the perspective of environmentalism* *Options for more sustainable weddings* *Celebrating vegetables in Singapore* *Ways to be more environmentally-conscious as an eater and cook*

Chong Jin Yuan: “It’s frustrating because it takes 3-4 hours to roast, and the whole process from drying to roasting to tasting the product when it cools down requires the entire day. If it does not turn out the way you want it to be, you just do not have the time or energy to redo it. There is a lot of technique. It is not just one step that can make your roast belly very good – it’s a mix of different techniques. You’re playing with the chemistry, acidity and alkalinity.”

Chong, chef and owner of Te Bak Kia Roasted, shares about his relationship with food growing up, plus: *Picking up the skills of roasted delights * *Making char siu and siu yok at home* *Western roast pork versus Asian roast pork* *Why does roast pork belly sometimes stick to your teeth* *Selecting pork belly* *Bu jian tian vs pork belly for char siu* *Sous vide char siu vs traditional char siu* *Why be a hawker* *Why is roasted delights a dying trade in Singapore* *Braised pig face dish* *Pig head as a delicacy for foreign workers in Singapore*

Syarifah Nadhirah: “Prior to Paperweight Studio, I was already leaning towards botanical drawings and paintings. At one point, it struck me to do more research and learn more about our local ecology because there’s so much we can learn from just in our own backyard. There are so many things that we overlook. We try to illustrate more plants that are endemic to our country to educate people as well along the way… Through the book, I wanted to show that there are so many types of food that are available beyond those that are available at our supermarkets. These are plants that have existed since time immemorial. We tend to overlook that and it is time to revisit them.”

Nadhirah, co-founder of Paperweight Studio and author of ‘Recalling Forgotten Tastes’, shares about using art to advocate for Orang Asli rights, plus: *The start of Paperweight Studio* *Why focus on local flora and fauna in design* *Cultural motifs* *Malay money packets vs Chinese money packets* *Problems & discrimination that Orang Aslis face* *What we can learn of being sustainable from the Orang Aslis* *Seasons of the Malaysian forest* *Food of the Orang Aslis*

Sam Wong: “What is the Cantonese mentality towards cooking and eating? The Shanghainese prefer to wear beautiful clothes, maybe spend $100,000 on a watch to make yourself look pretty. The Cantonese would rather spend all their money eating the best things – fish maw, abalone. The saying here is that nothing belongs to you until it enters your stomach. This is our thinking."

Wong, chef and founder of Lucky House Cantonese Private Kitchen, shares about the Cantonese approach to cooking and eating, plus: *Why he does not believe in following recipes to the T* *How Lucky House started* *Cooking meats and desserts with charcoal* *Why you should not go into private dining if you don’t enjoy interacting with guests* *Selecting chicken for Lucky House* *Main principles of Cantonese cooking – cleanness, sweetness and freshness* *The most important ingredient in Cantonese cooking* *Two general groups of soups in Cantonese cooking*

Evelyn Yap: “Singapore is not an agricultural country. That limits the kind of produce we get, but also, we don’t know what is out there because our habits have changed to shopping at supermarkets, as opposed to wet markets, which stock more diverse produce.”

Evelyn Yap, chef & founder of Happivore, shares about her journey as a chef supporting farmers, plus: *How Rustic Canyon shaped the way she cooked* *Supporting farmers in Thailand* *How her experience in Thailand has impacted her as a cook* *Exposure to regional produce* *Favourite Asian vegetables* *Mental health* *How her Singaporean roots influenced her* *Fusion food* *Tips for making vegetables delicious* *Framework for learning how to use a new vegetable*

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/

Nor Hadayah Mohammad: “Malay cooking is very vast – it’s not just limited to rendang, lontong, sambal, or nasi lemak. It is beyond that. What the average Singaporean does not know about heritage food is that Malay heritage food is influenced by a myriad of civilizations, for example the Arabs, Indians, Chinese and Yemenese… I wish to write a recipe book that covers Malay dishes that people are not aware of. Everyone knows assam pedas, but have you heard of assam rebus?”

Hadayah, a MasterChef Singapore Season 2 contestant, shares about embracing her heritage as the daughter of a Malay-Bugis father and a Malay-Banjarese mother, plus: *Odd numbers in Malay cooking* *Smoking in Malay cuisine - daging salai cili padi* *Her MasterChef journey* *Her dream* *Diversity of Malay food in Singapore* *Air tangan (water of the hands)* *A crash course in Malay cooking techniques* *Nor’s culinary heroes*

Aruna Shanmuga Vadivel: “I would say that it is a functional food because it’s got so many medicinal properties that I only learnt about in my early 20s… My mom was a working mom in Singapore. To her, the easiest dish you could come up with in 10 minutes is rasam and it is a dish that is so healthy.”

Vadivel, a Singaporean Indian residing in Australia, shares about the Indian dish rasam, plus: *Differences in breakfast culture in India and Singapore* *Key components of a vegetarian thali meal* *Rasam as a functional food* *Finer points of making rasam* *Main ingredients and steps of making rasam* *Why rasam is not more well known outside of the Indian community in Singapore* *What makes a good rasam*

Hairil Sukaime: “Urap is said to signify thanks or gratitude for the life that one has because it comes from the word urip, which means ‘alive’ or ‘living’. Some also say that it symbolizes harmony and togetherness, the way all the ingredients come together.”

Sukaime, blogger of Eat Food Live Food, shares about the Malay dish urap, plus: *Significance and symbolism of urap* *Urap’s place in Malay food culture* *Nasi bancakan & nasi ambeng* *Essential vegetables in urap* *Steps of making urap* *Kencur and dishes it features in* *Finer points of making urap* *Bacem to complement urap* *What defines a good urap* *Making urap overseas* *Where to find good urap in Singapore*

Toh Hui Ran: “My mom has expressed and felt concern about me working on a farm in Thailand. ‘You’re going through a phase. Why are you doing this? Come back to the normal world’… Because of COVID, interestingly enough, my mom, a lot of my dad’s friends and a lot of our relatives started to realize that growing your own food is really important. A lot of them have come and said, ‘Man, we really need to grow our own food. What you guys are doing, it makes sense.’ And you know, that has never really been a topic of conversation before, but because of COVID, that’s kind of come up. People are really softening to this idea that it is not lowly, it is important, it is necessary.”

Toh, camp manger at Camp Uthai Forest in Thailand, shares about the brokenness of our food systems, plus: *What is food rescuing* *The appeal of dumpster diving* *Small organizations doing their bit to reduce food waste in Singapore *Initiating conversations on sustainability* *Community fridges* *Her move to rural Thailand* *How COVID has changed our relationship with food* *Reducing our meat intake*