Another Look at the Cuisine of Singapore Multiple Choice Quiz | Hobbies

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Let's check out Little India in our first question. This first dish is a pretty simple one, with a baguette or French loaf cut up in the center for a sandwich, which is then pressed and grilled with eggs, minced mutton or chicken, onions and if they wish to add in, cheese. What is this concoction?

Answer: Roti John

The story behind Roti John supposedly involved a colonial English man asking an Indian or Malay hawker on the street for an egg sandwich. Seeing that he had eggs, minced mutton on the side and a soft French loaf, he decided to cook the egg mixture and place the sliced bread on the egg which, when cooked, attaches itself on the warmed up bread. Thus, Roti John was born, and the name reflects that it was created with a foreigner in mind.

While there are many other stories that tell how it came about, many don't really mind it as it just tastes good.

2. G��ng Y��, ikan bakar, both are names for the same dish in Chinese and Malay. It involves this sea dwelling ingredient being marinated in sambal chili, cooked and served on banana leaves. What is this swimming ingredient?

Answer: Stingray

I love stingray big time. Stingray is usually grilled either in banana leaves or aluminum foil, best served with some sliced raw shallots, a squeeze of lime and a good amount of rice. This is one of the more expensive items in a hawker center, and is also a mainstay in barbecue hangouts by the beach.

3. A Chinese breakfast staple is next, called chwee kueh, or 'Water Rice Cake' in English. This is a steamed dish that is normally served with a distinct condiment. What is normally served on top of these cakes?

Answer: Preserved radish

Chwee kueh is made by mixing rice flour and water. The mixture is steamed in bowl-shaped vessels to create its trademark shape. After cooking, it is smeared with a salty and sour preserved radish topping that elevate its flavour profile. Sometimes, there's chili sauce served on the side, usually a chili sambal for an added kick to perk you up in the morning.

This dish is considered a somewhat dying art, as many youngsters are turned away by the high fat content of this dish. Yeah, it is very oily when you see it, but it is certainly delicious. Just drink a hot tea or coffee with it to flush out the fat.

4. The next dish hails from Indonesia, and requires a certain amount of elbow grease to get it done. Called ayam penyet, it is a deep fried chicken served on a bed of rice with other condiments. But before we get to the rest, what needs to be done to the chicken prior to serving?

Answer: It needs to get smashed with a mallet.

The name 'Ayam Penyet' means 'Smashed Chicken', so it needs a few whacks to flatten it but not until it looks like it was blown to bits with C4. The smashing helps tenderize the meat after it is cooked. Depending on the stall, they may also serve it with fried tofu, fried tempeh and a scorching hot chili sambal which kills my mouth every time I have it.

5. We got a snack on our hands, and this is an absolute guilty pleasure for me. These small little rice flour balls are boiled till soft, and when you bite into them, a burst of molten palm sugar tickles the taste buds. What echoing name is this kueh?

Answer: Ondeh ondeh

Ondeh ondeh's name is a mystery, even to my chefs in school, but there's no denying that it is a very popular dessert back in Indonesia where it originated. The dough used for this dish is made with a combination of rice flour and steamed sweet potato and turned into a pliable dough. Once shaped to spheres, stuff it with a chopped mixture of palm sugar, also known as gula melaka, salt and white sugar for contrast.

6. I keep supplying this quiz with guilty pleasures, this one is another one. Har cheong kai is next, and its name means 'Shrimp paste chicken'. It's as simple as it sounds, but am I telling the truth?

Answer: True

Of course its true, and certainly a favourite of mine. This dish is made from chicken pieces, normally the wings are marinated with ginger, minced garlic, soy sauce and the magic ingredient, fermented shrimp paste. It gives the fried chicken a distinctively savoury flavour and depending on the paste used, a distinctive colour can also occur after frying.

The most common colour to pop up on the crispy chicken is red.

7. There are numerous types of rice dumplings that gets served in Singapore, and once again this comes from Indonesia and Malaysia, but is a staple in Muslim cuisine. Ketuput is made from glutinous rice and wrapped in banana leaves in a woven pattern. This is a staple with a grilled meat dish here too, which one is it joined to the hip with?

Answer: Satay

In every stall that sells satay, ketuput will inevitably be served along with it as either a palate cleanser or for sopping up the last bit of the satay peanut sauce. A satay platter also comes with sliced raw onions and cucumbers for added contrast from these heavy elements.

8. Crepes are associated with France, but there's a type of crepe in Singapore too. These are made of wheat flour and are very light and delicate. These crepes are then made into a type of fresh spring roll. What is this soft creation?

Answer: Popiah

Popiah originated from the Fujian province of China, and over the years it spread towards Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. After the crepe has been cooled, it is filled with sweet bean and chili sauce, peanuts, stir fried turnips, bean sprouts, sliced omelette, lettuce and jicama among other things.

After that, it is wrapped up and normally sliced into 5 or 6 pieces. Be careful, whether with hands or chopsticks, eating this can be pretty messy.

9. To mix it up, we now got a dish full of fruit, crispy dough fritters or youtiao, grated peanuts and tossed in a sticky shrimp paste sauce. But, this can also refer to a mixture of deep fried dough fritters, prawn fritters, hard boiled eggs, cuttlefish and boiled potatoes with a spicy peanut dipping sauce. Odd? Both of these share this name, what is this interchangeable name?

Answer: Rojak

The word rojak is Malay for 'mixture', and in all the major cuisines within Singapore there is a type of rojak based on their country of origin. The ones listed in the question are fruit rojak and Indian rojak respectively. Fruit rojak is usually done by Chinese food stalls, whilst the Indian variety hails from the Indian community in Malaysia. Both these dishes are best for sharing with large groups, like families for instance.

10. Now to round it off with of course, dessert! I have something called 'Cendol'. It can be slurped in a drink or served in a bowl with sweet red beans and jackfruit in coconut sauce. But it can irk you with its look. Which of these best describe the appearance of cendol?

Answer: It looks like little worms.

Cendol is made from rice flour kneaded into a form of dough and passed through a mold to create its distinctive worm like look. It is usually coloured bright green either by food colouring or pandan extract. It's a staple in Indonesia that made it to Singapore and has become a dessert standard in hawker centers and coffee shops. I prefer drinking it in a refreshing coconut drink with some melted palm sugar for sweetness.

Source: Author Abby_91

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor WesleyCrusher before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Another Look at the Cuisine of Singapore Quiz

I'm back with more facts about the cuisine of this little red dot in Southeast Asia, where the food is born from a meshing of many cultures. Let's have another check of this melting pot.

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