Sounds like English, Tastes like Something Else

 By Wazir

“Will I be able to get by with just English?” is a question that's been asked more often than you'd expect by prospective visitors to Singapore on online travel forums. The answers to that innocent query usually range from sympathetic and helpful to sarcastic and snarky, with the latter being unfortunately more common. Whether you find yourself navigating immigration at the airport or the streets in unfamiliar neighborhoods, you'll never need to pull up Google Translate in this city unless you aim to endear yourself to the makcik at your favourite Malay food stall for heartier helpings (your mileage may vary). Nevertheless, my two cents on the question that began this article is neither sympathetic nor sarcastic; it's ironic. That’s because the only language an English-speaker will be forced to decipher from time to time in Singapore is none other than English itself.

Tell me, what do the words carrot cake mean to you? Spiced batter? Cream cheese frosting? Perhaps a handful of walnuts? If so, you're exactly the kind of person this post was made for. The Carrot Cake is only one of many local delicacies with names that will undoubtedly befuddle the uninitiated. To spare you the awkwardness of seeking a refund you definitely won’t get at the hawker center, I've put together a list of the most mysterious menu misnomers I've come across in my time as a clueless customer in this country.

#1 Carrot Cake

Both of the foods pictured above share the same name, but only one of them actually has carrots in it. The dish on the right is what you'll see on your table if you were to order a carrot cake at any hawker center here. Carrot Cake, also known as Chai Tow Kway, is an iconic dish that was brought to Singapore in the 1960s by Teochew immigrants. It is a delicacy that is typically made with rice flour, white daikon radish, eggs, garlic, and sweet dark soy sauce (optional).

If you speak Chinese, you might have pieced it together by now: Chai Tow, which refers to the white daikon radish in the recipe, literally translates to “white carrot”, while Kway accounts for the rice flour used and translates to “rice cake”. I suppose the dish could've been named White Carrot Rice Cake to prevent confusion, but I doubt that would've stuck!

#2 Thunder Tea Rice

Often mistaken for a favourite amongst the Norse gods of Asgard, Thunder Tea Rice is actually a 2,000-year-old Hakka invention that has as much to do with thunder as carrot cakes have to do with carrots. Despite the earthbound origins of this ancient dish, history suggests that the health benefits of this Hakka superfood are nothing short of extraordinary — made with a variety of greens, grains, nuts, and a special tea soup, it is believed that this dish was responsible for curing soldiers on an expedition who had been afflicted by a mysterious plague during the Three Kingdoms period in China.

Lei cha, the key component in the tea soup served along with the meal, translates to “pounded tea”. As the Chinese character for “pounded” (擂 - lei)  was commonly misheard as the character for “thunder” (雷 - lei), I suspect an individual with a knack for branding capitalized on the confusion and the legendary Thunder Tea Rice was born!

#3 Roti John

I placed a tick on both of the images above because they both do a pretty good job of explaining what exactly a Roti John is. The origin story of the Roti John varies slightly from source to source, but it is generally agreed upon that it was invented by a Malay hawker in an attempt to fulfill an Englishman’s request for a hamburger, which was not readily available in Singapore back in the 60s.

The resourceful hawker took two halves of a French loaf, filled it up with minced meat, eggs, and onions, and finally fried the sandwich. Upon completing the makeshift burger, the sentence responsible for the naming of this Singapore staple was uttered: “Silakan makan roti, John.” [“Please eat this bread, John.”]

#4 Chicken 65

The first time I spotted Chicken 65 on an Indian restaurant menu, I was as intrigued by its name as I was by its price — I don't remember the exact figure, but I do remember thinking I was getting a sweet deal for sixty-five pieces of chicken. They say if something seems too good to be true, it probably is; I was not entirely surprised when the plate arrived with about fifty pieces missing, but I was a little disappointed in myself for being misled so soon after the carrot cake incident.

Unlike the other names on this list, the origin of this one is truly a mystery. Some say it takes sixty-five red chillies to prepare the spicy dish, while others believe the name commemorates the year it first emerged from a Chennai hotel kitchen: 1965. In my opinion, nothing quite tops the claim that this deep-fried delicacy can only be made with sixty-five-day-old chickens!

#5 Milo Dinosaur

This is a fun one! The Milo Dinosaur was every Singaporean kid’s first taste of something that was undeniably too sweet. Invented in the 1990s, the beverage is made by topping a regular cup of iced Milo with generous heaps of Milo powder — talk about a sugar rush!

Unsurprisingly, opinions on the origins of this hyper-chocolatey drink are divided; there are those who firmly believe that it was first sold on Malaysian streets under the name “Milo Shake* and others who insist the dinosaur was born in Singapore when Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park mania reached our shores. The latter group posits the name was chosen not only to attract the attention of children with a fresh curiosity in reptiles, but to allude to the monstrous amount of Milo floating atop every cup. We could spend time arguing about which group’s narrative is closer to the truth, but I'd rather celebrate the fact that this quirky Southeast Asian beverage has now gone global!

So, can you get by in Singapore with just English? You certainly can — just don't rely on your dictionary from back home!