SINGAPORE – Accountant Lenette Ho usually pays at least $4 more for her food at the hawker center as she likes to have an extra serving of vegetables with her chicken rice.
Paying a little more for her green vegetables pays off, especially since Ms Ho, 34, visits hawker centers for her meals at least five times a week. This means she pays about $80 more each month to the hawker center for an extra serving of vegetables.
She said: “I usually eat local dishes like black carrot cake, chicken rice, laksa and mee goreng. Since these dishes aren’t traditionally served with vegetables, I pay extra for a healthy serving of greens.
The shortage of vegetables in a typical Singaporean hawker meal was discussed in an Instagram post on October 15 by Ms Pamelia Chia, author of the cookbooks Wet Market To Table and Plantasia, both of which feature fruit-based recipes and vegetables.
In her post, she said: “The utter ridiculousness of the proportions of vegetables in a typical Singaporean hawker meal. I ordered a bowl of shrimp noodles for breakfast and there was only a sprig of kangkong in it.
Speaking to The Straits Times, she said the problem was not just that street vendors offer few vegetable dishes. Singaporeans also seem to hate vegetables.
Ms Chia said: “Due to the popularity of many hawker dishes, locals may be resistant to any form of change. Any deviation from how they remember or think about the dish represents “inauthenticity,” and it can bring up strong, negative emotions.
“A better solution might be to conceptualize new, well-balanced hawker dishes or tap into our roots and revive traditional dishes that are inherently vegetable-based – thunder tea rice, for example. »
The reasons behind the scarcity of green vegetables in hawker dishes are also rooted in history, said hawker Gwyneth Ang, owner of One Prawn Co restaurant in MacPherson Road.
Hawker food has its roots in the early days of Singapore’s history, when people working under the sun needed quick, cheap and quick meals that they could wolf down on their hooves.
Hence the predominance of starchy and fatty foods in Southeast Asian street foods, Ms Ang said. Adding vegetables, she added, can enhance the flavor of a dish, and if customers ask for more vegetables in their meals, she welcomes them.
In response to questions, Loh Hui
She said: “Vegetables are naturally low in energy, fat and sodium. They are a wonderful source of dietary fiber, which may help protect against colorectal cancer because they optimize digestive health, soften stools and prevent constipation.
