We are increasingly passionate about getting to know a country through its cuisine, and Singapore ... ahhh ... Singapore is a paradise for every foodie worth its salt.
So we do not think twice and participate in a cooking course thanks to the Food Playground school, one of the most prestigious in the city, where they told us a lot of tricks and curiosities about the cuisine of the region and where we learned to cook 3 delicious dishes typical of Singapore. Here we tell you the experience:
As soon as we arrived (in late example) Leslie gave us a small introduction about Peranakan cuisine, an example of integrating cultures and flavors. The word 'peranakan' means 'descendant' and refers to the children of marriages between Chinese merchants and Malaysian-Indonesian women. Later, the Peranakan culture was also influenced by British and Dutch rule. In Singapore there is even a museum dedicated to this important cultural branch of the city's history. Highly recommended.
Returning to food, the recipes taught there are easy (so you can prepare them at home without problem) and each day of the week is different, we chose to take the course on a Wednesday and our menu consisted of:
CHICKEN CURRY
Surely you ate it or even cooked it once though ... the almost 100% curry paste you bought already made. Well, we learned to do it alone and what a difference with the curry of a lifetime. The pasta is prepared using the mortar by crushing garlic, chili, lemongrass, cinnamon, cumin, curcuma, onion, fennel seeds and ginger. Then this pasta is fried for a few minutes. In the end, the chicken, coconut milk and potatoes are poured. It was great!
ROTI JALA
It is a curious crepe: it does not have the round shape of a lifetime, it is made with a nest shape! It is prepared with coconut milk, water, egg and curcuma. Once prepared, they can be eaten as a dessert or as a side dish: for example, we ate them with chicken curry.
ROJAK
If we had to find a word to describe this dish it would be 'weird' and how else to rate a fruit salad (pineapple), vegetable (cucumber and turnip), a kind of fried churros, all seasoned with a sauce made to base of peanuts, tamarind, lime and shrimp paste? It may not have been the richest dish we have ever eaten but we can boast of knowing how to make an authentic dish that makes Singaporean and Malaysian crazy.
The menus have a vegetarian version (the chicken curry is replaced with a curry of potatoes, carrots and pumpkins).
After preparing the meal, the most anticipated moment arrived: sit down and enjoy our creations!
Another thing that we really liked about school is the idea with which it was born: to give work and offer a new opportunity to older women or to mothers who, with older children, want to return to reintegrate into the working world. Our teachers, Leslie and Lydia, are a clear example as well as the 'Auntie', a super sweet lady who helps in the classes.
Also thank Daniel, the owner of the school, who turned out to be a super friendly host, passionate about travel like us and very nice 🙂 Good luck !!
USEFUL INFO
- Where: 24A Sago Street, in the Chinatown neighborhood, in front of the Buddha's Tooth Relic Temple.
- When: classes start at 09:30 and end at 14.30
- Contact: Museum
- Price: $ 99 (10% discount with this code: “foodplayground_friends”)
- Web: //www.foodplayground.com.sg
