How to throw an NDP dinner party at home in three steps

Singaporeans love to eat. And they would take any occasion to celebrate to eat more. So how not to have a gathering over food with friends and family at home while catching the National Day Parade on TV? Throwing a party doesn’t have to be difficult if you know some clever tricks.

1. Prepare party-smart food

It is not possible to do it all. Save your energy to cook one impressive dish (see the recipe for grilled prawns with laksa pesto) to wow your guests and leave the rest to the professionals. There are always delivery services such as Deliveroo to get your favourite Singaporean dishes from popular restaurants sent down — be it Good Chance Popiah (c’mon, who does not like a good popiah party?) or mee siam and kueh pie tee from Grandma’s and The Peranakan respectively.

Those who prefer more sophisticated Singaporean-inspired offerings can also use Deliveroo to order the Little Red Dot burger from Butcher’s Club, which is specially created for this National Day. It is the burger joint’s take on chicken satay — complete with cucumber strips, red onions, caramelised pineapples and peanut sauce. To make plating prettier for food that is delivered, food stylist Janet Lim suggests using wooden boards or trays. “You can also put different dishes onto a larger wooden board to create a sharing platter,” Lim suggested. Even desserts can be bought in advance to avoid hassle — and we got salted yolk lava cheese tarts from homegrown bakery Prima Deli to be extra Singaporean.

2. Work on décorative touches

To evoke NDP vibes for your gathering, add Singaporean touches to your table setting. Empty the tins or jars of familiar everyday items such as Milkmaid condensed milk or kaya to be upcycled into vases. A small cluster of Singapore’s national bloom of orchids should complete the look. Lim said to cut each stalk of orchid to get two, and make sure your vases and arrangements are relatively low so they do not get in the way of seeing and chatting with your dining companions.

“Play with one or two accent colours with one base colour,” said Tutik Alawiah Supelan, communication and interior design manager at Ikea, Alexandra. “In this case, red and white would be a good idea. You can use coloured napkins or table runners, placemats to introduce a pop of colour on the table.” Your food can also be part of the decor; for instance, you can have a rose syrup drink for that burst of red. And Lim used a cookie-cutter to create star-shaped watermelon pieces she dunked into the jug of rose syrup for festive cheer. A bottle of rose wine would also be the perfect booze for your dinner party.

3. Simplify the clean-up

The most annoying part about throwing a party is the cleaning up. Save time on that by using biodegradable disposable plates and napkins. “Brands like eco u, Olive Green and L’earth (available online) make presentable plates in different sizes. But do use metal cutlery as disposable cutlery is not sturdy enough to cut though meats and tougher vegetables,” reminded Lim. Get your guests to chip in too, by having a large enough garbage bag they can easily dump their plates in.