Where to go for the best Chinese rojak in town
An Asian take on salad, rojak is a sweet concoction of sliced cucumber, chopped fruit, roasted peanuts, fried dough fritters and beancurd – giving the dish that extra crunch. Some stalls may also choose to add beansprouts and cuttlefish into the mix. Here are five legendary hawker stalls, which bag the top spots in our hearts!
Not your average salad
Hoping to lose weight with this salad? Don’t even think about it. Rojak may lose points on nutrition and presentation, when compared to its western salad counterparts, but definitely wins on taste with its tantalising mix of ingredients and very addictive sweet sauce – made from a mix of shrimp paste, tamarind juice, sugar, and water.
Battle of the rojaks
Arguably Singapore’s best rojak, Lau Hong Ser Rojak (271 Onan Road, Dunman Food Centre, #02-14) draws an impressive crowd, all year round. If you’re willing to queue, sometimes over an hour, you’ll be treated to an amazing plate of rojak topped with freshly char-grilled beancurd, dough fritters, and cuttlefish, and a generous sprinkling of home-roasted peanuts.
If you can stomach century eggs, which we admit is an acquired taste, you’ll like Hoover Rojak’s (Block 90 Whampoa Drive, Whampoa Food Centre, #01-06) version of the dish. The sauce is a stand-out as well, using shrimp paste procured from Penang and the owner’s secret mix of ingredients.
As one of the most popular hawker centres in Singapore, it’s no surprise that you can find one of the best rojaks on the island here. Toa Payoh Rojak (51 Old Airport Road, Old Airport Road Food Centre, #01-108) is an old establishment, but has cleverly caught up with the times by installing a numbering system where customers can take a queue number and return later to collect their food.
Don’t mix up Toa Payoh Rojak with Soon Heng Rojak (480 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh, Gourmet Paradise, #B1-23) – who are technically the ones truly located in Toa Payoh. Housed in Toa Payoh HDB Hub, this humble heartland stall is renowned for being extremely good value for money (prices start at $2.50) and generous with their sweet dark sauce and peanuts.
A strong contender from the West lies in Brothers Rojak (Blk 449, Clementi Avenue 3, #01-211). Besides the fact that their rojak is delish, we like them for the flexibility to customise orders and that prices for each ingredient are clearly indicated on the store-front.
Want to toss up your own rojak? Check out our rojak recipe here – happy cooking!
All images were contributed by the talented Nicola McMahon of Bright Star Photography.
Read more about Singapore’s local cuisine at www.YourSingapore.com.