KF Seetoh: Singapore’s shepherd of street food

Some call him the Guru of Grub; others, the Makankaki Master, but KF Seetoh, by any name, is Singapore’s most recognized and celebrated expert on one of the country’s greatest and most beloved national treasures: food. Not just any food, but hawker food – the food of the street; the soul of Singapore.

Makanguru

Since 1996 Seetoh has dedicated his life to writing, photographing and understanding the street food of Singapore, heading to every place where queues for food form. “Back then there was no guide to the food here,” Seetoh explained as we shared some carrot cake at Makansutra’s own Glutton’s Bay food center beside the Esplanade. So he was inspired to compile information about the food and the hawkers. The hardest thing was identifying the places to try. “It took a lot of talking to people on the street, to taxi drivers and to people cooking food,” he said with a broad smile. The result: Makansutra, Seetoh’s undisputed go-to guide for all things hawker in this land of the food obsessed. Over the years, Makansutra has sold countless copies, guiding locals and foreigners alike to hawker food that is good, great and “die, die, must try.”

Today, Seetoh and Makansutra collectively is a Singapore food institution, with books, television programs, websites and an app. His makan-team consists of 30 full-time employees plus a cadre of volunteers who are profoundly passionate about food. It’s uncontested that Seetoh’s contributions to food knowledge and accessibility is unparalleled in Singapore. He has promoted the nation’s cuisines into the world-renowned phenomenon that it is today. Many say that this accomplishment alone puts him in a special, iconic place. “Anyone who’s anyone in the world of Singapore food knows Seetoh,” says irreverent food rogue, Anthony Bourdain. The New York times has written about him. Martha Stuart insists that he be her guide whenever she visits and has had him cook laksa live on her TV show. The list goes on and on.

It’s an impressive thing when someone works hard to reach the pinnacle of success and then decides to take it to an even higher level. And for Seetoh – who believes that street food feeds not just the stomach but the soul – the mission of making the cuisine of Singapore accessible to all is just a start. “I could just keep doing what I do,” he explained in his usual, affable manner. “But my life’s work still lies ahead of me, and I won’t die comfortably until it’s done.”

Fractured Food

“Street food is a global phenomenon,” Seetoh explains over our crunchy prawn paste chicken wings. “It’s an age-old, earthy profession that has sustained people since the beginning of modern society.” Indeed, the majority of people in developing countries today still depend on food prepared by individual cooks in simple outdoor or rustic kitchens. In Singapore more than 80% of the local population eat at least one meal a day in a hawker center, food court or kopitiam; in Bangkok and Hanoi that number is even greater. But that tradition is changing and, to some degree, dying.  “As societies modernize and the hawker legends get older there are fewer people to pass the street food heritage on to,” Seetoh explains. “Working a food stall is tough, solitary labor; hardly the favored path in today’s youthful, social network-driven society.”

Combine that with the nature of the street food world – a “fractured society” as Seetoh sees it – and what you have is a fading, fragmented industry composed of individuals working alone and selling their talent for a couple of bucks a plate. “Aside from possibly expanding the number of stalls, there’s little growth opportunity for hawkers and no sense of belonging to something greater than just their own thing.” And that’s where Seetoh comes in.

The World Street Food Congress

Recognizing the benefits of collaboration, Seetoh has masterminded The World Street Food Congress, the first forum designed to connect the splintered street food world. The WSFC aims to form a globally-unified body where new ideas, synergies and opportunities can be created over street food. The three principle objectives are to preserve the culture and craft of local street cuisine, to create a unified “industry” of street food with consistent professionalism, and to develop new opportunities through collaboration among street food cultures globally.

But even KF Seetoh can’t assemble a global forum alone, so he’s formed a World Street Food Council, comprised of a collection of the best minds in different food-related disciplines around the world to join forces as vanguards of the industry.  We’re talking chefs, writers, F&B developers, food & lifestyle celebrities and innovative social thinkers who will spirit the cause of a unified street food world in ways that have never before been imagined. A few names which may ring familiar: Anthony Bourdain, James Oseland (Editor-in-Chief of Saveur Magazine and Top Chef judge), Brett Burmeister (started the food truck culture in the US), and some of the very best chefs and restauranteurs from around the globe.  “Enthusiasm about WSFC has spread like wildfire and this is just the first year of it -- we're just getting warmed up,” Seetoh says. “Everyone that I talk to about it wants to play a part.” 

The WSFC Kickoff

To attract the world’s attention to the World Street Food Congress, Seetoh will host The World Street Food Congress 2013: From Street Market to World Market. From 31 May to 9 June in Singapore’s F1 Pit Building & Paddock. The event will consist of a 2-day Dialog conference alongside a 10-day street food jamboree featuring some of the world’s best street food masters serving up their cultural specialties. This isn't just about local food of Singapore, or even Asia; chefs from the US and Europe will also be here to cook up a storm. The event will also present the first World Street Food Awards to acknowledge and recognize the best street food cooks and their food. 

“Street food is not just about stuffing your stomach,” Seetoh explained as we dove into a plate of glistening mee goring puti. “With street food, you may eat the food, but you digest the culture.” It’s that basic philosophy that renders KF Seetoh more a food culturalist than food critic. “Behind every hawker’s plate of noodles or bowl of soup is a story – usually an ancient one – and knowing that story preserves the heritage and makes the food taste better.”  And through WSFC Seetoh will help the soft-spoken world of street food cooks have an organized place to tell those stories through their food – well into the future and all around the world. And in the course of doing so, new street foods will emerge and new stories will need to be told. Which is a valuable thing because, as KF Seetoh would say, “if you don’t eat the culture with every bite, you’ll always be left hungry.”

For more information about World Street Food Congress go to www.wsfcongress.com

Foodwalkers note: This piece, in slightly different form, was previously published in Singapore American Newspaper, March 2013

Foodwalking with Nym – Beach Eats

It’s always fun to foodwalk with food experts; especially if I can take them somewhere they’ve never been. And such was the case with Nym Punlopruska, Bangkok’s  Siren of Street food, when she was recently back in Singapore to update one of her books. I wanted to take her to some place she’d never been, just as she had done with me in her hometown. That’s no easy task with a girl like Nym, who has written more than a dozen books on food, has been Andrew Zimmern’s guide and fixer on Bizarre Foods, and is fearless in both what and where she’ll eat. In other words, my kind of Foodwalker.

“What about eats on the beach?” I asked her after a litany of “been there” and “done that” responses to my grilling her over Singapore food experiences she’d not had. “Beach? In Singapore?" was the gist of her reply to an afterthought question. “Not been, not done.”

East Coast Lagoon Hawker Centre

So off we were to East Coast Lagoon Food Centre, Singapore’s answer to seaside hawker food in lovely East Coast Park. The longest continuous oceanfront playground on the island, slipping into the gentle surf of the South China Sea and overlooking countless cargo ships and tankers offshore, this place is a magnet for those wanting to stroll, run or bike along the 12 kilometers of pathways, play in the sand, camp under coconut trees or, of course, eat. Which is why we were there.

You could sit at a table,
but why?

It’s easy to get great food here; the hawker centre has a wide selection of Chinese, Malay and even Indian stalls that are open late into the night. But there are a few specialties which draw the crowds: Satay, BBQ stingray and laksa. Most who eat here pick a table beneath an umbrella or at one of the pavilions shading large tables for group dining. But East Coast Park is all about the beach to this Foodwalker, so I suggested we take our goodies to a more apropos venue – a table in the sand.

We order our satay from Musa Ikan Bakar (stall #51), my fave of the seven or so satay joints here. A collection of skewered lamb, beef and chicken is tossed on the fire. Our plate is dressed with raw onions, cucumber and cubes of dense rice cake to compliment the meat. A side bowl of coarse, sweet and spicy peanut sauce accompanies.

Nym fanning the flames

The narrow steel satay grill pops and fizzles, spattering a little fragrant fat amidst the dancing flames and billowing smoke of the singing meat. The smell is intoxicating; earthy from the charcoal; rich and sweet from the meat and marinade.

As the flames drop off a little, Nym grabs the leafy fan from the chef and sparks it up again. We inhale deeply and moan at the haunting aroma, happy to be alive. We take our plate and head off for the next dish.

Roxy Laksa (Stal #48) makes an old-school version of its namesake dish that few can match. Mike and his wife took over the business from his father after the old Roxy Cinema in Katong closed down and the height of the so-called Laksa Wars was flaring. Not wanting to play in that field of puffery and self-promotion,  Roxy pulled up roots and headed downstream to the beach where it has been ever since. By all appearances it’s a stall like any other – though neater and sparser than most. But one bowl of nearly the only thing he sells, and you’ll realize that Mike’s mainstay of sustenance is special. Shunning the short-cut noodle style of Katong Laksa, his has full length mee noodles – smooth and silky and ever so al dente. He douses them with fiery orange laksa gravy, then pours it back into the pot, and douses them again. And again. And again, until he has infused the noodles just right, leaving them swimming in the bowl full of the rich gravy. A dollop of spicy rempah, ground laksa leaves, fish cake slices and a couple of prawns on top complete the masterpiece. But he doesn’t add the typical raw cockles unless you ask; old-schoolers never had them, so why should he.

Roxy Laksa

Seaside dining at its best!

We walked our food over to the sand, where stone tables are scattered around for picnics. There’s something about the briny breeze in your face, cooling your spoonful of laksa before your first bite, that’s sort of romantic. Like a prelude to a kiss, it blends with the coconut and spice aroma of the dish and advances it into your olfactory’s before the food even touches your mouth. And in that instance before the taste buds are activated, a flash of excitement shoots though your brain about the delicious experience to come. The gravy is coconutyy and slightly biting; not thick and viscous like that of some who take condensed milk shortcuts, but smooth and complex, triggering all 6 senses in your mouth at the same time like a symphony of flavor.

I’m one of those people who get emotional about beautifully grilled meat, and the plate of satay raised a lump in my throat. Between each chicken slice on the bamboo skewer was a small flap of fatty skin – the old-school answer to making a good dish great. The lamb and beef was drippingly moist, sweetened by the marinade that was brushed on while dancing in the flames. The peanut sauce, slightly piquant with the right coarse crunch and hint of heat, expanded the flavors in my mouth and stirred a haunting memory of a place called Home – even though I’m not from were this dish comes. Seems comfort food is comfort food, no matter where you're from. I looked at Nym and recognized her own efforts to suppress the misting in her eyes as she slowly chewed in hallowed silence, lost in her own happy place.

Mixed satay from Musa Ikan Bakar

So whenever someone complains about Singapore not really being a beachy island kind of place, I tell them about East Coast Park and the great food available to enjoy on the edge of the sand in the sun by the sea....

Arcot Nawab: Feasting on the Food of Kings

I love it when the table turns. Recently, legendary siren of Thai street food, Nym Korokat Punlopruska guided me through the streets of Bangkok for great food. If you know much about Bangkok street food, or have watched Andrew Zimmern eat his way through it, you’ve seen Nym. She was in Singapore this week, so now it was my turn. And I knew a place that is so new it couldn’t possibly be in her excellent food guide, but so exceptional that it needs to be.

The fabulous Nym Punlopruska

Ravi, Nym & Jeera water at every table

Walking into Arcot Nawab Restaurant, Nym immediately sensed something different from the sea of other Indian restaurants. The place is small, bright and airy, with ocher walls and a pitcher of Jeera (cumin-seed) water on every table. Owner Ravi Jayakaran greeted us at the door and at once immersed us in a world of remarkable royal Indian cuisine unavailable elsewhere in Singapore. 

Upon the first sip of Vasantha Neer, a pale, fresh-scraped coconut water infused with lemon, honey and mint on the rocks, Nym got her note pad ready.  

Nawabi & Nizam cuisines from the Hyderabad region of Southern India are the specialty at Arcot Nawab, which opened less than a year ago. It is cuisine once granted only to India’s finest chefs, esteemed in the art of delicate Indian cuisine, to prepare for Mogul Empire royalty. But this day, despite arriving unannounced and pulling everything straight off the menu, we would be fed like royalty, too.

It started with Vallara Keerai, a seemingly simple soup made of pennywort leaf reduced with pepper, garlic and onion to a smooth creamy texture. This “brain food” delivered a deep earthy flavor, exotic in the first instance, then quickly softening into a rich, herbaceous simplicity that luxuriated on our tongues.

The Karuvepillai Prawn Varuval was firm and masala-tinged on the edges with soft, sweet meat that frolicked with flavors of fried curry leaves and delicate sesame oil. Don’t think “fried prawns” with this dish, as the marriage of flavors and texture transforms this into something unique and wondrous; the best of natural spices with the finest fare from the sea. It’s a must try.

But the star of Arcot Nawab’s show was its namesake biryani. The similarity between other biryanis in Singapore and this one – like a White Zinfindel in the shadow of Châtau Haut-Brion – ends abruptly at the name. Arcot Biryani is a distinct rice-based dish; lighter and more refined than more common biryani but packing a full-on spice punch that puts all others to shame. 

Cooked with mutton and Jeera Samba rice – a pleasing departure from the usual basmati nuttiness – it came with a Brinjal curry and a red onion raita that delivered an ultra-fresh yogurty sparkle. The biryani was robust, each kernel standing independent and oil-free, encapsulating a well-integrated flavor and careful balance of spice. But perhaps most compelling was its lightness of being. Unlike the clumpy, heavyweight biryanis stomping and pummeling their way around Little India, this was like a trim, featherweight fighter – each bite a quick, crisp jab of intense flavor, leaving no oily residue on the palate. Neat and clean.

The meal continued, Ravi steering us through a maze of royal classics. Like raw bittergourd diced with tomato and onion and brightened by a spritz of fresh lemon from a vegan selection. The bitter green bite of the crunchy veg was tempered by the lemony tinge and tomato sweetness to render a refreshing, uncommon salad.

We had Rasam, so deep and complex, with the chef’s hand light on the tamarind, ginger, lime and asafoetida, in order to avoid bitterness against the pepper, curry leaves, soft onion and pineapple within. Its seductive aroma and taste necessitated my drinking it all directly from the silver cup in which it came.

 A mélange of brunoised masala potato with mustard seed, curry leaves and herbs added a deep, cumin/turmeric/cinnamon component to the food piling up before us, each dish complimenting the others and adding something to prepare us for the next item; something Ravi would suddenly think necessary to round out the feast.

The Meen Kothu Idiyappa, was a blend of spicy cooked fish, minced and scrambled with crumbled idiyappam noodles, gentle spices and crisp-fried mint leaves. Its soft and pleasing texture and delicate if-not-curious combination somehow works together, intermingling seamlessly into a comfort food that’s light as a feather and instantly soothing to eat.

A tiny silver pot of dried lentils roasted with garlic, dry chilies and sesame seeds, all ground into a talcum-fine orange powder was set before us. A matching tin of Indian sesame oil – a complete departure from the ubiquitous Chinese version found here – and a plate of white basmati rice came beside it. Nym dusted the rice with the powder, I followed with a drizzle of sesame oil and mixed. The yellowish blend delivered a clean, ancient flavor, blossoming like a lotus flower in the morning sun. Each component whispered its presence in the rice, but then transformed into something more delicious than merely the sum of its parts and harkened back to a centuries-old flavor profile.

Closing the feast was Payasam, a cooling milk pudding with sage and vermicelli,  along with a warm chai infused with sarsaparilla root, and ending with a barely-sweet vanilla bean ice cream sprinkled with hand-candied ginger bits to relax our digestive systems.

Ravi's passion for his food is contagious

For each dish Ravi had a passionate explanation of its history and what makes it special enough to serve here. His philosophy is not just to serve outstanding food – which he does better than perhaps any other Indian restaurant in the neighborhood – but also healthy dishes with no MSG, no additives and balanced for control of such ailments as Diabetes. The result: light, delicate textures with intense, infused flavors that don’t leave you feeling heavy and tired afterward. It was truly a feast at this restaurant of royal food from the Kingdom of the Moguls.

Arcot Nawab Restaurant

49 Chander Road
Little India
Singapore

Tel: 6392-1530

Biting the Big Mango

What a time I recently had in Bangkok, eating my way down the street. Foodwalking in the Big Mango means traffic, trains and life-flashing rides on the back of motorcycle taxis. And of course, lots of walking. As is often the case in foodwalking, it isn’t always pretty, but it’s always interesting. And if you’ve spent much time in Bangkok you know that principle applies here in spades.

Mango Sticky Rice

Especially if hauled into a dank, 70’s sleaze bar along Soi Cowboy, where one can’t tell the provocative girls from the even more provocative lady-boys until they reveal their beer bellies (I’m talking about the girls here…). But the Belgian beer was great and vintage Rolling Stones blasting across a dark room always makes any place seem better, even if the only thing to see is, well, beer bellies….

It’s a funny thing when culinary explorers get together off the clock. Like the chefs who leave their kitchens after hours to eat and drink in no-name joints, we went to places off the food grid; tiny joints that we’re too selfish to tell anyone about. 

Awesome food guru, Nym (left)  and NY writer, Nawa made sure I didn't miss anything.

And just whenever it seemed the night was ending, my amazing food maven Nym, or buddy Luk or some sudden new Bangkok food friend would mention some little stall that’s open late and serves the best whatever in all of Bangkok and do I want to go check it out? Is a floating market on the water? Is sticky rice sticky? 

Of course I want to go!

Mind-blowing Som Tam (green papaya salad)

Crispy Roast Pork - crazy!

 At the famous Sukhumvit Soi 38, the nighttime street is lined with stalls selling exceptional food. Tables flood into the road as cars and scooters and people scrape by through the smoke and steam of the many stalls. 

Soi 38

Your ears ring with the clanging of woks, sizzling of meats and calling of vendors as you work your way past stacks of fish, piles of meat, pyramids of gorgeous fruit, fresh-squeezed calamansi, sugarcane or pomegranate juice, cooked insects and tailless cats prowling the curbs. It’s a food frenzy here every night and for good reason. Stall after stall – each legendary in it’s own quiet way – is serving up one or two signature dishes that’ll scar your memory. 

Pad Thai the way it's supposed to be made.

It’s impossible not to gorge yourself, moving from stall to stall, table to table, eating, drinking, pointing and asking questions in broken English and tragically-mispronounced Thai and shooting photographs rapid fire like a war zone journalist, until suddenly it ends in vacant darkness two blocks down the street. And all you want is to turn around and do it all again.

Crab Fried Rice

And here’s the crazy thing: all of this is just on one street. Hundreds of other streets are just like it, with pushcarts and scooter-grills and open-walled buildings with counters blocking the interiors, all cooking and selling food, crowded by small well-worn tables and plastic stools, hugging the curbs, blocking the path, taking over. Because that’s what food in Bangkok is all about – the street. Everyone here eats something on the street at least once a day because it’s fresh and hot and cheap and fantastic. And I haven’t even written about Chinatown yet!

So Forget Sin City – because when it comes to food fun at night, it’s Bangkok, Baby!

Sticky Rice

FoodWalkers has been on an extended foodwalk and has left you hungry and waiting for more. Sorry for the absence, but it has not been because of indigestion – to the contrary – I’ve been busier than ever gorging across Asia and building an all new and improved FoodWalkers soon to be released. That’s right, a new pair of shoes for FoodWalkers. 

Coming soon!