Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Nanyang Poly dishes out food heritage

Singapore’s hawker food, and the establishments that serve them, are often considered by foodies and fans-in-the-know to be institutions. So it’s probably not surprising that hawker food has been given yet another spotlight this year. This time, it comes in the form of a cookbook: The Singapore Heritage Cookbook: Past, Present, Future.

Singapore’s hawker food, and the establishments that serve them, are often considered by foodies and fans-in-the-know to be institutions. So it’s probably not surprising that hawker food has been given yet another spotlight this year. This time, it comes in the form of a cookbook: The Singapore Heritage Cookbook: Past, Present, Future.

Commissioned by Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) and launched yesterday in celebration of Singapore’s 50th year of independence, the 240-page book aims to pay homage to Singapore’s food culture, in particular, hawker food.

It answers questions such as “what is the real history behind some of Singapore’s most loved local hawker fare?” and showcases the history and original recipes of 12 popular dishes and how Singaporeans enjoy these dishes today. These include recipes for the famous Hainanese chicken rice, the “old-style” chilli crab and oyster omelette, also known as “orh luak”. The cookbook traces the history of each dish and evolution to its present form.

Written by Executive Chef Tony Khoo (of Marina Mandarin Singapore) and popular food blogger Dr Leslie Tay, this book doesn’t just take a look back; as its title implies, the offerings included in the book also “look to the future”, and explores how it can be invigorated for the future through new and exciting re-interpretations by two Nanyang Polytechnic students and 10 local chefs.

For chef Khoo, the aim of the cookbook was “to keep our cherished food legacy alive so that future generations can enjoy the simple but tremendous pleasures that we were all lucky to grow up with”.

Henry Heng, the senior director of the School of Business Management and deputy principal (Organisational Excellence) of Nanyang Polytechnic, called this cookbook one “like none other”.

“(It’s) an archive preserving our well-loved culinary treasures. The recipes presented by Chef Tony Khoo and our esteemed Singapore chefs, as well as two of our Diploma in Food & Beverage Business students, Mohamed Noorhadi Bin Habib Mohameed and Celine Lee from NYP, not only portray our colourful food history but also offer a glimpse into potential culinary innovations for the future.”

Both Mohamed Noohadi and Lee are trainee chefs at the polytechnic and their dishes include the Braised Olive Oil Hokkien Mee and Deep-fried Sea Bream (a re-interpretation of the fish head curry). Mohamed Noorhadi said he felt “privileged to have learnt from, and be featured alongside the chefs”, while Lee called her experience “invigorating”, adding that the chefs have “inspired me to strive even harder to become as successful as them one day”.

Tay, who maintains the popular food blog iEatiShootiPost, added: “We see that even as Singaporean gastronomy continues to evolve, it is the same familiar flavours that bind the generations of Singaporeans — (those) who have come before us to those who will call Singapore home in the future.”

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.