Moveable Feast: Singaporean Street Food
Crazy as it may seem, barely a week after Thanksgiving our feasting group came together to enjoy the foods of Singapore. I was the host this time and was inspired by one of my very good friends who invited me to join her when she returns home to see her family next year. I’ve always been fascinated by Singapore’s hawker centers and that’s how the theme came about. The thing we learned, as a group, is that Singaporean food seems to have multiple, often time-consuming steps that makes one wonder if the effort will pay off. We can attest that the effort is well worth it.
A good example of one of these time consuming dishes is kueh lapis. Also known as Thousand Layer Cake, this dish is literally baked one layer at a time. And while it’s not really one thousand layers, the eighteen layers still took about four hours to bake (I didn’t make it. I don’t know that I would have had the patience but it was delicious).
Other items on the menu included:
- Beef Satay
- Loh Bak – Chinese five-spice pork rolls wrapped in tofu skin and deep fried
- Chicken Rice
- Hot Pot Soup
- Murtabak – Indian stuffed pancake
- Curry Pie – an easier to put-together version of the curry puffs pictured above
- Bihon – fried rice noodles with chicken and vegetables
- Pineapple Tarts
- Lime Drink
- Tiger Beer
My friend joined me for the weekend and without her help I wouldn’t have been able to pull it all off. Together we made the lime drink, bihon (her family’s recipe) and the curry pie/curry puffs (based on a recipe found here).
I know I say this every time but the food was delicious and this group can really cook. My friend told me it brought to life the flavors of home for her. For me, I’m looking forward even more to our trip to Singapore. There are more things I want to try, maybe a few things I might not want. But it will be fun and an adventure. I can’t wait!
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Singaporean Curry Puffs
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 18 1x
Description
Flaky pastry surrounds a savory chicken curry filling. Store-bought puff pastry saves time and gives the pastries their flaky texture.
Ingredients
For the curry puffs
2 packages of frozen puff pastry sheets
Egg wash (1 beaten egg with 1 drop of yellow coloring)
For the curry paste
4 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 cup water
For the filling
5 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
2 yellow onions, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 cup frozen peas or frozen mixed vegetables
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into cubes
1 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into cubes
3 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
To make the curry paste
Mix the curry paste ingredients together to form a paste. Set aside.
To make the filling
Soak potato cubes in cold water for 1 hour. Drain potatoes before use.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a non-stick pan. Add onion and stir fry until fragrant.
Push onions to one side of pan and add little oil. Turn down the heat to medium low, and add curry paste. Stir fry curry paste till fragrant for about 3 minutes, and combine with onions.
Add chicken meat and stir fry until cooked.
Add potatoes and stir fry until well combined. Add peas or mixed vegetables.
Add water until the mixture is half covered. Bring to a boil and keep stirring the mixture.
Add seasoning and bring mixture to a simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Remove curry fillings and set aside to cool.
To make the curry puffs
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Dust board with flour, roll our pastry sheets to 1/4″ thickness and use fluted-edged cutter (optional) to cut pastry into rounds.
Place a tablespoon of cooled filling in the center of each round. Moisten half the edge with water and bring the other half to seal and pinch the edges. Or use a curry puff mold to seal.
Place curry puffs on baking trays lined with parchment paper. Brush with egg wash glaze.
Bake at 450F for 10 minutes in the center of the oven. Reduce heat to 400F and bake for another 15 mins or until golden brown.
Cool curry puffs on a wire rack.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Inactive Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dumplings
- Cuisine: Singaporean
Nutrition
- Calories: 385.43
- Sugar: 2.07 g.
- Sodium: 459.75 mg.
- Fat: 21.71 g.
- Saturated Fat: 5.49 g.
- Carbohydrates: 39.47 g.
- Fiber: 2.71 g.
- Protein: 9.06 g.
- Cholesterol: 19.07 g.
Keywords: street food, curry, chicken, potato
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