Makansutra - Celebrating Asian food culture and lifestyle

The very imported, albeit well loved, Christmas here is all about fake snow, presents, plastic fir trees, Christmas carols, fairy lights, midnight shopping along Orchard Road in cold shopping malls with desperate-to-spend merry makers dressed up in post autumn sales designer gear- as if they just came out from the 12 degree Celsius cold at Paterson Road.

Gastronomically, it is matched with chestnut stuffed roast turkey, honeyed ham, eggnog, mince pies and also log cakes; a not quite western tradition. Technically, it is an American creation. Folks from Europe celebrate this season of giving and forgiving with smoked herring, Filipinos have it with roasted pigs and peasant farmers in Manado, Indonesia, tear into grilled field rats. And despite claims by mega fried chicken fast food chains there, chicken karaage is a traditional makan for the Japanese at Christmas long before it became fast. The Venezuelans have Hallaca, a steamed sugi (cornmeal dough) bread stuffed with beef, pork, raisins salted with capers and olives, all wrapped in banana leaf and steamed. Search “Singapore Christmas” on the net and it says the only uniquely local aspect of Christmas is the humidity, weather and the cheerful force of commerce behind it.

So, as I stare out at an eatery (everywhere you turn here, there’s one) at the corner of my window view, in this smallest most food mad country in the world, is there a chance in makan hell or heaven where we can truly create (just like the Americans or other big hearted God fearing nations) a nativity feast we can truly (or as our tourist agencies would uniquely tout it as “Uniquely”) call our own without diluting this spirit of Christmas? I sincerely find turkey and mince pies (which originally began with savoury minced meat fillings and now lazily transmogrified into sweat dried fruits and beans), delicious- only if you have no taste all whatsoever. So, here’s my first salvo on a uniquely Singapore Christmas feast.

Instead of turkey - get a full fat three kilo roasted or stewed duck or goose and sit it on a bed of kaolak ( the coffee bean wok roasted chestnuts that little stalls sell in almost every HDB town retail centre). Remember to crush the chestnuts just before so as to release the fragrance when serving.

Instead of cranberry sauce – tame the goose or duck with a piquant and vinegarish yet spicy Devil’s curry, the version that is so popular with the Eurasian community here, done with sausages, ribs, ham and pickles.

Instead of ham – get a leg of Hokkien five-spice pork terrine and slice it thinly to go with your favourite white wines. They are available in good traditional Hokkien restaurants. A whole rack of roasted cha siew ribs can do the trick here too.

Instead of mince pies: load up the buffet table with egg tarts, whether it’s the original, Portuguese or the new fangled mushroom cheese or chocolate ones. It just tastes closer to home. Insert soon kueh and curry puffs for extra local cultural additives.

Instead of eggnog – take cold milk tea, pull it from cup to cup and create a chilled teh tarek. Finish it by adding a shot of coffee liqueur like Baileys. And if liqueur is not in favour, then crack a raw egg into hot chocolate, something the old port workers of the 70’s here on pre-dawn shifts used to shoot themselves with for a quick energy rush before work.

Instead of log cakes: buy a whole log of sugar roll which can come with light mango cream or even kaya and for added effect, say something auspicious or recite a relevant scripture just before eating and bless it with snow (icing sugar dust).

Instead of the usual Christmas cookies – think Peranakan and Indonesian kuehs and cookies. A bed of red and green ang ku kueh sets the tone. Next, I suggest slices of the rainbow coloured steamed nine layered cake (kueh lapis) which you can cut into festive shapes with your Christmas cookie cutters.