Singapore is a small country which is known for being one of the prime Business hubs in the world.  It is relatively a small country but then there are plenty of people living there making their livelihood in various ways other than being in Corporate World.  I have always thought that Singapore food comprises more of Rice/Noodle and seafood but never imagined they would have variety of Streeet Food that were popular.  To help know more, we need to bring an expert from Singapore to show us how it is prepared and share the steps.  Sheraton on Bangalore brought in the Chef So Chaoi Huan to spread the awareness of the Singapore Street food.   Chef conducted a special Culinary class to showcase the true essence of Singapore Culinary World.

Culinary Class
Chef So Chaoi Huan is an expert in Singapore food and he showed us his skill while preparing various Street Food specialities like – Sambal Prawn, Sweet & Sour Pork, Oat Meal Prawn and Chicken clear soup.  Chef was quite cool, calm and composed in preparing each of the dishes in front of us.

To be able to pull this off, Chef had to bring in some special spices made him in Singapore.  This was necessary to make it more authentic Singaporean, rather being localized food.  Chef prepared 4 items and shared the recipe for 2 key dishes, details of which are mentioned below.

Sambal Chili Prawn
Ingredients

Method and Preparation
Step 1
Heat oil in a large wok on medium. Stir-fry onion for 2 minutes, until almost softened.
Step 2
Add prawns and sambal, stir-frying for 2-3 minutes until fragrant and prawns just change colour.
Add beans, sugar and soy. Continue to stir-fry 2-3 minutes, or until prawns are just cooked through. Toss through chilli, if liked.
Drizzle over a few drops of sesame oil. Serve with steamed rice and lime wedges.

Sweet and Sour Pork
Ingredients

Method and Preparation
Step 1
Making Sauce
Place all ingredients in a pot and bring to boil over medium heat, stirring consistently. Boil for around 20 min and thicken with corn flour.
Step 2
Marinated pork cubes with salt, pepper, sesame oil and egg yolk. Coat it with corn flour and fried it turns golden color and crispy.
Step 3
Add the crispy pork and mix well. Pour one ladle of sweet and sour sauce and mix with some red, green bell pepper, onion and give a quick toss.
Ready to serve.

Lunch Buffet
Sheraton has been known for having one of the largest buffet-spared among many hotels in Bangalore.  With the addition of Singaporean Street Food dishes, the buffet became even larger.  Let me share my experience of having the buffet.

ABC Soup sure was the best way to start the meal.  This soup had lot of boiled vegetables – Carrot, Potato & Corn.  The taste of the soup came from the vegetables that were added in the clear soup.  It is best taken with some focaccia and other soft bread.

Starters section had plenty to choose from – Spinach & Rieotta Camnelloni, Bayildi Vegetable, Chap Chaye, Stir Fried Bok Choy in Garlic Sauce and many more items.  Tremendous effort seems to have gone into making the dishes because they had wonderful taste.

Main Course was also quite elaborate with plenty of gravy & dry curries that could be taken along with various bread options.  There was a separate rice section for Daa and Rice items.  Highlight among the rice item was the Mango based Rice baath which is generally prepared at home during Mango season.  A separate section for curd related items that had Curd Vada, Plain Curd, Raita and other curd-based items.  There was a salad section with plenty of salad, pickles and butter milk.

Desert section undoubtedly is the favourite among most of us.  There was a Live Crepe making counter where we could ask for special topping to be added on crepe.

The best combination for sure was the one with Nutella.  Apart from that there was also live desert being made on cold-stone, pastry items and many Indian sweets.  I would specially recommend crepe & ice-cream made on cold-stone to all guests dining in.

Drinks options were also good.  I tried the special Mint Pudina Lemon Cooler which was quite refreshing.  Apart from that there was a special rose based mocktail served which also quite refreshing.  The best part was the it wasn’t too sweet, not too bland.

Overall Experience
It was great fun meeting, Chef So Chaoi and seeing his skill in preparing the Singaporean Street food items.  Enjoyed the large buffet spread along with from refreshing mocktails & ended it all up with desert.  The hospitality at Sheraton is quite good as the staff are courteous and willing to help whenever guests needs something.  It was a great Saturday afternoon spent with Foodie/Blogger friends along with Chef and folks from Sheraton.

I rate this experience at 4.0/5.

Lau Pa Sat Singaporean Street Food Festival
Schedule
21^st April to 30^th April 2017
Cost
Lunch INR 1545 + Taxes
Dinner INR 1695 + Taxes