Tu Tu Kueh and Hokkien Prawn Noodle

by Siân Ng
(Singapore)

I'm Singaporean but grew up in Kuala Lumpur. Whenever my mother and I visited Singapore to see her parents, I would always demand to eat Hokkien prawn mee. To this day, this is one of my favourite dishes. Partly because I love the slightly smoky flavour from the daun opeh, if you go to a hawker that serves it in this leaf; and partly because it reminds me of childhood visits to Singapore.



Hokkien noodle



Another great food memory I have is from tu tu kueh, introduced to me by my mother on one of our visits to Singapore. It is such a simple, innocent food that eating it makes me feel like I'm a child again. Remember that scene in Ratatouille where the critic Anton Ego eats ratatouille and is immediately transported back to his childhood home? That's what I get when I eat tu tu kueh: I'm transported back to a time when I'm 4 ft tall and ordering coconut tu tu kueh from a bemused stallkeeper.


Kueh Tutu