I thought Bak kut teh was a Malaysian dish. Also surprised Chicken Rice and Singapore Chili Crab isn't on the list.
Singaporean here. I think Singapore and Malaysia tend to share ownership of many dishes.
What wasn't mentioned in the article is that the peppery Teochew style is far more common in Singapore. The herbal Hokkien variant is often known as "Klang bak kut teh" here in Singapore, after Port Klang in Malaysia. Malaysians also seem to like that version better.
Infact I'm going to have it for lunch tomorrow!!!
For instance, I really miss Roti Canai, but it has a different name in Singapore (Roti Pratha IIRC), so even trying to search for a good stall on Google Maps doesn't find the places that make it.
Roti prata.
I think you'll be hard-pressed to find bad roti prata in Singapore. I've heard Mr and Mrs Mohgan's is one of the best: https://goo.gl/maps/bv3b3sFwK1A2
The grandparent comment wanted to look for good stalls. I just tried doing a search for pratha on Google Maps, and it yielded results that were less relevant as compared to if one used the more common spelling of prata.
I live in Singapore, by the way, and I'm getting pretty hungry reading this. Any suggestions for good Indian food?
[Edit: Tried to make a clever regex to match all the spellings, but HN's editor thwarted me.]
Well, south Indian food is everywhere. One can't really go wrong with any place that makes their prata fresh.
(For really good prata, there's the usual suspects like Mr and Mrs Mohgan's, Casuarina Curry, Springleaf Prata Place, Sin Ming Roti Prata… I personally have a soft spot for the ABC King group of restaurants — their food is above average — since one opened next to the Singapore Hackerspace.)
If you're looking for north Indian cuisine, I'm thinking that the area immediately around Mustafa Centre would be a good bet.
Chicken Rice and Chilli Crab are regarded as the usual trademark dishes of Singapore. The article interestingly departs from usual practice.
Katong laksa on the other hand (which is in the article) is probably the famous hawker dish that is most uniquely Singapore.
Incidentally, the Katong laksa at Cassia in Santa Monica is probably as close to the real deal as you can get outside of Asia. But be prepared for sticker shock.
Funny enough, many of the chicken rice vendors in Singapore sell a Cantonese-influenced version (though many places continue to label their chicken rice as "Hainanese chicken rice").
From what I understand, the Cantonese-style steamed chicken gets dunked in ice to keep the gelatin in the skin. The rice also tends to be slightly wetter and more flavourful.
The chicken rice I've had in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and in some other "Malaysian" restaurants around the world, tend to be dryer and yellower.
I had a great tasting chicken rice, but it lost a couple points for having a head and spine laid across the side of the plate. Fine, just wasn’t expecting that!