Beer Food
By Lorraine Koh - Friday, Oct 14, 2011
After the boisterous and beer guzzling happenings of Oktoberfest are over and done with, one can’t help but feel a little empty inside. But then who ever said beer appreciation had to be limited to the German festival? Over at Makansutra, we would like to take a moment to ponder about this wonderful union of beer and food, and what makes a lip smacking combo.
Imagine having an oily, deep-fried meal. Usually, you’ll think, “Ah, it would be great to wash it down with some ice cold beer.” It’s like yin and yang, cooling and heaty, a hearty meal with a hearty beer. The usual suspects when it comes to beer food include pork knuckles, spicy sausages and grilled meatloaf – all with added juice, of course.
“Any food can be paired with beer. Light flavoured and lightly colour beer goes better with lighter food. Stronger and darker coloured beer is better with heavy, stronger flavoured food,” says Chef Nabil Taufiq Tan, group head of Aerin’s Cafe & Espresso Bar and Oriole Cafe & Bar.
Beer foods are definitely not limited to German dishes. Let us suggest a few localised dishes that goes along superbly with beer, all within the confines of Tiong Bahru.
Troop down to Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre and purchase a healthy dose of roast duck meat and suckling pig. Oily we know, but it’s perfection when paired with beer. “In theory, beer complements any salty and spicy nibbles. Finger food goes particularly well with a good brew,” Tan adds. The interesting and better beer snack we found at the Tiong Bahru market is the fried fishball platter. Pile your plate with some fried fish balls and fish cakes and don’t forget your chilled mug of beer!
The final stop of our beer food journey requires you to take a short walk to Por Kee Eating House and order a plate of Shrimp Paste Chicken (Har Cheong Kai) . Fried crisply outside, with rich juices inside, it’s the ideal end to your food chomping and beer guzzling marathon.
Lots of other local dishes go well with beer, like ngoh hiang, BBQ chicken wings, satay, roasted crispy pork and oyster omelette. Now remember, beer and food are meant to be shared. The X factor that makes a beer and food meal shiok is good company. So round up a few makan khakis and say “Bottoms Up!”
Tiong Bahru Roasted Pig Specialist Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre #02-38 30 Seng Poh Road, Singapoe Tel: +65 1800 368 6868 Opens Monday to Sun & PH: 7am – 9pm
Tiong Bahru Fishball Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre 30 Seng Poh Road Stall #02-20 Tel: 96362500 Opens 7am to 10pm daily
Por Kee Eating House 69 Seng Poh Lane, #01-02 Singapore Tel: +65 6221 0582 Opens daily 11.30am – 2.30pm, 5.30pm – 12.30am
