10 Singaporean Dishes You Have to Try

Singapore's cuisine is a delicious product of its diversity, drawing on Chinese, Malay, Indian and Peranakan traditions. Here are ten dishes that belong on any first-timer's list.

1. Hainanese Chicken Rice

Often called a national dish: tender poached chicken served with rice cooked in chicken stock, chilli sauce and ginger. Deceptively simple, endlessly debated.

2. Chilli Crab

Mud crab in a sweet, savoury and mildly spicy tomato-chilli gravy, best mopped up with fried mantou buns. A celebratory seafood classic.

3. Laksa

Rice noodles in a rich, spicy coconut broth with prawns, cockles and fishcake — the Katong style is especially famous.

4. Char Kway Teow

Flat rice noodles stir-fried over high heat with egg, cockles, Chinese sausage and bean sprouts, prized for its smoky 'wok hei'.

5. Bak Kut Teh

A peppery, garlicky pork rib soup, typically eaten with rice, dough fritters and tea.

6. Nasi Lemak

Coconut rice with sambal, fried anchovies, peanuts, egg and cucumber — a Malay staple enjoyed any time of day.

7. Satay

Grilled marinated skewers of chicken, beef or mutton served with peanut sauce, rice cakes and cucumber.

8. Roti Prata

A flaky, pan-fried Indian-influenced flatbread served with curry — a favourite breakfast and supper dish.

9. Kaya Toast

Toasted bread with coconut-egg jam and butter, served with soft-boiled eggs and coffee (kopi) — the classic local breakfast.

10. Hokkien Mee

Prawn and pork stock-braised noodles with squid, prawns and pork, finished with a squeeze of lime and sambal.

Wash it all down with a teh tarik (pulled milk tea) or a fresh sugarcane juice, and you have tasted the essence of Singapore.