5 foods you didn’t know were Singaporean

Ask anyone about Singaporean food and you’d probably hear echoes of Hainanese chicken rice or the Singapore chilli crab. But beyond these iconic dishes that have put Singapore on the global culinary map lies a world of lesser-known local creations with remarkable histories. While Singapore and Malaysia frequently engage in friendly debates over the origins of beloved dishes, some dishes are so unconventional that even born-and-bred Singaporeans might not recognise them as local inventions.

From recipes born in the colonial era to brilliant adaptations crafted by street food vendors, these dishes promise gastronomic encounters that may rival the nation’s most iconic dishes. Here’s a list of Singaporean dishes that might surprise you with their local roots so you can try them before they inevitably turn into victims of time.

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Roti John

An aesthetically pleasing version of Roti John (Photo: Instagram/@oven_edayu)

Like the sporadic monsoon, the Roti John debate recently resurfaced in a viral radio discussion between Malaysian and Singaporean radio DJs, leaving most high-strung as both parties did not present a resolute conclusion. How diplomatic.

Well, this omelette sandwich carries a surprising history linked to Singapore’s colonial past. Originating in the 1960s, Roti John was reportedly created by an Indian-Muslim cook named Abdul who operated a roadside stall at Koek Road. According to oral history interviews from the National Archives of Singapore, Abdul would address British servicemen as “John” when offering them bread, which eventually gave the dish its name. The early version was likely a simpler combination of “fried scrambled egg, salad greens, and tomato on French bread, reportedly sold by Indians near British military installations,” as noted in Singapore’s National Library Board archives.

Today, Roti John is updated with more modern fittings. It commonly features a split French loaf filled with minced mutton, onions and beaten egg, grilled to crisp perfection and served with chilli sauce. While Malaysia occasionally claims this dish, newspaper articles from Berita Harian (1973) credit Cik Zawiah Anuar at Geylang Serai Food Centre for adapting the dish to local tastes.

Satay Beehoon

The famous plate from Sin Chew Satay Beehoon (Photo: Instagram/@mightyfoodie)

This unique dish represents the perfect marriage of Malay, Javanese, and Teochew culinary traditions. Satay beehoon emerged when Teochew hawkers combined elements from both cuisines, resulting in a distinctly Singaporean creation. According to CNA Lifestyle, one account from Sin Chew Satay Beehoon, operating since 1956, suggests it “originated from an accident when leftover satay sauce was mixed with beehoon.” Another account recalls that Centre Satay Bee Hoon in Ang Mo Kio has been “serving satay beehoon since 1979, with a recipe passed down from the vendor’s grandmother who sold it from a pushcart.”

For the uninitiated, the dish features lightly blanched beehoon (rice vermicelli) generously covered in a chilli-based peanut sauce that bears resemblance to satay dipping sauce. Common additions include cuttlefish, fried bean curd puffs, cockles, and water spinach.

Tulang Merah

The famous Sup Tulang Merah by Deen Tiga Rasa at Golden Mile Food Centre, Singapore ((Photo: Instagram/@gold905)

The striking red bone soup known as Tulang Merah is a pure Singaporean creation dating back to the 1950s. Singapore’s National Library Board describes it as “a dish strongly associated with the Tamil-Muslim community”, a vibrant, sweet, and spicy mutton or beef bone marrow stew considered “a Singaporean invention from the 1950s.” The dish is believed to have originated at an Indian Muslim stall along Jalan Sultan, run by a stallholder named Abdul Kadir. According to a Rice Media feature, Kadir “initially used mutton bones, leftover from making mee kuah stock, as a side dish before it gained popularity on its own.”

What distinguishes Tulang Merah, as documented by the National Library Board, is characterised as mutton or beef leg bones stewed in a rich, intensely red broth made from mutton stock, tomatoes, ginger, chillies, and various spices. The red hue is derived from tomatoes and is often enhanced with red food colouring. The Haji Kadir Food Chains website also stakes claim on their connection to the dish that “their soup tulang was originated by Abdul Kadir in the 1950s, and his son still follows the recipe.”

Hainanese Satay

The smoky charred satay features the use of pork (Photo: Instagram/@josephtsaiyh)

The addition of sweet pineapple puree to the spicy peanut sauce (Photo: Instagram/@josephtsaiyh)

Hainanese immigrants, who often worked as cooks in British colonial households, were responsible for creating this uniquely Singaporean adaptation of Indonesian satay. According to Makansutra, the Hainanese “were among the later Chinese dialect groups to arrive in Singapore and often worked as cooks in British colonial or wealthy Peranakan households”. This adaptation is significantly different due to “the use of pork as the primary meat, which is uncommon in traditional Malay or Indonesian satay due to religious reasons.”

Hainanese satay also sees “the addition of pineapple puree to the spicy peanut sauce”, which results in a tangier and slightly sweeter flavour. The National Library Board notes that “among non-Muslims in Singapore, pork is also used for satay”, reaffirming the Hainanese association.

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Seafood Mee Goreng

The “Punggol style” seafood mee goreng at the now defunct Ponggol (Hock Kee) Seafood Restaurant (Photo: Instagram/@wongchoowai)

Unlike its Indian-Muslim counterpart, the “Punggol style” seafood mee goreng has a precisely documented birth. Singapore’s National Library Board states it was “a distinct variation of the popular fried noodle dish, mee goreng, created in Singapore in 1975 by restaurant owner Ting Choon Teng and chef Quek Ah Ai of Ponggol (Hock Kee) Seafood Restaurant.” It all transpired when “an Indian stallholder selling traditional mee goreng at their restaurant left, prompting them to create their own version.”

This Singaporean adaptation, according to the National Library Board, “differs from traditional mee goreng in several ways. It is characteristically moist rather than dry and includes a generous amount of seafood.” Today, while the original Ponggol Seafood shut its doors last year after operating for 55 years, its signature dish is served at many tzi char restaurants in Singapore, typically coined “Chinese style mee goreng”, featuring yellow noodles fried with sambal and a medley of seafood.

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