Singapore: Rojak

Uh, what does rojak mean?

There are two uses.

1) Singapore is a rojak society. (adj)

2) Uncle, I want a plate of rojak! (noun)

In both instances, rojak actually means some kind of mix. There are two kinds of rojak sold in Singapore. One is the Indian rojak, the other is the fruit rojak. The Indian rojak consists of potatoes, eggs, beancurd and prawns.

I normally eat the fruit rojak, which normally consists of cucumber, pineapple, bean sprouts, deep fried beancurd, and deep fried fritters. The sauce that is poured over the mixture of the abovementioned is a dark sauce, which is both sweet and sour. It is made of water, belacan, sugar, chili and lime juice. Ground peanut is then sprinkled in abundance.

For strange people like me who just like the sauce and the fritter, you could request for just the youtiao (the deep fried fritter). They won't give you the strange look because many people do the same. (so it seems that I'm not that strange afterall)

If you are looking for something slightly different, I recommend Apa Rojak at Lau Pat Sat. They add fruits into the rojak. I love it, if not for the fact that it's slightly more pricey than average hawker centres. I normally choose just apple and guava, although they have a wider choice. The youtiao is also grilled, and it comes together as yummy goodness!

Rating: 4/5

Apa Rojak

Lau Pa Sat Festival Market #114
18 Raffles Quay (S)48582

But back to traditional rojak, there seems to be some kind of consensus that Toa Payoh Rojak (not in Toa Payoh) is the best rojak around. I haven't tried it myself, but if everybody says it's good, it must be good! But you need to obtain a queue number, that's how popular it is!

Toa Payoh Rojak

Old Airport Road Food Centre
#01-108