The SingTel Hawker Heroes Challenge was organised by SingTel and was held on 7 July 2013 at the Newton Food Centre. Live streaming of the challenge was broadcast by Singtel on its HungryGoWhere portal, [1] as well as the announcement of results on Mio TV. The challenge involved popular television personality and UK chef, Gordon Ramsay, pitting his skills against a group of chosen food hawkers in Singapore.
On 5 June 2013, Singapore food bloggers and Singtel submitted a challenge to Gordon Ramsay to compete in a cook-off with top hawkers in Singapore. Ramsay accepted the challenge on 24 June. [2]
Voting began on 25 June with 12 food hawkers selected around Singapore. [3]
The top 3 winning hawkers were then chosen on 3 July to compete against Ramsay in the final showdown. [4]
Votes for top 12 food hawkers [5] | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position | Food | Shop | Total Votes | |||||
1 | Chilli Crab | Jumbo Seafood Restaurant | 319,922 | |||||
2 | Chicken Rice | Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice | 318,151 | |||||
3 | Laksa | 328 Katong Laksa | 316,611 | |||||
4 | Carrot Cake | Hai Sheng Carrot Cake | 289,365 | |||||
5 | Char Kway Teow | Hill Street Fried Kway Teow | 199,828 | |||||
6 | Nasi Lemak | Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak | 177,795 | |||||
7 | Prata Murtabak | Sin Ming Roti Prata | 171,240 | |||||
8 | Claypot Chicken Rice | New Lucky Claypot Chicken Rice | 165,515 | |||||
9 | Roast Meat | Kay Lee Roast Meat Joint | 156,389 | |||||
10 | Prawn Noodles | Noo Cheng Adam Road Big Prawn Mee | 135,527 | |||||
11 | Hokkien Mee | Eng Ho Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee | 131,688 | |||||
12 | Bak Kut Teh | Outram Ya Hua Rou Gu Cha Restaurant | 131,150 |
Gordon Ramsay was given with a timeline of two days to master all three dishes. He arrived in Singapore on 5 July 2013 and visited the first stall Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice in the noon. A large group of fans were present at Maxwell Food Centre to catch a glimpse of him while he received some tips on how to cook the chicken rice. [6] Later in the day, he also gained tips on how to cook the chilli crab from Jumbo Seafood Restaurant .
On 6 July 2013, Gordon Ramsay met his other rival of 328 Katong Laksa. Upon tasting the laksa sauce, Gordon revealed that he had to change his original plan as he felt that the sauce was better than he'd expected. [7]
On 7 July 2013, Singaporeans began queuing as early as 1 a.m. to get a chance to sample and vote for their favourite local dishes. [8]
Voting was done in the form of SMS and was opened to the 1,000 guests who had turned up to sample Gordon Ramsey's and the hawker's dishes. Each voter had a chance to vote for their favourite dish in the three different categories. [9]
At 9pm, a total of 3,000 votes were tabulated from the members of public and Singapore hawkers emerged as winners. Gordon Ramsay lost by 6% of the total votes, but managed to edge out the chef of Jumbo Seafood Restaurant in the Chilli crab category as his version was voted as the better one. [10]
Percentage of votes for Singapore vs. Ramsey challenge | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Food dish | Hawker Heroes | Gordon Ramsay | Winner | |||||
Chicken Rice | 53% | 47% | Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice | |||||
Chilli Crab | 47.5% | 52.5% | Gordon Ramsay | |||||
Laksa | 59.5% | 40.5% | 328 Katong Laksa |
Malaysian cuisine consists of cooking traditions and practices found in Malaysia, and reflects the multi-ethnic makeup of its population. The vast majority of Malaysia's population can roughly be divided among three major ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and Indians. The remainder consists of the indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, the Peranakan and Eurasian creole communities, as well as a significant number of foreign workers and expatriates.
Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions that formed in the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 populated islands of the total 17,508 in the world's largest archipelago, with more than 1,300 ethnic groups.
Laksa is a spicy noodle dish popular in Southeast Asia. Laksa consists of various types of noodles, most commonly thick rice noodles, with toppings such as chicken, prawn or fish. Most variations of laksa are prepared with a rich and spicy coconut soup or a broth seasoned with sour asam.
Malay cuisine is the traditional food of the ethnic Malays of Southeast Asia, residing in modern-day Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the Philippines as well as Cocos Islands, Christmas Island, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Singaporean cuisine is derived from several ethnic groups in Singapore and has developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes in the cosmopolitan city-state.
Malaysian Chinese cuisine is derived from the culinary traditions of Chinese Malaysian immigrants and their descendants, who have adapted or modified their culinary traditions under the influence of Malaysian culture as well as immigration patterns of Chinese to Malaysia. Because the vast majority of Chinese Malaysians are descendants of immigrants from southern China, Malaysian Chinese cuisine is predominantly based on an eclectic repertoire of dishes with roots from Fujian, Cantonese, Hakka and Teochew cuisines.
Penang cuisine is the cuisine of the multicultural society of Penang, Malaysia. Most of these cuisine are sold at road-side stalls, known as "hawker food" and colloquially as "muckan carts". Local Penangites typically find these hawker fares cheaper and easier to eat out at due to the ubiquitousness of the hawker stalls and that they are open for much of the day and night. Penang island. On February 22, 2013, Penang was ranked by CNN Travel as one of the top ten street food cities in Asia. Penang has also been voted by Lonely Planet as the top culinary destination in 2014.
Chinese Indonesian cuisine is characterized by the mixture of Chinese with local Indonesian style. Chinese Indonesians, mostly descendant of Han ethnic Hokkien and Hakka speakers, brought their legacy of Chinese cuisine, and modified some of the dishes with the addition of Indonesian ingredients, such as kecap manis, palm sugar, peanut sauce, chili, santan and local spices to form a hybrid Chinese-Indonesian cuisine. Some of the dishes and cakes share the same style as in Malaysia and Singapore, known as Nyonya cuisine by the Peranakan.
Rice vermicelli is a thin form of noodle. It is sometimes referred to as "rice noodles" or "rice sticks", but should not be confused with cellophane noodles, a different Asian type of vermicelli made from mung bean starch or rice starch rather than rice grains themselves.
Chilli crab is a Southeast Asian seafood dish that is widely associated with the cuisines of both Malaysia and Singapore. The widely known version of chili crab today could be traced back to the 1950s in Malaysia and Singapore. Mud crabs are commonly used and are stir-fried in a semi-thick, sweet and savoury tomato-and-chilli-based sauce.
Jumbo Seafood is a Singaporean restaurant chain specialising in the seafood aspects of Singaporean cuisine and dishes, such as Chili crab. First opened in 1987 with an outlet at the East Coast Seafood Centre modeling and taking design elements similar to the non affiliated JUMBO Floating Restaurant Hong Kong, Jumbo Kingdom. It became a hit, it then opened an additional five outlets throughout the country including in the suburban areas of Serangoon Gardens as well as the Singapore Indoor Stadium. As of 2022, it has 5 outlets in Singapore.
Indian Singaporean cuisine refers to food and beverages produced and consumed in Singapore that are derived, wholly or in part, from South Asian culinary traditions. The great variety of Singapore food includes Indian food, which tends to be Tamil cuisine and especially local Tamil Muslim cuisine, although North Indian food has become more visible recently. Indian dishes have become modified to different degrees, after years of contact with other Singapore cultures, and in response to locally available ingredients as well as changing local tastes. The local forms of Indian food may be seen as localised or even regional variations of Indian food, or in some cases, a form of hybrid Indian-Singaporean cuisine. Popular 'Indian' dishes and elements of Indian cuisine include:
Palm Beach Seafood Restaurant is a Singaporean restaurant that first began along Upper East Coast Road in Singapore, with its owners credited with inventing and developing the popular local dish, the Singaporean chili crab.
Hainanese chicken rice is a dish of poached chicken and seasoned rice, served with chilli sauce and usually with cucumber garnishes. It was created by immigrants from Hainan in southern China and adapted from the Hainanese dish Wenchang chicken.
Sarawakian cuisine is a regional cuisine of Malaysia. Like the rest of Malaysian cuisine, Sarawak food is based on staples such as rice. There is also a great variety of other ingredients and food preparations due to the influence of the state's varied geography and indigenous cultures quite distinct from the regional cuisines of the Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is famous for its multi-ethnic population. As the homeland of many unique communities, Sarawak has a variety of cuisines rarely found elsewhere in Malaysia. The uniqueness of Sarawak well depends on its ethnic groups. Every native group in Sarawak has their own lifestyle, traditions, cultures and also foods. Sarawak cuisine is less spicy and has a subtle in taste. It uses fresh seafood and natural herbs like turmeric, lemongrass, ginger, lime and tapioca leaves. These ingredients are not only easily available, but also add a hint of aroma, texture and freshness to the delicacies. Food is one of the most cultural identities for native groups in Sarawak with each ethnic group having their own delicacies. Among the Iban, popular foods include tubu (stems), tuak and pansuh. The Malay have bubur pedas (porridge) and kek lapis Sarawak ; the Bidayuh have asam siok and sup ponas Bidayuh. The Melanau make tebaloi, sagu and umai and the Orang Ulu are known for garam barrio, kikid (broth), tengayen, and urum giruq (pudding).
Indonesian noodles are a significant aspect of Indonesian cuisine which is itself very diverse. Indonesian cuisine recognizes many types of noodles, with each region of the country often developing its own distinct recipes.