Food trail

Reflection

During the trail, our group had to adhere to the members’ different schedules to plan out a day to work on the trail together.

Although we had many setbacks such as meeting stall owners who refuse to accept our interview to stalls closed for a period of time and also the haze situation that affected our trail schedule plan.

We worked together and had great teamwork with small conflicts here and there but we were able to solve them amicably and quickly, thus allowing us to finish the trail in time before the deadline.

This trail also made us have more knowledge on the different types of food of different cultures that could be found in Singapore.

It was a really fruitful project that we could learn have fun from. Definitely something the next batch should try out and experience!

Arabs were known to skewer their meat on swords before roasting and Middle Eastern nomads would barbecue their meat on metal skewers in a dish known as kebab or sharwarma. The spice trade brought Arab traders to Southeast Asia and led to the spread of Arab culinary culture to the Indonesians and eventually to Malaya. The kebab or sharwarma has also spread to India and even Beijing residents can savour fiery flavoured kebabs today. However, a key adaptation of the dish in Asia is that wooden rather than metal skewers are used for the satay.

The satay sauce, made from ground peanuts and other spices, was first introduced in the Philippines by the Spanish from South America. It is used to marinate the pieces of satay meat, with the remaining sauce served as a dip with the grilled meat.

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Ingredients for Satay Bee Hoon:

300g bee hoon - rice vermicelli (soaked in a pot of hot water 5-12 minutes)

50g cuttlefish (cut into strips)

5-6 tau pok (re-fried, cut into pieces)

50g kang kong (washed, pluck leaves and stems into 3cm length)

20g bean sprouts

20g chicken slices

20g prawns (deveined)

20g fresh cockles (shelled)

Methods for making Satay Bee Hoon:

Blanch soaked rice vermicelli in boiling water to wash away the starch and to loosen them up, about 3 minutes. Drain.

Blanch cuttlefish, kang kong, bean sprouts, chicken slices, prawns and lastly the fresh cockles in boiling water. Remove and drain.

Transfer bee hoon to a serving plate.

Ladle the hot Satay gravy over rice vermicelli.

Garnish neatly with blanched cuttlefish, fried crispy tau pok, kang kong, bean sprouts, chicken slices, prawns and fresh cockles. Serve and eat while its hot.

Roti Prata

Origins of roti prata:

The Roti Prata belongs to a group of breads which are indigenous to India. Brought to Singapore by Indian immigrants, the Roti Prata is said to be either of Punjabi origin as wheat dishes feature prominently in the Punjabi diet, or introduced by the Muslim conquerors, who also specialised in making various types of breads. Whatever the origin, it has become an integral component in the Singapore Indian cuisine.

Ingredients for Roti Prata:

12 oz. / 375 g. wheat or plain flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

a little sugar

1/2 cup boiling water, to bind

1/4 cup milk

6 oz. / 180 g. ghee or oil

Method of making Roti Prata:

Sift flour and salt together.

Rub 1 oz. of ghee into the sifted flour. Add boiling water, sugar and milk gradually and knead well (about 10 - 15 mins) to form a smooth soft dough, divide into tennis ball size portion (8-10 equal portions), rub with remaining ghee or oil, cover and let it rest for a couple of hours.

Oil the work top and work each ball into a very thin sheet - first flatten with your oiled palms, then thin further by pulling the edges (professionals do it by flipping the dough in the air in a circular motion), adding enough oil to prevent sticking. Oil the surface and fold into a square (egg can be added before folding).

Alternatively, you can thin out the sheet, oil and roll it up, coil in up like a sea shell, flatten and oil again and reapeat the flattening one or two more times.

Fry in a oiled pan on both sides till brown spots appear and crispy. Crush by pressing it together with both hands and serve immediately.

The bread can be eaten on its own with a sprinkle of sugar, or with any meat or vegetable curry.

Ingredients for curry:

Egg Plants - cubed and boiled

Potatoes - cubed and boiled

Stock

Curry powder

Onion - finely sliced

Salt

Coconut milk or yoghurt

Method for making curry:

First fry the onion in oil till soft and brown, add curry powder and fry till fragrant. Add stock and the rest of the ingredients, last the coconut milk. Season with salt if necessary.
*Add enough stock or water to make a thin curry.*

Mee Rebus

Origins of Mee Rebus

The dish is also known as mi rebus, or mie rebus in Indonesia. As the egg noodles used in the dish are considered to be of Chinese origin, some suggest that mee rebus has had Chinese influence. Some believe that the dish originated from the Indonesian island of Java, where it is known as mee jawa, although the latter dish bears little semblance to mee rebusin its current form in the Malay Peninsula. It is also thought that the dish comes from the northern states of Malaysia and was brought southward by Indian-Muslim peddlers. Vendors peddled their wares from containers and a mobile stove hung between poles, cooking the food on the spot. As the dish traversed the Malay Peninsula, each Malay state concocted its own variation, adding new spices and flavours to the gravy.

Heat Vegetable Oil in a pot and stir fry the Paste, till light brown.
Add in Meat Curry Powder Paste, mix well, and then add in the Beef. Render all ingredients in pot well.
Add in fermented Soy Bean Paste (Taucu or Tao-cheo), and sauté the Beef until the oil begins to surface.
Add in water, Cubed Tomatoes, Galangal, Mashed Potatoes, and Mashed Sweet Potatoes. Stir until the Mashed Potatoes and Mashed Sweet Potatoes dissolve into soup.
Add in Celery, Toasted Pounded Peanuts, and Tomato. Stir evenly and let simmer for approximately 20 minutes until the gravy thickens and meat becomes tender.

Handmade Noodles

刀削面 Dao xiao mian
In China, 刀削面 Dao xiao mian or literally translated as Knife Cut Noodles is traditional dish where the noodles are well, simply made by cutting strips of dough right into a pot of boiling water.

刀削面 Dao xiao mian Home Made Knife Cut Noodles Recipe
3 cups of flour – all purpose
1 cup of rice flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1- 2 cups of water

1.Heat up a large pot of water, add a few pinches of salt.
2.Clean off your countertop, pour a bit of oil on top and then mix the dry ingredients and form a volcano structure.
3.Slowly pour about 1/4 cup of water and draw in the flour mix into the water to mix. Repeat till the pasta dough is moist but not sticky. ( This is the experimental part).
4.Knead for about 10 mins and roll into short log shape.
5.Let rest for 10-15 mins.
6.Sharpen your knife and slice either lenghwise along the dough log or vertically to give long strips of pasta and allow the pasta to fall into your boiling pot of water. If the dough sticks to the knife, sharpen it more and /or put the pasta into the freezer for a few mins. It may also be too wet so you may need to knead in some more flour into the dough.

**Noodles cook in about 5-10 mins. Drain and rinse in cold water.
You can add the noodles to a bowl of hot chicken broth with napa cabbage, bok choy, some oyster mushrooms, a few slices of Chinese BBQ cha xiu pork and thinly sliced green onions. Season with soy sauce, sesame oil and hot chili sauce.