8 Local Delights to Celebrate Flavours of Singapore

Thanks to Singapore’s history and melting pot of cultures, this small but notable country is now famous for its captivating melange of tastes and flavours. While some are iconic and others somewhat acquired, they are all nothing if not distinct, interesting, and one-of-a-kind.

While eating through this gourmand’s paradise will take a lifetime, here’s a Singaporean epicurean list to tick off.

Durian and Kopi-O  (a local blend of sweet, black coffee) can be polarising, and they certainly do not arouse lukewarm feelings. Fans of both love them with a passion.

It is amazing how the Pine Garden Kopi-O and Mao Shan Wang Whole Cake cleverly combines and infuses the mouth-watering notes of kopi-o and the king of fruits, to create an edible experience like no other. Every slice starts with the creamy, ambrosial taste of Mao Shan Wang, and ends with the powerful finish of a local long-black with kick.

The food culture in Singapore may have gone through many revivals and reinventions, but satay has remained more or less in its original form – tender, marinated meats, drizzled with lashings of oil and grilled over charcoal fire on skewers.

That’s just one part of this famous South-East Asian dish, which is incomplete without the peanut sauce— spicy and unctuous, to dip said skewered meat into. All that is accompanied with crisp onions and cucumber for a final refreshing crunch.

You can easily recreate the experience of this local feast at home with City Satay. Made with a unique blend of Asian spices, the marinade flavours and tenderises the chicken meat, which is grilled to perfection on bamboo skewers. Both satay and sauce, which are pre-packed and halal, are ready to eat with or without reheating.

If you’re looking for a spicy condiment that will add a punch to your favourite dishes, try Boon Tong Kee Chilli Sauce – created by the famous Hainanese chain of chicken rice restaurants in Singapore. Its garlicky goodness is perfect with chicken rice, of course, and good with any stir-fry or steamed dish.

It’s always a good time for tea, as long as you have the right selections on hand. Whether it’s something fortifying, digestive or relaxing, it’s handy to keep a variety of teas at home. One to add to the collection is the Gryphon Memoire Du Voyage Sultan’s Dream tea.

Inspired by nasi lemak, a local Malay dish of steamed coconut rice, chilli anchovies and egg, it also contains genmaicha (green tea leaves and brown rice), bonito flakes, green peppercorn, coriander seeds, lemongrass, pandan and coconut flakes. This flavourful and fragrant tea will complement both sweet and savoury desserts, and is great even as an after-dinner beverage to pair with petit fours.

The 1925 Signature pack is a palatable introduction to a variety of local craft beers. This pack features 1925’s signature artisanal beers, such as the Yellow Van pale ale and Liang Teh chrysanthemum lager.

In the mix is also a KrisShop exclusive Oriental Beauty lychee pale lager that tastes delicately of sweet lychee and is infused with rose aromas. Its refreshing, dry, crisp finish is perfect for a hot, humid day. Packed in an intricately designed box and topped with a limited-edition luggage tag, this box of frothy, malty joy also makes a perfect house gift.

Those who prefer something stronger at cocktail hour can certainly make a satisfying G&T with the Brass Lion Singapore Dry Gin, which is exclusively available on KrisShop. Brass Lion Distillery is Singapore’s first full-fledged micro-distillery specialising in producing high-quality, small-batch craft spirits.

They draw inspiration from the region’s centuries-old spice trade, which brought a plethora of Asian herbs and spices to Singapore. Its distinct Singaporean gin evokes the island’s sense of place: historic, modern, multi-racial, glocal. 

Aside from the indispensable hand-pressed, macerated juniper berries, this New World gin has fragrant and punchy notes of various herbs and spices like torch ginger flower, mandarin peel, galangal and kaffir lime leaves. Committed to producing high-quality spirits, Brass Lion makes sure its citrus ingredients are hand-peeled and dried to add a more intense, fruity flavour to the gin.  

Bonus: Brass Lion Distillery also collaborated with the Airline and Singapore Tourism Board to create another exclusive, the Singapore Airlines Batik Gin. This must-try has diasporic notes of ripe pineapples, zesty calamansi and the warm, sweet accent of hawthorn berries.