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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast

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Speaker 1: from News Talks. That'd be.

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Speaker 2: Mike Yardley, travel correspondent is here with us now killed.

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Speaker 3: Her killed he Jack? Now? Because my blad is low

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Speaker 3: school prediction. Last week, I knew.

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Speaker 2: You were going to bring this up. I just knew it.

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Speaker 2: Do you know? When I was watching the game, you

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Speaker 2: get me in the first fifteen minutes, I was like, man,

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Speaker 2: you know, once again, I've just absolutely blown mister Yardley's

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Speaker 2: prediction out of the water. Here, We're going to put

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Speaker 2: sixty points on these guys, and then of course they

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Speaker 2: just cloughter it back. And by the end of the game,

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Speaker 2: I was like, oh, raw proved to be close.

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Speaker 3: Indeed, Yeah, yeah, I think I seen five so I

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Speaker 3: wanted to exactly bull's eye. So yeah, but still close enough.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I think, yeah, it's certainly a lot closer

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Speaker 2: than I was predicting last week. So well, so what

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Speaker 2: does that mean for tonight? Does that mean you're you're

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Speaker 2: gonna don't tell me, You're going to rest on your

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Speaker 2: laurels and just let.

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Speaker 1: That be that.

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Speaker 3: Well, despite the curse of the cake Tin, I reckon

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Speaker 3: we will win by twenty five points. Tonight. Yeah, I

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Speaker 3: think finally we'll put it together.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel confident you could be right on that one.

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Speaker 2: I reckon okay, twenty five points tonight. Anyway, we're focusing

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Speaker 2: on Singapore this morning, and you are just back from Singapore.

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Speaker 2: Tell me did you catch the F one?

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Speaker 3: You could not miss it. I didn't go there for

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Speaker 3: the F one, but man Lyon said he was roaring

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Speaker 3: last weekend. Apparently, Jack, there were two hundred and fifty

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Speaker 3: thousand internationals in Singapore for the Grand Prix. Isn't it amazing?

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Speaker 3: That's like what for Taylor Swift concerts two and twenty thousand,

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Speaker 3: So massive economic shot in the arm for Singapore. Heaps

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Speaker 3: of Kiwi's. I just heard Kiwi xcents wherever I went right,

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Speaker 3: and I caught some of the F one just from

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Speaker 3: the higher floors of the hotel. Such a head blasting spectacle.

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Speaker 3: I love the fact that it's at night. That's so

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Speaker 3: cool for Singapore. That's beyond I went to Singapore to eat.

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Speaker 2: Oh well, look, there's nothing wrong with that. I think

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Speaker 2: that's as good a reason as any that anyone might

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Speaker 2: make their way to Singapore and their food scene is incredible.

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Speaker 2: It's all about the hawker centers, right, So how did

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Speaker 2: they come about?

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Speaker 3: Well, it's really interesting. It was all about food hygiene.

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Speaker 3: So if you went back to say to the seventies

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Speaker 3: and you went to Singapore, all of those food stores

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Speaker 3: were on the street and then they were kicked off

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Speaker 3: the curb side through the seventies and early eighties directed indoors,

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Speaker 3: which gave birth to this legendary hawker store culture. The

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Speaker 3: one exception, Jack would be a place called L'ao Pa

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Speaker 3: set in downtown Singapore. So come night fall that street

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Speaker 3: does still transform into Starte Street, you know, all your

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Speaker 3: meat skeewers and peanut sauce. But across Singapore there are

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Speaker 3: one hundred and ten hawker centers. There are the famous

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Speaker 3: ones like Newton and Maxwell from crazy rich Asians, and

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Speaker 3: they all maintained rigorous cleaning culture, something I hadn't previously

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Speaker 3: been aware of. Every three months, each center closes down

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Speaker 3: and they're all on a different schedule, but they all

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Speaker 3: have to close down for a forty eight hour deep clean.

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Speaker 3: So yeah, hygienus key in Singapore.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Well that's a good thing. It's a really good

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Speaker 2: thing that the hawker stores have kind of I mean

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Speaker 2: They've entered into legend, haven't they in terms of the

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Speaker 2: quality of the food they've won the affections of the

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Speaker 2: Michelin Guide fascinating.

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Speaker 3: Yes, So Michelin Stars generally are not awarded to food

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Speaker 3: stores because they seem to think it's unfair on the

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Speaker 3: price the a restaurant seen if they start handing out

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Speaker 3: stars to street stores. So what the Michillin inspectors do

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Speaker 3: is because they regard the hawker cuisine as being so good,

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Speaker 3: they award standout vendors a Michelin Guide Recommendation or a

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Speaker 3: Michelin Beibe Gourmon Award, which is a special category to

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Speaker 3: recognize high quality, life priced food. So as you make

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Speaker 3: your way in grays from the hawker centers around Singapore,

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Speaker 3: there are stacks of Michelin decorated food stalls to check out,

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Speaker 3: you know, five dollars Michelin recognized meals.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, oh they're so good. That's a good way to

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Speaker 2: kind of deal with that little quandary. Can you can

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Speaker 2: imagine that the thousand dollars a head restaurants and getting

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Speaker 2: a little bit, yeah, a little bit annoyed. I Singaporean

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Speaker 2: skewer Stanza getting in the same dounder deble of affection.

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Speaker 2: What signature dishes would you say were your runaway favorites.

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Speaker 3: Oh, it's kind of like trying to pick your favorite child.

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Speaker 3: But you can never go wrong in Singapore with their

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Speaker 3: chili crab or the Laxa. I have a huge soft

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Speaker 3: spot for Singapore's unofficial national dish, which is hone and

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Speaker 3: knees chicken rice. So it's sliced tender chicken served with

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Speaker 3: fragrant rice, ginger paste and a spicy chili sauce. And

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Speaker 3: if you go to Maxwell Food Center, that gen Tian

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Speaker 3: hawker sau or there has one over michell for the

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Speaker 3: knees chicken, right, so they probably displayed the big michelin

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Speaker 3: poaster and they serve it with a side of vegetables

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Speaker 3: and the oyster sauce. It is so good. The other

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Speaker 3: rock star jack I have to mention is Charkway towel.

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Speaker 3: Now this is a flat rice noodle dish. I love it. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: Oh my god, it's so good. Isn't it going to

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Speaker 3: keep going?

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Speaker 2: Sorry?

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Speaker 3: It's full of good ease. You've got shrimps in your

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Speaker 3: eggs and sausage and pork laid and bean sprouts and

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Speaker 3: tibes and it's all fried and dipped and soy sauce.

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Speaker 3: I reckon, it's the lard which makes it's so delicious.

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Speaker 2: It's probably not the first time that that sentence has

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Speaker 2: been spoken. Yeah, it is. It is just amazing. Yeah, absolutely,

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Speaker 2: anytime I said it on the menu, I'm like, oh yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 2: Did you find any new fines on on your most

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Speaker 2: recent trip.

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Speaker 3: Well, I have now tried stingray for the first time

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Speaker 3: in my life thoughts. So I thought it might have

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Speaker 3: been a controversial pod choice, but apparently it's sustainably sourced

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Speaker 3: in Singapore and they have this street food dish called

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Speaker 3: sam Bell Stingray. So the sam Bell is a sauce

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Speaker 3: made from chili peppers, shrimp, fish sauce, vinegar, and ginger. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: so they just flather that on top of the very soft, delicate,

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Speaker 3: delicate sting ray meat. It is such an exquisite dish

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Speaker 3: and it's best served in banana leaves after it's all

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Speaker 3: been barbecued really good.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, yeah, that's I mean, sambals are amazing a Yeah,

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Speaker 2: since I can honestly say I haven't tried stingray in

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Speaker 2: my life, what about street snacks like curry puffs in

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Speaker 2: that kind of thing.

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Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, Christy curry puffs. They are fantastic. Another

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Speaker 3: great snack Fujo oyster cakes shaped like a ufo. It's

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Speaker 3: a rice based batter and it in cases moist minced meat,

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Speaker 3: chopped oysters, crungy peanuts, coriander, and they fry them in

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Speaker 3: small batches so that they are super fresh. Can you

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Speaker 3: get both that chewy and crispy texture? Is your monk

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Speaker 3: on them? That's so good. I also have just become

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Speaker 3: acquainted jack with roaty tissue, So this is like your

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Speaker 3: roty flat bread and then they stretch it to this

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Speaker 3: paper thin thickner. They place it on a pan and

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Speaker 3: fry it with condensed milk. So if you head to

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Speaker 3: any coffee shop in Little India in Singapore, whistle up

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Speaker 3: a sweet roaty tissue and they serve them on a

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Speaker 3: plate like a giant conical hat. They are a statement snack.

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Speaker 2: Ah, that sounds so good. Any other tips for us.

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Speaker 3: Mine, you'll be surprised. I'm going to mention McDonald's.

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Speaker 2: That's saying.

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Speaker 3: But if you are familiar with Hawaii's doll whip, pineapple

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Speaker 3: lovers rejoice. I've got to give a shout out to

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Speaker 3: McDonald Singapore who pump out pineapple soft serve.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: It's nearly as good as dole with and it's a

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Speaker 3: trusty rejuvenator when that sultry Singapore heat starts to get

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Speaker 3: the better of you.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, oh great option. Okay, that's so good. It's so fun.

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Speaker 2: I do you know, I have not been to Singapore

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Speaker 2: in thirty years. I haven't set foot outside changing import

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Speaker 2: in thirty years, but but I went here when I

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Speaker 2: was six years old on my grandparents were living there

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Speaker 2: at the time, and I can still like it was

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Speaker 2: that it was a really like formational experience in terms

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Speaker 2: of or foundational experience in terms of in terms of food,

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Speaker 2: because I can still remember the color of the luxes

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Speaker 2: that my mum was having every day. I can still

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Speaker 2: with the star fruit, and you know that, the the sugar,

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Speaker 2: the freshly crushed sugar cane drinks and those kinds of things.

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Speaker 2: You know, it's it's just one of those ultimate foody

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Speaker 2: kind of destinations. I think we have this combination of

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Speaker 2: cultures and flavors that just is remarkable.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, that's it. I think it's the Malay the Indian,

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Speaker 3: the Chinese influence, or just colliding. And I just love

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Speaker 3: the fact that Singapore without sending to cliche here, it

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Speaker 3: is such a fantastic cosmopolitan experience, like they truly get

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Speaker 3: along with each other. And I love that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's a wonderful place. Hey, thank you so much, Mike.

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Speaker 2: We'll make sure that all of Mike's tips for feasting

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Speaker 2: your way through Singapore are up and available on the

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Speaker 2: News Talks.

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Speaker 1: He'd be website for more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame.

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Speaker 1: Listen live to News Talks he'd be from nine am Saturday,

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Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio