Hot in the City

Last night I decided it was time to cook something, well, when I say cook I mean prepare a salad. I was on for something really plain and bland to counter the exotic tastes that we've experienced so far but I got to the supermarket (FairPrice) and crumbled straight away. After picking up some boring chicken breast, an iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes and a cucumber I felt like a right saddo ex-pat! Plus, by that point I'd seen what else was on offer next to the boring white breads and jams; rows and rows of jars of Chinese and Thai sauces that were just crying out to be used. I must admit that it was no different than a trip to London's Chinatown in array but the difference was that I became overcome by the sense that whatever I eat here will have to be SPICY and full of flavour. I kept the chicken and salad in the basket but filled the gaping hole next to it with sweet chilli, soy sauce, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, limes, coriander, basil and my pièce de résistance, Tom Yum Soup paste.

I could barely contain myself from running back to the apartment with the spicy goodies, but as this is Singapore one has to amble and shuffle due to the very real chance of turning into a sweaty red blob if hurrying at all. One also has to careful of fizzing up one's Singha beer cans.

Well, what a taste sensation! The Tom Yum paste here is much better than the stuff you get in Chinatown in London. Normally I have to add plenty of other ingredients to bring it to life but not this time. 4 or 5 teaspoons of the firey mix added to 2 to 3 cups of water was enough, the only additions being sliced chicken, mushroom, cucumber, tomato and coriander. It was super-hot but not in the Friday night Vindaloo sense. It was Invigorating and mesmerising like the time I first tried it with a Russian con-artist in Tel Aviv Israel (don't ask...).

The salad was a no-brainer; lime, sweet chilli, fish sauce as a dressing to the salad but with the addition of basil and coriander and a few snow-peas (mange tout to you). The chicken was briefly fried with a bit of soy and chilli sauce just for extra flavour (if it needed any!).

What could have been a Caesar-inspired disaster was avoided by Singapore's spicy spell. This is Singapore. It's got to be HOT!