3rd Day of Racial Harmony Week: 

FOOOOOODDDDDD!!!!!!

Today, the canteen vendors prepared lots of traditional food from each race. There were Nasi Padang, Satay, Ketupat, Chicken Rice, Chapati, Naan, Tandoori Chicken, and so many other delicious delicacies!! We were really spoilt for choice!

How can we celebrate this occasion without acknowledging some of the awesome food prepared?

Let's look at some of these delicacies and find out more about their origins, ingredients used etc.


Ketupat

One of notable traditional food  at the Malay stall is the Ketupat. I was attracted to its unique design and I remembered seeing this design everywhere during Hari Raya! The lady here told me that it is a form of rice dumpling wrapped in a woven palm leaf and is commonly eaten with peanut sauce as a side dish to Satay. I love Satay! I then asked her how she prepared the Ketupat. She said it is very simple. All she has to do was to wrap rice in the palm leaf and boil it, and we will have yummy Ketupat! And since I am attracted to the design, I decided to find out more about it!

Turns out that there are several ways of wrapping Ketupat! The origins of the design is such that it allows moisture to dissipate while leaving the cooked rice to air dry. It was said that long before, this method was used to keep the sailors' food fresh for consumption and prevent insects from eating them during long sea expeditions! Never knew that people of the past were this creative! Maybe some day I will ask my mum to help me make one!

Nasi Padang

At the Malay store was also this wide selection of dishes called Nasi Padang. It has a similar concept to the mixed vegetables rice from the Chinese. However, most of the dishes there are spicy! I can't take food that are too spicy even though they all looked so delicious. The lady then told me this is one of the most iconic Malay dishes in Singapore. I thought to myself, I just got to share this with my class!

Doesn't it just look mouthwatering? I never knew we have such similar food as our Malay counterparts!

Naan

I love bread. And when I saw this food that looks like Roti Prata, I went to try it. Turns out it is not Roti Prata! It is similar to that, but is actually a type of flatbread called Naan. It smelled soooo good that I could not resist it.

Turns out that Naan is really similar to Roti Prata. It comes with different fillings like egg, cheese and onion. My house does not have an oven, hence I don't think I will be able to make one of these delicious bread at home ): 

Hainanese Chicken Rice

And for all my other Malay and Indian friends out there, this is my favourite Hainanese Chicken Rice! 

I have been eating this since I was young and I loved it ever since. The rice smells so good and the chicken is so tender! This chicken is cooked in a special broth from Hainanese origin which gives it the awesome aroma when presented to us. There are actually many origins to where Chicken Rice comes from. Even the Malays have their version of chicken rice, Nasi Ayam. There's unique version called Nasi Ayam Penyet, which means 'Smashed Chicken Rice'. Basically, the chicken is deep-fried and then smashed such that the bones can be easily removed for consumption!

I can never imagine a dish prepared in many different ways. This goes to show how much value each individual ethnic culture can bring to our large Singapore Community!