Category:Chinese Cuisine 
From Singapore Hotels & Singapore Lifestyle
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Chinese Cuisine - with Chinese food, the more people you can muster for the meal the better, because dishes are traditionally shared so that all can sample the greatest variety. A corollary of this is that a Chinese Cuisine meal should be balanced. A yin (cooling) dish, such as vegetables, most fruits and clear soups, should be matched by a yang (heating) dish, such as starchy foods and meat.
When dining Chinese Cuisine-style, dishes are mostly served as the kitchen finishes them and not in any kind of order typical of Western-style dining. Formal banquets, however, being with a Cold Dish, then Soup and several more substantial dishes followed by Rice and Noodles and finally, Desserts.
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China Origins
Most of the Chinese people in Singapore have their roots in the southern part of China, particulary Guangdong (Canton) and Fujian (Hokkien). The majority of their ancestors would have come here during the colonial times in the 1800s to work in the docks, so it comes as no surprise that the local Chinese Cuisine consists mainly of staples such as rice and various types of noodles.
For the Chinese, the province they came from usually determines the Chinese Dialect they speak. In a similar fashion, many Chinese Cuisine dishes are, today, identified with the dialect group they originated from, such as Teochew Porridge and Fishball Noodles, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Hakka Yong Tau Foo, Fried Hokkien Noodles, and so on. However, the Chinese Cuisine in Singapore today has already been infused with strong Southeast Asian elements. For example, the use of chilli and local spices has made Singaporean Chinese Cuisine more feisty and tasteful compared to those found in China. Of course, you can still get the refined cuisine that Chinese Cuisine is famous for in specialty Restaurants.
Cantonese Cuisine
The best-known and most popular style of Chinese Cuisine is Cantonese Cuisine, despite the majority of Singaporean Chinese not being of Cantonese descent. Cantonese Cuisine, noted for the variety and freshness of its ingredients, is usually stir-fried with just a touch of oil to ensure that the result is crisp and fresh. Typical dishes include Wan Ton soup, Chow Mein (fried noodles), Spring Rolls, Mee (noodles) or Congee (rice porridge). At the expensive end of the specturm are Shark's Fin Soup and Bird's Nest dishes.
One of the most famous Cantonese specialities is Dim Sum (literally "little heart"), small snack-type dishes, often dumplings. Eating Dim Sum, also known as "Yum Cha", is usually eaten at lunchtime or as a Sunday brunch, in large, noisy restaurants where the dishes are whisked around the tables on trolleys or carts; take what you like as they come by.The Yum Cha culture in Singapore is almost similar to the one found in Hong Kong.
Hainanese Cuisine
The most popular Hainanese dish is Chicken Rice - simply steamed fowl, rice cooked in chicken stock, a clear soup and slices of cucumber; it's practically the Singaporean national dish. Flavour it with ginger, soy chilli sauce and have yourself a delicious meal for around S$5 or less. Another popular Hainanese dish is Steamboat, an Oriental variation on a Swiss fondue, where you have a boiling stockpot in the middle of the table, into which you dip pieces of meat, seafood or vegetables.
Hokkien & Hakka Cuisine
Many of Singapore's Chinese are Hokkien or Hakka, originally from the southern provinces of China. Simple ingredients are a feature of Hakka food. The best-known Hakka dish is Yong Tau Foo, bean curd staffed with minced meat, and cooked together in soup with an assortment of other ingredients. Another popular dish is Fried Hokkien Mee, or Singapore Noodles. It's made of thick egg noddles cooked with pork, seafood and vegetables, and a rich sauce. Hokkien Popiah (unfried spring rolls) are also delicious and fun to roll yourself.
If you're looking for something more fiery, try Sichuan (pronounced "Szechwan") food - garlic and chillies play their part in dishes like diced chicken and hot-and-sour soup. Beijing cuisine also has more robust flavours and is usually eaten with noodles or steamed buns. The most famous dish is Peking Duck - specially fattened ducks basted in syrup and roasted on a revolving spit. The crispy skin is served as a separate first course.
Teochew Cuisine
From the area around Shantou in China, Teochew is a style noted for its delicacy and natural flavours. Seafood is a specialty, and a popular Food Centre dish is Char Kway Teow - broad noodles, clams and eggs friend in chilli and black-bean sauce.
Shanghai Cuisine
Food from Shanghai is, to some extent, a cross between northern and Cantonese cuisines, combining the strong flavours of the north with the ingredients of Canton. Only a few places in Singapore serve it, though.
Local Style
Although chillies are a local addition to Chinese Cuisine in Singapore, the Chinese take them seriously. They are apt to patronise a place simply for the fact that the chilli condiment that goes with certain Dishes have been prepared "just so". In fact, Hainanese Chicken Rice chefs sometimes earn their customers' loyalty on the strength of their chilli sauce alone; likewise, for the cooks of other types of Chinese Cuisine. So when it comes to condiments, do not be surprised to find chilli sauce, chilli paste or cut chillies, alongside traditional Chinese condiments such as salt or sweet soya sauce.
