SIMPLY SINGAPOREAN
By Eric Teo
Publisher:Seashore

A COLLEAGUE of mine got it right when she commented that going through chef Eric Teo’s Simply Singaporean cookbook is sort of like walking through a typical Singaporean/Malaysian food court.

The 140-odd page book is filled with popular local street food — from Hokkien mee (Teo’s dish is called Braised Black Hokkien Noodles), char kway teow, fish ball noodles (soup), satay, chilli crab, fried oyster omelette, rojak ... you name it, it’s included in this cookbook.

In the foreword to Simply Singaporean, Teo explains that many of the recipes he chose to highlight in his book were inspired by his late mother. A keen cook, Teo says his mother was his earliest influence in the kitchen. As Peranakan food featured prominently in their family dinners, it’s also evident in Teo’s cuisine.

The recipes he includes in this cookbook, however, are a mixture of Peranakan, Malay and Chinese fare.

An acclaimed chef in Singapore, Teo was named "Best Executive Chef of the Year" at the World Gourmet Summit thrice — in 2006, 2008 and 2009. He is currently the executive chef at the Mandarin Oriental, Singapore.

As accomplished as he is, however, Teo’s recipes in Simply Singaporean are very accessible. Instructions are clear and the language is simple — no chef talk here. The book is a bi-lingual guide: recipes and directions come in English as well as Chinese.

There are six sections in the book. The first, Meat and Poultry, includes classics like curry chicken, Chinese beef steak, beef rendang and Hainanese pork chop. Teo sticks pretty close to the traditional recipes with most of these classic dishes. A good idea because to mess with a classic like rendang daging or sweet and sour pork is quite unnecessary. Oh yes, the recipe for my favourite childhood dish — sweet and sour pork — is included and with Teo’s culinary navigation, it isn’t hard to make at all.

Done with the meat? Part two of Simply Singaporean focuses on Noodles and Rice — the staple of practically every Malaysian home. From Char Kway Teow to Yee Mee or Crispy Claypot Noodles; Mee Rebus to Mee Siam; Hainanese Chicken Rice to Nasi Lemak, Teo offers quite a range of noodles and rice recipes for us to try. There are also some not-so-familiar dishes (at least for me) which seemed intriguing — like the Satay Bee Hoon, for example, which is essentially satay sauce poured generously over blanched rice vermicelli (bee hoon) and vegetables. It’s almost a variation of the Rojak Mamak (which uses the thick yellow noodles).

Other sections include Fish and Seafood (with, of course, a recipe for the famous Singapore Chilli Crab), soups (make your own sup kambing) and stocks, appetizers (strange it comes close to the end of the book); and desserts (he has included the recipe for pengat durian.Fantastic.)

If you are looking for a cookbook which will teach you how to master the essential recipes found in Singapore/Malaysia, Teo’s Simply Singaporean is a good place to start.