> PPS May I be so bold as to suggest the following: try not to be a pill
> about FF'ing it in "foreign" countries (I'm speaking from a US
> standpoint). In the US, culture says we are allowed to order
> exactly what we want and get exactly what we want, and they should
> be pretty sensitized by now to FF living.
I had a great time eating in the US, coz people are allowed to order
exactly what they want and REJECT it if it wasn't what was asked for. I
could have a slice of pizza with no cheese on it! You sure can't do that in
Singapore without getting cursed at for getting the cooks to go to the
trouble!
This is unless you go to reputable expensive restaurants where they will
cater to your every whim. But to get good authentic local food, you would
most likely get the "we cook in bulk, no special order" response. It's
very often that I ask for soup noodles with NO fried shallots, and the dish
still comes with a generous amount of shallots (soaked in oil) on it. Don't
even think of rejecting the dish. The stall owner is likely to say rudely
in a VERY loud tone that you are so picky and embarass you in the eatery.
Loads of waiters here also do not understand the meaning of "dressing on
the side", or "dry" potato (it always comes with that slab of butter), or
"fatfree" (they assume it means low fat - which is "not SUPER oily, but OK
oily").
I try to be a sport when I'm eating with my friends. If the food is too
oily I'll eat less of it. If it's low in fat, I'll have an extra serving.
Sometimes that may mean I have to pretend I'm not hungry & wait till I get
home to get something decent to eat. Just to give you an idea of how bad it
can get, a meal with my long term girl friends on Sun, which is also a
typical "GOOD" meal, involved the following:
Fried Hokkien Noodles (thick oil-laden yellow egg noodles and vermicelli,
fried in pork lard, with prawns, pork slices and scrambled egg, and cooked
till soft in meat broth, eaten with loads of oily sambal chilli)
Fried Oyster Omelette
Malay Murtabak (Thin fluffy roti prata dough fried w/ with onions & chicken
in it)
Mee Goreng (malay fried noodles with mutton, egg, peas and onions)
Marinated BBQ chicken wings w/ lime juice & chilli
Fried Radish Cake Omelette
I just drank my diet Coke.
Singapore is still the famous food paradise of the East. The food IS
spectacular, despite the unhealthiness of it. If you are travelling to
S'pore and need tips & advice on HOW & WHERE To eat lf/ff, just email me.
OK, back to healthy eating & cooking.
Karen
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Look your best -- who said love is blind?
-- by Mae West
Karen Lim singapore
koombana_TheGreat@xxxxxxxxxxx
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