Idli with chutneys and vegetable soup, coffee on the side,
Murugan Idli Shop,
Syed Alwi Road, Little India
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Murugan Idli Shop
Last week I visited Murugan Idli shop in Little inda. Murugan serves only South Indian breads with chutney. The good news is, there is no wheat, rye, barley or oat flour in any of the breads, which means there should theoretically be a 0% contamination risk! I am quite confident of this as the friend I went with speaks Hindi so was able to check for dangerous ingredients for which the staff may not have known the English name. The Hindi word for wheat flour is gehun ka ata (or just ata). The Idli itself is a steamed rice dumpling and is quite delicious. My favorite at Murugan is the Masal Dosai, an impressive looking crunchy tube of rice and lentil flour that I was too ravenous to photograph, traditionally served with curried potatoes inside. Murugan impressed us by mixing in a generous amount of pumpkin (higher flavor, lower GI) with the potato. Yum! I would normally be a bit wary of Dosai in case the fat it is fried in has been used with something containing wheat flour. But this is not a concern at Murugan as they use ata in none of their breads. So if it has been a few years (or many) since your last deep fried food fix, why not head down to Little India and visit Murugan on the bustling Syed Alwi road? It is most popular for brunch but is great for any time of the day.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Cultural Guide to Eating Gluten Free in Singapore
My mission when starting this blog was to explore the cultural aspects of negotiating a gluten free meal in Singapore as well as sharing my findings on specific gluten free food I have found.
Here is an update on what I have discovered so far on the cultural side of things, this is likely to change over time:
Singapore is often called a "cultural melting pot". I know it is a metaphor, but for me it manifests quite literally - all kinds of foods get mixed that you wouldn't expect. Unlike when you are travelling in it's close neighbors Vietnam and Thailand, when visiting Singapore (and Malaysia), do not assume that anything which looks gluten free probably is.
The strong food culture, the low food prices and the career-focus (late nights at work) of most Singaporeans add another challenge. Most people eat out, order in, or have someone cook for them most days of the week, if not always. The concept of asking somebody; "What is in Me-Goreng?" is challenging enough (most people won't get past "noodles, sauce, vegetables and meat"), so try explaining to someone that the reason you are not going to eat it is because the sauce probably has a thickener that is derived from wheat. People just don't seem to ask what goes into their food with that level of granularity here. Expect to get some strange looks.
The good news is, almost everyone speaks English in Singapore and in general Singaporeans want to be helpful. If you approach the question as a plea for help, (as opposed to just expecting alterations can be made, which is built into the Western expectation of what it means to be the customer), and exercise patience, you will get there in the end. A local friend suggested I start every conversation with a new waiter with "Excuse me, I have a small problem that I was wondering could you please help me with". Just be careful of polite agreement that may not necessarily indicate understanding. You may want to learn the phrase "tripple confim".
Here are some common 'gluten traps' to watch out for, and some tips for where to start looking for your next gluten free meal.
1. Beware of any food that is from a 'pure veg' restaurant - be it Indian, Chinese, Malaysian or fusion cuisine. Chinese vegetarian cooking uses pure wheat gluten, called 'seitan' as a meat replacement. I had no idea about this and learned the hard way in Little India very early in my stay here. The tofu known as 'Tau Pork' is coated in seitan, this is the spongy tofu with skin. Many curries and laksas at hawker centers already have 'Tau Pork' mixed in with the sauce before they put in the noodles and meat, so be sure to check if this is the case before you order. If so, it's a 'no go'. Penang laksa/Malaysian style laksa and Thai laksa usually do not have Tau Pork. Laksa noodles are a form of rice noodles. If you want to be safe, confirm they are not using Mee (pronounced 'Meeh') as a replacement.
2. Chicken rice is a safe zone. Stick to the steamed chicken rather than roasted, and be sure to watch someone else's dish be prepared first so you can ask them not to put sauce on if necessary. See my post on Chicken Rice for more details.
3. Do not assume that stall owners in Hawker Centers, Food Courts and low end ($10-$15 a head) restaurants have even a basic understanding of gluten or even food allergies. In fact, if you try to explain that you will have a stomach upset, a lot of stall owners will think you are being fussy or insulting them about their hygiene standards. It usually goes a lot smoother if you know in advance what the common traps are for a particular dish by understanding the standard ingredients and asking straight forward questions around those. E.g. Does the curry have any flour, any powder, any thickener, any stock? Is there soya sauce, oyster sauce, does anything else come on the plate except what is in the ingredients? I recommend getting Mrs Lee's cookbook - as well as being useful for understanding the dishes you will come across it is also a cultural icon.
Most Chefs in higher end restaurants ($35+ a head) have been trained in chef schools to an international standard and therefore know about food allergies, you can usually approach them in the same way you would in Australia, USA or Canada - "Excuse me, please could you ask the chef if there is anything they can make gluten free? Here is a card explaining how severe my allergy to gluten is, and exactly what I can and can't eat", or something along those lines.
4. Especially when eating at Hawker Centers and Food Courts, it can be awkward to handle when your order does go wrong and you can tell you missed a step - "Oops, why didn't I ask them not to put biscuits all over my rice after we dissected the ingredients of the curry next to the rice in so much detail? How silly of me!". I have tried asking for them to make it again without. I have tried simply trying to hand the dish back and still pay. Nearly every approach just creates confusion - either their's; "Who is this crazy Ang Mo who just left an entire meal untouched on the table and then ordered another one?" or mine; "Did they really have time to make the dish again, or did they just take the biscuits away and then wait a few mins - is that a crumb I see or am I imagining things?".
My solution is - it is always best to eat with a group when trying a new place for the first time.
Firstly, your friends will look after you and make sure you don't take unnecessary risk just because you feel guilty about wasting food.
"Well.. maybe it's okay anyway, maybe it's that dark brown colour because of balsamic vinegar and not soy sauce..?"
"No!"
If you are only with one other person it's pretty much one strike and you're out - now they have two dishes to eat and you know the next thing has to come out gluten free or everyone will just end up feeling awkward (and in my case, guilty for wasting food).
Secondly, the the more hungry people to absorb ordering mis-steps until you learn how to navigate the menu the better! My colleagues have started to enjoy the extra free food and I have a suspicion they are a bit eager to take me to new places for a reason.
Then next time you go back you know how to order 'just so' for that particular restaurant and dish.
5. Finally, and this applies anywhere in the world - unless you are in your own home town where you are a regular at the local cafe and they know both you and your autoimmune dysfunction by name - never go out to eat when you are really THAT hungry. Or if you do, always have a back up plan - fruit, musli bar, rice crackers, whatever, on hand. At least enough to get you to the point where you are capable of walking away if all the above fails.
Once you do manage to order a gluten free meal in Singapore, you will be delighted to find the food is generally fresh and delicious, so it is well worth a try at eating out. If you are worried about being stranded, research the nearest 'Cold Storage' supermarket to your hotel and you will be able to find a good range of gluten free products as back-up so you are not tempted to take risks to avoid starvation.
Here is an update on what I have discovered so far on the cultural side of things, this is likely to change over time:
Singapore is often called a "cultural melting pot". I know it is a metaphor, but for me it manifests quite literally - all kinds of foods get mixed that you wouldn't expect. Unlike when you are travelling in it's close neighbors Vietnam and Thailand, when visiting Singapore (and Malaysia), do not assume that anything which looks gluten free probably is.
The strong food culture, the low food prices and the career-focus (late nights at work) of most Singaporeans add another challenge. Most people eat out, order in, or have someone cook for them most days of the week, if not always. The concept of asking somebody; "What is in Me-Goreng?" is challenging enough (most people won't get past "noodles, sauce, vegetables and meat"), so try explaining to someone that the reason you are not going to eat it is because the sauce probably has a thickener that is derived from wheat. People just don't seem to ask what goes into their food with that level of granularity here. Expect to get some strange looks.
The good news is, almost everyone speaks English in Singapore and in general Singaporeans want to be helpful. If you approach the question as a plea for help, (as opposed to just expecting alterations can be made, which is built into the Western expectation of what it means to be the customer), and exercise patience, you will get there in the end. A local friend suggested I start every conversation with a new waiter with "Excuse me, I have a small problem that I was wondering could you please help me with". Just be careful of polite agreement that may not necessarily indicate understanding. You may want to learn the phrase "tripple confim".
Here are some common 'gluten traps' to watch out for, and some tips for where to start looking for your next gluten free meal.
1. Beware of any food that is from a 'pure veg' restaurant - be it Indian, Chinese, Malaysian or fusion cuisine. Chinese vegetarian cooking uses pure wheat gluten, called 'seitan' as a meat replacement. I had no idea about this and learned the hard way in Little India very early in my stay here. The tofu known as 'Tau Pork' is coated in seitan, this is the spongy tofu with skin. Many curries and laksas at hawker centers already have 'Tau Pork' mixed in with the sauce before they put in the noodles and meat, so be sure to check if this is the case before you order. If so, it's a 'no go'. Penang laksa/Malaysian style laksa and Thai laksa usually do not have Tau Pork. Laksa noodles are a form of rice noodles. If you want to be safe, confirm they are not using Mee (pronounced 'Meeh') as a replacement.
2. Chicken rice is a safe zone. Stick to the steamed chicken rather than roasted, and be sure to watch someone else's dish be prepared first so you can ask them not to put sauce on if necessary. See my post on Chicken Rice for more details.
3. Do not assume that stall owners in Hawker Centers, Food Courts and low end ($10-$15 a head) restaurants have even a basic understanding of gluten or even food allergies. In fact, if you try to explain that you will have a stomach upset, a lot of stall owners will think you are being fussy or insulting them about their hygiene standards. It usually goes a lot smoother if you know in advance what the common traps are for a particular dish by understanding the standard ingredients and asking straight forward questions around those. E.g. Does the curry have any flour, any powder, any thickener, any stock? Is there soya sauce, oyster sauce, does anything else come on the plate except what is in the ingredients? I recommend getting Mrs Lee's cookbook - as well as being useful for understanding the dishes you will come across it is also a cultural icon.
Most Chefs in higher end restaurants ($35+ a head) have been trained in chef schools to an international standard and therefore know about food allergies, you can usually approach them in the same way you would in Australia, USA or Canada - "Excuse me, please could you ask the chef if there is anything they can make gluten free? Here is a card explaining how severe my allergy to gluten is, and exactly what I can and can't eat", or something along those lines.
4. Especially when eating at Hawker Centers and Food Courts, it can be awkward to handle when your order does go wrong and you can tell you missed a step - "Oops, why didn't I ask them not to put biscuits all over my rice after we dissected the ingredients of the curry next to the rice in so much detail? How silly of me!". I have tried asking for them to make it again without. I have tried simply trying to hand the dish back and still pay. Nearly every approach just creates confusion - either their's; "Who is this crazy Ang Mo who just left an entire meal untouched on the table and then ordered another one?" or mine; "Did they really have time to make the dish again, or did they just take the biscuits away and then wait a few mins - is that a crumb I see or am I imagining things?".
My solution is - it is always best to eat with a group when trying a new place for the first time.
Firstly, your friends will look after you and make sure you don't take unnecessary risk just because you feel guilty about wasting food.
"Well.. maybe it's okay anyway, maybe it's that dark brown colour because of balsamic vinegar and not soy sauce..?"
"No!"
If you are only with one other person it's pretty much one strike and you're out - now they have two dishes to eat and you know the next thing has to come out gluten free or everyone will just end up feeling awkward (and in my case, guilty for wasting food).
Secondly, the the more hungry people to absorb ordering mis-steps until you learn how to navigate the menu the better! My colleagues have started to enjoy the extra free food and I have a suspicion they are a bit eager to take me to new places for a reason.
Then next time you go back you know how to order 'just so' for that particular restaurant and dish.
5. Finally, and this applies anywhere in the world - unless you are in your own home town where you are a regular at the local cafe and they know both you and your autoimmune dysfunction by name - never go out to eat when you are really THAT hungry. Or if you do, always have a back up plan - fruit, musli bar, rice crackers, whatever, on hand. At least enough to get you to the point where you are capable of walking away if all the above fails.
Once you do manage to order a gluten free meal in Singapore, you will be delighted to find the food is generally fresh and delicious, so it is well worth a try at eating out. If you are worried about being stranded, research the nearest 'Cold Storage' supermarket to your hotel and you will be able to find a good range of gluten free products as back-up so you are not tempted to take risks to avoid starvation.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Jones the Grocer
Living in Sydney, if a friend asked for a catch up, the question was never 'What do you want to do?', but 'Where do you want to have brunch?' In my student days, hanging out in gluten free havens of Glebe and Newtown, I would be able to visit a different cafe every weekend day for a year (and if it wasn't for the Molly Coddle Cafe in Stanmore I probably would have), and still not run out of new gluten free possibilities. Therefore, it wasn't surprising that when a fellow Sydney girl took me to a real 'Sydney style' brunch place in Singapore, I nearly died of delight.
Take the rustic charm and scrumptious menu of an out of the way cafe in Glebe, add a real cheese fridge, a deli, a wall of the finest wine and a huge range of beutiful olive oils, spices, specialty biscuits, nogaut, cakes and other goodies, and you will be starting to understand Jones the Grocer. I wasn't surprised to find out upon later research that Jones the Grocer started in Sydney. From there it has expanded to Melbourne, Singapore and Dubai. The key differnce between the dives of Glebe and Newtown and Jones the Grocer is the price, but for those who are far from home, the luxury is worth it once in a while. Jones the Grocer in the Mandarin Gallery on Orchard is likely to be busier on a weekend than its out of the way but out of the bussle sister store at Dempsey Hill, however, if you are there with just two or three people it is still likely to be les than a five minute wait. No gluten free options are listed explicitly on the menu, but like a team of health gurus in a city where no one seems to know or care what goes into their food, the staff at Jones the Grocer were attentive to my description of what it would mean to make a gluten free meal, and we managed to throw together a version of the Country Breakfast that was safe.
Take the rustic charm and scrumptious menu of an out of the way cafe in Glebe, add a real cheese fridge, a deli, a wall of the finest wine and a huge range of beutiful olive oils, spices, specialty biscuits, nogaut, cakes and other goodies, and you will be starting to understand Jones the Grocer. I wasn't surprised to find out upon later research that Jones the Grocer started in Sydney. From there it has expanded to Melbourne, Singapore and Dubai. The key differnce between the dives of Glebe and Newtown and Jones the Grocer is the price, but for those who are far from home, the luxury is worth it once in a while. Jones the Grocer in the Mandarin Gallery on Orchard is likely to be busier on a weekend than its out of the way but out of the bussle sister store at Dempsey Hill, however, if you are there with just two or three people it is still likely to be les than a five minute wait. No gluten free options are listed explicitly on the menu, but like a team of health gurus in a city where no one seems to know or care what goes into their food, the staff at Jones the Grocer were attentive to my description of what it would mean to make a gluten free meal, and we managed to throw together a version of the Country Breakfast that was safe.
Country Breakfast at Jones the Grocer
Mandarin Gallery, Orchard Road, Singapore
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Chicken Rice
It is high time I addressed the blessing of Hainanese Chicken Rice. This is now my 'go to' meal for hawker dining. You can just about bet your gluten free cookies on finding at least one Chicken Rice shop in every Hawker Center or food court you visit. Chicken Rice shops offer a choice of steamed or roasted chicken, sliced atop a generous helping of rice that has been cooked in chicken stock. It is important to note that the stock is usually made on premise, as well trained Coeliacs are used to avoiding stock at all costs since packaged stock liquids and powders usually contain gluten. As a friend of mine put it - 'why would they go and buy the powder when they have all the chicken they need to make natural stock right there'? Good point, and it is a safe bet for the local HDB food courts and hawker centers. You should be paying between $1.20 and $4.00 for a plate of Chicken Rice. If you find yourself paying more, that's when you should start asking questions about the stock they use, as at that price they may be affording the store bought variety. I tend to stick to the steamed chicken as sometimes trying to ask about any sauces on the roast chicken can confuse the situation. Be sure, though, that you first watch them prepare a dish for someone else. If they add a sauce on top, (which not all do), be sure to ask them for 'no sauce'. You can usually get a plate of steamed bok choy on the side but in this case be sure to tell them 'no sauce' as this usually comes heavily loaded with oyster sauce.You may have to pay close attention when they are preparing yours and stop them from adding the sauce as these guys make plate after plate after plate of the same dish every day and the habit can be heavily ingrained. It is worth pointing out that eating at Hawker stalls is generally safe in Singapore from a hygiene point of view. If you are worried after a bad experience somewhere else in South-East Asia, check for a sign about A3 size that shows the cleaning and food hygiene rating that stall has been given - A, B, or C, with A being excellent, B being good and C being 'needs improvement'. Any lower than that and they get shut down.
Chicken Rice at Eunos
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Muthu's Curry
The nice thing about restaurant chains is that once you find out they can prepare a gluten free meal in one location, their menu and rules of operation will generally be the same accross all sites. Muthu's Curry prepare delicious currys with fresh ingredients that include no thickeners or flour. On my first visit I went through the process of assessing the contamination risk, and Muthus passed. The cuisine has more of a Northern Indian focus - with lots of creamy, saucy curry and less of the Southern Indian breads common in Little India, which can be a gluten contamination nightmare. Another gluten trap in Little India that Muthu's avoid is the Chinese 'vegetarian meat', which is almost pure gluten - this tends to pop up mostly in the 'pure veg' restaurants has a casual restaurant atmosphere, a few steps up from the food court and is great for groups. Expect to pay about $20 a head.
Navratan Korma, Muthu's Curry
Fountain of Wealth, Suntec City
Monday, February 7, 2011
USA
The first thing I do when I land in any city in the US is head to the nearest Whole Foods Market. Anyone looking to stock up on snacks or ingredients that don't contain the customary American dose of high fructose corn syrup should check it out, as everything in Whole Foods is fresh, with no added sugar or preservatives. Whole foods have a gluten free section in all of thier stores, most including goods from their gluten free bake house (link above). If you are attending a conference or other event where you may not find out the 'gluten free' options have been made in a contamination zone until it is too late, Whole Foods is perfect for back ups. Some of the stores also include a cafe which, though self service buffet style, post lists of ingredients for each dish. You need to judge carefully how close the gluten containing foods are to those that you want to eat and what the risk of contamination is. In the Whole Foods in Las Vegas Town Square, I found that all of the foods in the tacos section were GF with nothing dangerous near by, so I gave it a shot. On the same trip I I brought an extra suitcase to stock up on a range of different gluten free pastas, crackers and beers to bring back to Singapore.
Tacos from Whole Foods Market Las Vegas Town Square
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