How the Dishes Were Introduced Through the Early Waves of Migration

How our dish got introduced through the waves of Early Migration

Laksa:

The dish was introduced when the Malays and the Chinese married together as they lived together, founding the Peranakan culture. The dish was introduced with different ethnic flavours of both races.

Chai Tao Kway:                                                       

The dish was introduced by the Chinese immigrants.

Mee Soto:

The dish was introduced by the Indonesians, who influenced the Malay culture.

Mee Goreng Mamak:

The dish was introduced by the Indians who came to Singapore.

Rojak Petis:

This dish was first introduced by the Indonesians who included various flavours to make it their own.

Social and Cultural Significance Of Food Preparation and Consumption

As you know, our group did five dishes: Mee goreng mamak, chai tao kway, mee soto, rojak petis and laksa.

Mee Goreng Mamak

There is no social or but some cultural significance of Mee Goreng Mamak. However, since the Indian Muslims invented this dish, they will only add halal ingredients to this dish. Other than that, the people who prepared this dish often have a secret recipe/ingredients which are passed on from one generation to another, for many Mee Goreng Mamak stalls have been serving the dish for many years. For example, the person we interviewed had been serving Mee Goreng Mamak for 34 years already.

Chai Tao Kway

There is no social but some cultural significance for Chai Tao Kway.  However, there are no hard and fast rules in preparing this dish. For instance, if a person prefers to add more radishes/flour, it will not change the essence of the dish. Other than that, this dish has to be consumed as soon as popular so that the dish will taste better.

Mee Soto

There is no social but some cultural significance to Mee Soto. People who cook this dish will follow the recipe that has been passed down from their family etc. as there are no two Mee Soto dishes that are the same.

Rojak Petis

There is some social and cultural significance to Rojak Petis. Although this dish was invented by the Indonesians who emigrated to Singapore, the Chinese adapted this dish to make it their own by adding other ingredients, which makes was Rojak Petis what it is today.

Laksa

There is some social and cultural significance to Laksa. This dish was invented by the Peranakan culture, which is the Malay and Chinese. They have formed this dish together, adding their own ethnic flavours, recipes and ingredients to make what Laksa what it is today.

There is some social

Final Reflection

"This experience was an absolutely memorable and enriching experience. We learnt the value of teamwork and collaboration, which plays a huge part in our project. I definitely learnt something new." - Rika Nurmariah

"Everyone played their part during the food trail. It was heartwarming to see everyone enjoying themselves, despite it already being hard to get a stall owner to interview, as many did not want to be interviewed. However, with our perseverance, we managed to pull through." - Elinor Lau

"This is such a wonderful experience! I managed to try so many different food today, from the Indian food to the Malay food to the Chinese too. I would definitely do it again in a heartbeat, especially with my very supportive teammates, who accompanied me to interview the stall owners." - Vivien Paitimusa (Videographer)

"My groupmates were really co-operative and proactive. I like the fact that we are not afraid to try new things such as food they have never tried before. Furthermore, we were quick on our feet thinking of the next move when we had trouble finding any Muslim stall owners to interview." - Nur Dini Kalista

"This experience was really fruitful and informative for me. My groupmates were fast to respond to emergency situations and I hope that I can do this again as it was really fun to try new food of other cultures." - Lei Xin Yi 

Racial and Religious Sensitivities

During this food trail, my group learnt about a lot more about racial and religious sensitivities. Sensitivities seems like a big word but actually it just means that we have to understand and accept each other the way we are. Remember, being SENSITIVE is being

susceptible the attitudes, feelings, or circumstances of others.

Racial and religious sensitivities is something that is not just addressed just over a topic/forum. This matter is commonly addressed everyday, everywhere.

One way where this "topic" is introduced and expressed through is through FOOD - a basic life necessity.

In a racially diverse country like Singapore, we are exposed to different food all the time. There are the Chinese, Malay, Indian, Western, Arab just to name some. These food can be found everywhere.

More commonly, when we try another race's food that we do not like, it is not that we are rude, it is just that we are not really used to their food. However, Singaporeans are fairly diverse as we try another race's cuisine all the time. We do not stick to our own cuisine, which shows supceptibility to other attitudes.

Sometimes, race is related to religion. For example most of the Malay population in Singapore are Muslims. Muslims cannot eat non-halal food such as pork.

It is very heartening when we often see non-Muslim people not eating pork or even preparing port in front of a Muslim. That shows susceptibility to other people's circumstances.

Another example is if a Chinese person who can eat all types of food throw a party, she does her best and try to make her dishes halal and vegetarian friends. If not, she would surely cater some food that they can eat for them. This shows care and concern, which is linked to sensitivity.

When a person immerses himself in Singaporean culture, he can experience racial and religious sensitivities at all places, at all times. For instance, people have changed and shaped their dishes in a way to fit or merge with another culture. They might even change their ingredients as an alternative to make the dish cater to more vast customers.

In conclusion, racial and religious sensitivity is everywhere, it's just whether you are aware enough of it.

Food Trail Timeline

T I M E L I N E ...






10AM-10.30AM = Went to Clementi Food Centre and had a look around.








10.31AM-11AM = Interviewed the Laksa stall owner and a try in tasting the laksa






11AM-11.30AM = Travelled to Ayer Rajah Food Centre









11.30-12.30PM = Looked around, interviewed the Mee Goreng Mamak stall owner, had a try in tasting the food








12.30PM-1PM = Tried Chai Tao Kway and interviewed the stall owner  









1PM-1.30PM  =  Bought Rojak Petis and Mee Soto

Ice kachang to enjoy and celebrate our hard work :)

Food Choices

 

Rojak Petis (Fusion Dish)

Rojak is a traditional fruit and salad dish that means wild mix in malay. It is a popular as a starter or a fresh meal on its own. It is built on a varied assortment of fruits and fresh vegetables.

Rojak petis is adapted from Malay and Chinese cuisines, which is a veritable toss of beansprouts, greens, tau pok (or deep-fried soybean cake), yu tiao (a crispy long strip of fried flour), pineapple, cucumber, and generous sprinkles of finely chopped roasted peanuts well-tossed with a spicy fermented prawn paste sauce. Raw mangoes and green apples are less commonly used. This dish has a variety of tastes which includes salty, sweet, sour and sometimes spicy.

 All these ingredients joint as one gives the dish an ample texture and a lovely crunchy bite.

 

 Laksa (Fusion Dish)

 

Curry laksa is a coconut curry soup with noodles, Thick rice noodles also known as laksa noodles are most commonly used, although thin rice vermicelli (bee hoon or mee hoon) are also common and some variants use other types.

 

Curry laksa (in many places referred to simply as “laksa”) is a coconut-based curry soup. The main ingredients for most versions of curry laksa include bean curd puffs, fish sticks, shrimp and cockles. Some vendors may sell chicken laksa.

 

Laksa is commonly served with a spoonful of sambal chilli paste and garnished with Vietnamese coriander, or laksa leaf, which is known in Malay as daun kesum.

 

 

The term "curry laksa" is more commonly used in Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. Laksa is popular in Singapore and Malaysia, as are laksa yong tau foo, lobster laksa, and even plain laksa, with just noodles and gravy.

 

Mee Goreng Mamak

 

(Indian)

Mee goreng is a dish common in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The roots of this dish came from India when the Indian immigrants came to Singapore and mixed their culture with the Singaporean culture.

It is made with thin yellow noodles fried in cooking oil with garlic, onion or shallots, fried prawn, chicken, or beef, chilli, cabbages, tomatoes and egg. It is commonly available at mamak stalls in Singapore and Malaysia and is often spicy.

Traditionally, mee goreng had a brown hue but now bears a strong red due to the tomato sauce used. In Malaysia and Singapore, the dish is known as mee goreng mamak, where mamak refers to the localised South Indian or Tamil Muslim community and particularly their hybrid dishes.

Variant names such as mee keling also reflect the dish’s Indian roots, though keling is now regarded as a derogatory term for the Indian community and thus is seldom used. 

 

Chai Tao Kway (Chinese)

It is also known as "fried carrot cake" or simply "carrot cake" in Southeast Asian countries, as the word for daikon (POJ: chhài-thâu), one of its main ingredients, can also refer to a carrot (POJ: âng-chhài-thâu, literally "red radish").

 

It is made with radish cake (steamed rice flour, water, and shredded white daikon), which has then been stir-fried with eggs, preserved radish, and other seasonings. The radish cake is often served in large rectangular slabs which are steamed and then later fried whole. Alternatives to chai tow kway include those made of taro or solely of rice flour.

In Singapore, however, it is more commonly cut into pieces and stir fried with eggs, garlic, spring onion and occasionally dried shrimp. There are two variants: the "white" version does not use sweet soy sauce, and the carrot cake is fried on top of a beaten egg to form a crust; the "black" version uses sweet sauce (molasses) and the egg is simply mixed in with the carrot cake.

 

Mee Soto (Malay)

 

Mee soto is a spicy noodle soup dish that combines the Indonesian chicken broth known as soto ayam with thick yellow Hokkien noodles.
The heart of every mee soto dish is the soto ayam (chicken broth). The broth is made from chicken cooked with rempah (spice paste). The ingredients used to prepare the rempah include ginger, garlic, galangal (a type of ginger root), coriander, cumin, fennel, black pepper, nutmeg, curry leaves, belacan (prawn paste) and lemon grass.

The trademark yellow hue of the chicken broth comes from the turmeric that is added to the rempah. When extra cumin is added, the broth usually turns brownish in colour. When the spicy broth is served with thick yellow Hokkien noodles, it is known as mee soto.

To complete the mee soto dish, the chicken used to make the broth is shredded and layered as a topping along with blanched bean sprouts. A bergedil (fried potato cake) or sliced hard-boiled egg is sometimes added as an extra topping. The dish is usually garnished with chopped spring onions, fried onions, Chinese celery and coriander leaves. A hot chilli sauce is sometimes added to the soup to give it a spicy edge.




CREDITS: Wikipedia