Singapore, a culinary melting pot

Traditional Peranakan housing in Katong, Singapore (Hong Yoo/The Korea Herald)

In multicultural Singapore, flavors of 5 traditions intertwine to create distinct — and delicious cuisine

SINGAPORE — Few places in the world wear their multiculturalism as visibly — and as deliciously — as Singapore. The city-state, home to 4.2 million residents as of June, has long been described as a tapestry of cultures, stitched together by its predominant Chinese community (3.11 million), alongside Malays (570,000), Indians (380,000) and Others (150,000).

But beyond census tables and demographic categories, nowhere is this diversity more intensely felt than at the dining table. From hawker centers to Michelin-starred tasting rooms, the nation’s food culture remains its most accessible and enduring symbol of coexistence — a dynamic ecosystem shaped by migration, intermarriage and shared flavors.

Here, culinary borders blur just as cultural ones do. And on this compact island, where diverse groups live side by side, the flavors of Chinese, Malay, Indian, Peranakan and Eurasian traditions continue to mingle — creating something uniquely Singaporean, and delicious.

Chef Damian D’Silva leads a hawker tour for foreign food editors on Nov. 12. (Hong Yoo/The Korea Herald)

Preserving Singapore’s multicultural recipes

One of the most powerful voices guarding this culinary heritage is Chef Damian D’Silva, often called Singapore’s “godfather of heritage cuisine.” At 68, the MasterChef Singapore judge embodies the layered cultural identity of the island. Eurasian on his paternal side and deeply influenced by Peranakan traditions, D’Silva has devoted his career to preserving the forgotten Eurasian recipes.

He is soon to open a new restaurant, Gilmore & Damian D’Silva, at the National Gallery Singapore on Nov. 26. Speaking with The Korea Herald, he explained how even the way Singapore classifies its people has evolved.

“Up until 2003, the Eurasians were just called the Others,” he notes. “It was just then we earned our identity for the first time.” Today, the Eurasian community, shaped largely by Portuguese, Dutch and British heritage, forms a small but vital thread in Singapore’s cultural fabric. His dishes draw from Chinese, Eurasian and Peranakan traditions.

Stalls at Tampines Round Market & Food Center in Singapore (Hong Yoo/The Korea Herald)

For D’Silva, the true beating heart of Singapore’s food culture lies not in gleaming dining rooms, but in the open-air hum of hawker centers.

He led a tour for foreign food journalists through Tampines Round Market and Food Center, introducing stalls that reflect the island’s complex gastronomic genealogy: prawn noodles of Chinese heritage, Indonesian-style mee rebus, and carrot cake (which, despite its name, is a savory Chinese-origin dish made of radish).

“People try to go to the more famous hawker centers,” he says. “There is a variety of good food and markets attached, and that is why I like hawker centers that are connected to markets.”

Even in a hawker center that skews “Chinese,” he notes, Indian and Indonesian flavors are easy to find — a reminder that Singaporean identity has never been neatly boxed.

Nasi lemak, a fragrant Malaysian dish of rice cooked in coconut milk, served with a variety of accompaniments (Hong Yoo/The Korea Herald)

At Changi Village, the nasi lemak is the show-stopper. The fragrant coconut rice, he explains, takes time. “The real traditional way is to pour coconut milk into dry steamed rice. The rice would then soak up all the coconut milk. This process must be repeated three times to be called a real nasi lemak.”

Wah Ah Suan, head chef of Kok Sen Restaurant, cooking in his kitchen (Hong Yoo/The Korea Herald)

Another window into Singapore’s multicultural dining landscape is Kok Sen Restaurant, a nearly 50-year-old third-generation cze char institution recognized by the Michelin Bib Gourmand. Run by the Wong family, the kitchen turns out wok-fired classics like Big Prawns Horfun and Yong Tau Foo, dishes that reflect the Chinese culinary backbone of Singapore while drawing on regional influences. Its signature horfun, slick with a smoky, starchy gravy and intensely wok hei, remains a must-order for locals who treat the restaurant as a neighborhood staple and a reminder of how heritage lives on in everyday cooking.

Belimbing's Skate Wing Goreng with laksa mustard and pepper ketchup (Hong Yoo/The Korea Herald) — Belimbing’s Skate Wing Goreng with laksa mustard and pepper ketchup (Hong Yoo/The Korea Herald)

Reimagining tradition

If D’Silva is the custodian of memory, Chef Marcus Leow of Belimbing, a new-generation restaurant, represents the evolution of Peranakan cuisine.

Born into a Peranakan family, Leow knows well the conservatism that guards its culinary treasures. As he puts it, “Peranakans still believe the best recipes are house recipes,” a belief reflected in his own grandmother’s reaction when he served her his modern reinterpretation of classic dishes. She simply said it didn’t taste good — proof, he laughs, of how difficult it is to win over locals. “They are all critics,” he says.

At 34, he is among the youngest chefs leading the city’s competitive dining scene, where surviving two or three years is considered a triumph. Customers expect not only excellence but evolution.

Belimbing’s cuisine reflects Singapore’s modern palate: clam custard with scallop, assam pedas and white pepper; skate wing goreng with laksa mustard and pepper ketchup; and claypot rice scented with buah keluak — the cherished “black diamond” of Peranakan cuisine — and brightened with pomelo.

Kueh, the traditional dessert, appears in a corn-based version, showing how tradition and experimentation coexist on the same plate.

Kaya Toast Set at the Chin Mee Chin Confectionery in Katong, Singapore (Hong Yoo/The Korea Herald)

Breakfast with a century of history

A morning in Joo Chiat (Katong), the historic heart of Peranakan culture, tells another chapter of Singapore’s multicultural story.

At Chin Mee Chin Confectionery, founded in 1925, tan awnings, mint and blue accents, and a spacious terrace give the cafe an almost European feel. That is no coincidence: the Joo Chiat area once attracted a thriving Eurasian community, prompting the bakery to introduce Eurasian sweets such as sugee cake and cream horns — still best-sellers today.

Kaya toast, however, remains the star. The Hainanese, among the last Chinese groups to migrate to Singapore, adapted the British idea of toast and jam by creating kaya — a caramel-colored coconut-egg jam spread over a fluffy bun, topped with cold butter and dipped into soft-boiled eggs seasoned with soy sauce and white pepper.

Sharing breakfast was Alvin Yapp, the Peranakan cultural custodian behind The Intan museum, who explained how Peranakan identity itself arose from intermarriage. Chinese male laborers who settled in Katong and married Malay women created an entirely new culture — one now central to Singapore’s national identity.

Seroja's betel leaf noodle with ulam dressing and mud crab (Hong Yoo/The Korea Herald) — Seroja’s betel leaf noodle with ulam dressing and mud crab (Hong Yoo/The Korea Herald)

Michelin-starred Malay world flavors

At the one-Michelin-star Seroja, chef-owner Kevin Wong brings the flavors of the Malay Archipelago into fine dining. His betel leaf noodle with ulam dressing and mud crab is deeply fragrant; roti paung — warm, dense and chewy — is served with Johorean milk butter.

Wong, celebrated on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list and honored with the Michelin Young Chef Award, draws inspiration from farmers, artisans and craftsmen across the region — a reminder that Singapore’s culinary identity is intertwined with its Southeast Asian neighbors.

yoohong@heraldcorp.com

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