Eda Wong
Steam rises from the pot, and a woman lifts a banana leaf over the open flame, turning it once, twice, until its stiff green softens and the surface goes glossy and pliant. She wipes it down with a damp cloth, then spoons hot rice into its center while the grains still steam. The leaf releases…
I ordered from Tambuah Mas on a rainy Sunday at around 6:15pm, mostly because I wasn’t in the mood to dress up and head into town, but I still wanted a proper meal. Not a sad one-bowl lunch. A real spread. That’s the thing about Tambuah Mas. It’s been around since 1981, serving Indonesian home-style…
By Eda Wong for Eat Drink Asia. The wok station is already hot when the cook lowers the flame. In the narrow back of a Singapore zi char kitchen, the air smells of butter, curry leaves, and the faint mineral edge of salted duck egg. A metal spatula presses cooked yolks through oil until they…
I ordered Eat 3 Bowls @ Bendemeer on a Thursday at about 11:45am, which is my favourite test window for delivery food. It’s close enough to lunch for the kitchen to be in rhythm, but not so late that every rider in the neighbourhood is already fighting the office crowd. By 12:25pm, the bag was…
The narrow alleyway in Yau Ma Tei smells of charcoal and dark soy sauce, a thick coastal humidity pressing against the glow of the stoves. An elderly cook stands before a row of blackened sand-clay pots, a long metal tong in his right hand. He does not watch the flames; he listens to them. There…
There is something deeply comforting about a hawker centre right before the lunch rush hits. I visited Tiong Bahru Market on a Tuesday around 10:30 am, hoping to beat the infamous queue at Hong Heng Fried Sotong Prawn Mee. Even at that early hour, a line of six people had already formed, waiting quietly under…
The monsoon rain drums a steady, heavy rhythm against the fogged windows of a narrow tavern in Jongno, muffling the chaotic pulse of the city outside. Inside, the air hangs warm, thick with the scent of toasted mung beans and a subtle, yeasty tang. A dented brass kettle tips forward, and a chalk-white, opaque liquid…
I remember my first attempt at cooking gong bao ji ding a few years ago. I wanted to recreate that authentic, trend-setting dish I had experienced at a traditional Sichuan restaurant, a meal that felt like a genuine celebration of flavours. I heated my wok until it was smoking, tossed in a handful of dried…
The damp morning mist still clings to the teakwood houses of Luang Prabang as an elderly cook tends to a glowing charcoal brazier. Sparks jump lightly into the cool air, illuminating the blackened belly of an aluminium pot. Inside, a thick, dark liquid bubbles rhythmically, releasing an incredibly aromatic cloud of charred lemongrass, sweet Thai…
Few Japanese dishes have travelled as successfully across Asia as sushi. What began as a culinary tradition deeply rooted in Japan has evolved into something remarkably diverse in Singapore. Today, sushi in Singapore can mean many different things. It can be a quick lunch grabbed from a conveyor belt restaurant, a carefully curated omakase meal…