I'm Hui Lin — I'll Take You Through Singapore's Hawker Centres the Way a Local Does It

My name is Hui Lin and I grew up in Tiong Bahru. Singapore's hawker culture is on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list and two hawker stalls have Michelin stars. The food is extraordinary and the system is specific: you do not eat at one hawker centre, you eat at three, at different times of day, for different dishes, and you know which stall at each centre does which dish. I take groups through Tiong Bahru, Lau Pa Sat, and the Katong area across a morning and early afternoon: bak kut teh at a hawker centre that opens at 6am (you can do this if you want), char kway teow at the wok master who has been cooking over the same flame for 40 years, laksa at the Katong stall that uses fresh cockles, and chicken rice from the stall that has the queue. I explain the hawker system, the cultural history behind the food, and why Singapore's street food is a serious cuisine.