SingTel Hawker Heroes Challenge VS Gordon Remsay – A Celebration of Hawker Heritage in Singapore

Maureen
Maureen
July 08, 2013

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So, this is one of the most exciting weekend with everyone talking about Gordon Remsay. To be frank, I wasn’t for this campaign initially. I see this as a marketing gimmick – asking a famous Michelin starred chef to help determine if our hawker food has what it takes to match up to the prestigious standards of the world renowned Michelin guide. But having Gorden Remsay come to Singapore to cook hawker food – it’s like a food lover’s dream come through!

Three hawkers were chosen out of a group of 12 popular hawkers to take on Chef Ramsay through an online poll that sparked national interest. More than 2/5 million votes were cast over 8 days, with the three hawkers garnering approximately 320,000 votes each. They are Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, 328 Katong Laksa and Jumbo Seafood Restaurant (what?! hawker?!).

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Photo credit: Hungrygowhere

Credit: InSing Videos

Credit: InSing Videos

Credit: InSing Videos

So Gordan Remsay arrived in Singapore on Friday and started meeting the hawkers to pick up some tips and try their food. He started off with Tian Tian Chicken Rice which flooded the whole hawker centre just to catch a glimpse of him. On Saturday, he visited 328 Katong Laksa in the afternoon and meet the CEO of Jumbo Seafood Restaurant at night.

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The contest was held at Newton Food Centre on Sunday where more than 1,000 members of the public, including the excited Singaporeans who started queuing from 1am in the night before.

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Chicken Rice, Tian Tian
Rice is sticky and a tad mushy, lack of flavour. Chicken however is tender, moist and flavourful. Chilli sauce is power, delicious.

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Chicken Rice, Ramsay
Rice is awesome, grainy and flavourful. I am surprise his rice can beat most of our local chicken rice!! However the chicken is lack of fragrant, perhaps the lack of sesame oil. Chilli sauce has a sourness that is difficult for me to accept, not the usual lime or vinegar.

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Laksa, 328 Katong Laksa
The local Laksa is very addictive, flavours of hei be, coconut milk and chilli was so well balance. The soup is robust and authentic. Noodles were springy.

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Laksa, Ramsay
The soup appear more yellowish, suspect there was turmeric added to it. Stronger taste of spice with very mild of coconut taste. Noodles were springy and soup was richer compare to our local hawker. If you likes India food, you will loves Ramsay version of Laksa.

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Chilli Crab, Jumbo
Semi-thick, sweet, savoury tomato and chilli sauce. Crab was cooked to perfection.

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Chilli Crab, Ramsay
Without doubt, my vote goes to Ramsay. Loves the rich savoury chilli sauce. The tangy taste from tomato was strong, but with little sweetness. But the crab was a little overcooked, as we heard someone taught him to steam the crab before cooking in the sauce!! But still loves the overall.There were small bites of chopped garlic in the sauce.

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RESULTS? Singapore’s hawkers beat celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay, 2 – 1. Chef Ramsay won the Chilli Crab category but lost in the Chicken Rice and Laksa categories.

I don’t really care about the results, seriously. I think everyone is a winner. Chef Ramsay did a good job, even though he only has 2 days to learn to cook our chicken rice, laksa and chilli crab when our hawkers take 20 years to master the skills. If he were to stay here longer (which is everyone’s wish), I am sure he will be able to do it better.

What is more important from this event, is how can we preserve our hawker culture? With fewer picking up the craft from the current generation of hawkers, what will be the future of Singapore’s hawker heritage? We have seen so many hawkers retiring from their profession, and some even sell their recipes for millions of dollars. It is really a pity. Because this is something we grow up eating.

Credit: InSing Videos

As Gordon Remsay puts it,”Now that I’ve experienced the best of Singapore cuisine, I can say without doubt the people of Singapore have much to be proud of – authentic, genuine, simple food that is of amazing quality and full of flavour. If you want the real food in Singapore, get yourself to a hawker stall.”

Thank you Gordon Remsay for creating a history in Singapore’s hawker culture.

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Photos by Celes
Words by Celes & Maureen