Eating in Singapore - Part 1

As many of you know, my sister, brother-in-law and (perhaps most notably these days) 3-month-old niece live in Singapore. After a few months of video chatting in which she probably wasn't aware of my presence, I finally got to meet her earlier this week. It's really been a ton of fun to interact with her this week, and hang out with my sister in her new 'mom' role.

This isn't my first trip to Singapore, but it's my first since the birth of Pearwise (just for the record, I'm referring to the blog; my niece's name is Samara). So I will take this opportunity to share with you some of my favo[u]rite foods I've been eating in Singapore.

First on the list are laksa and ota. These are both Peranakan dishes that are particularly good at neighbo[u]ring restaurants on Katong St. in Singapore. Ota is sort of like SE Asian gefilte fish. It's a ground fish pate that is heavily spiced and then grilled inside a banana leaf. After unwrapping the leaf, it is eaten with the toothpick that holds the bundle together. Laksa is a noodle dish served in a spicy coconut-y fish broth with bits of seafood. Laksa and Ota are best enjoyed whilst sitting on a tiny plastic stool on the sidewalk, and sipping on lime juice.

We also had some great Thai food the other night. We started with one of my favo[u]rite Thai appetizers -- mieng kum. Whole betel leaves are wrapped around a mini-salad of peanuts, diced lime, chillies and various other tasty bits. We also had a really nice green curry (made with the little tiny Thai eggplants that are available here), a delicious papaya salad, fried chicken, and olive rice. For dessert: mango and sticky rice, one with a candle for Mel's birthday.

More on some of the other foods later.