Coming to America: The World's Greatest Street Food
According to the late, great Johnny Apple, Singapore has the best street food in the world. I salivated after reading Johnny's piece about it in the New York Times:
But Singapore already has gastronomic attractions aplenty. Start with its unmatched street food — chili crabs and chicken rice, laksa and satay and fish head curry — served in hundreds of hawkers’ stalls. Fast, cheap and delicious, its hygiene is certified by the ever-vigilant Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources. (K. F. Seetoh’s exhaustive guidebook, Makansutra, will lead you to the top practitioners.)
Sounds good, don't you think? Sadly, I knew I wasn't headed to Singapore any time soon, so I had given up hope of trying what sounded like mouthwatering stuff. Until now.
On Saturday, April 21, the inaugural Singapore Day event will take place in Central Park here in New York. A hawker center with street stalls will be set up, offering some seriously delicious sounding dishes. (We'll be highlighting these dishes in anticipation as the week goes by here on the site.)
The Serious Eats team plans on attending the fair, which begins at 10:30 a.m.. If you live in the New York City area or plan on visiting, you can "chope" your reservation here.
For more on Singapore eats, the blog Chubby Hubby is an excellent, hunger-inducing resource.
Update: Unfortunately, it appears that between this morning and just recently, Singapore Day reservations have all been spoken for. We'll call the Overseas Singaporean Unit tomorrow and find out if it really is full.
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11 Comments:
I didn't know we had to register! I tried to just now and the site said:
"Thank you for your interest in Singapore Day. Due to overwhelming response and in the interest of safety and security, we are no longer accepting registrations. We look forward to seeing you at a future event. Thank you."
I think I'm going to cry.
Lia Bulaong at 5:40PM on 04/16/07
What? Nooooo!
Adam Kuban at 5:41PM on 04/16/07
Huh, just checked my email and I found a message with a code on it, saying "Please print and bring along a copy of this registration confirmation email on the day of the event as it will serve as your entry ticket."
Man, if I trek to Wollman and don't get in, crying is a given! Hawker food is delicious!
Lia Bulaong at 5:44PM on 04/16/07
SIngapore streetfood is good...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sieburgm/109625540/
...but for my money, the best is the Cao Lau at the Hoi An market:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sieburgm/68116867/in/set-1320006/
...washed down with a glass of Bia Hoi:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sieburgm/68112310/in/set-1320006/
NSW at 6:30PM on 04/16/07
Being half singaporean and half malaysian. I would say that while singapore food is probably safer to eat, malaysian street food beats it in flavor. Singapore has lots of good food, but is suits delicate taste buds better. If you're looking for something loud and robust, go north and try malaysian.
lysine at 8:37PM on 04/16/07
I say go farther north and try Thai streetfood, or even further, and set up next to the Mekong River in Vientainne, Lao. Order spicy Papaya Salad and a get a Beer Lao. I've never seen a more beautiful sunset in the world. To this day, one of my favorite moments of living/traveling in SE Asia.
Oh, but Malaysia, yum. The street satay is delicious. But I'll never forget driving a motorcycle around the perimeter of Penang and stopping off for a streetside Laksa. Delicious!
NSW at 8:48PM on 04/16/07
It could be a fluke, but I tried registering myself and another person and said one of us was American and the other was Singaporean (we're both American) and it let me register as Singaporean but rejected the American registration. There aren't that many Singaporeans or Malays in NYC so maybe they've implemented some sort of quota?
Based on the past two lackluster Singaporean Chili Crab festivals in DUMBO, my hopes aren't super high for NYC-ized street food, anyway. I could go for a bowl of laksa, though...
Krista at 10:25AM on 04/17/07
Based on the past two lackluster Singaporean Chili Crab festivals in DUMBO, my hopes aren't super high for NYC-ized street food
I'd feel the same way, except they're apparently flying hawkers in from Singapore, complete with equipment!
Lia Bulaong at 1:31PM on 04/17/07
OK, if I can't go to this, do any of you knkow a good restaurant to get Chili Crab that isn't on Singapore's Gold Coast? I've been craving it ever since I was elbow deep in a bowl of it years ago...
jls988 at 4:48PM on 04/17/07
I wish I could go to Singapore Day in NY just to check it out even though I live in Singapore! Food are plenty here and the to know which are the good ones, see the queue. The longer it is, the better.
mairay at 12:55PM on 04/20/07
I have to agree with Aun of Chubbyhubby. Malaysian street food is definitely better than Singapore.
Rasa Malaysia at 1:51AM on 04/21/07