Singapore Food Documentaries: Exploring the country and culture through food

I find Singapore food documentaries a good resource to understand Singapore through food. Here is a list of some of the documentaries I found useful. It is a working list. I’ll add when I come across good documentaries.

The Library Report

Why is Singapore’s Street Food Not Sold on the Streets?

Singapore has a vibrant street food culture. They are just not sold on the streets. This episode of the Library Report offers a quick scan of the development of this unique hawker centre culture through archival materials.

Belly of a Nation

Belly of a Nation is a documentary series produced by Channel NewsAsia (CNA), a local news broadcaster. It discusses the Singapore hawker culture.

The first hawker centre in Singapore was built in 1973 to offer a better organized and hygienic place for food hawkers to continue to serve good affordable food to their customers. Nearly 50 years later, it entered the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on 16 Dec 2020. A testament to this shared culture and heritage for all Singaporeans regardless of our ethnicity, religious beliefs, and social status.

Someone once said, teasingly, that the term “hawker centre” is oxymoronic. According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, a hawker is defined as “a person who makes money by selling goods, going from place to place and asking people to buy them“. So, if the hawker is no longer going from place to place, is he still a hawker?

I think the name is apt. What else would you call a place built for hawkers and their customers? They are no longer hawking but the work is just as hard.

Season 1 Part 1: Singapore’s hawker culture: How did it all start?

A sight and sound timeline of how Singapore street food became uniquely Singapore. I enjoyed the origin stories of some of my favourite hawker food.

Season 1 Part 2: Singapore’s next generation hawkers

This documentary traces the transition of traditional hawkers who took up the trade to fill their tummies to the newer generations who have higher aspirations.

Season 2 Part 1: Ties that bind: Singapore hawkers and those keeping the trade alive

Season 2 Part 2: Old tastes: Singapore hawkers serving up traditional Asian recipes

Season 2 Part 3: How Singapore’s favourite hawkers survived the Covid-19 lockdown

Season 2 Part 4: After lockdown, life of Singapore’s hawkers beyond Covid-19

Season 3 Part 1: Vadai & Curry Puffs: History of iconic Singapore hawker snacks

Season 3 Part 2: These families serve delicious Singapore hawker food made with rice

Season 3 Part 3: Chicken rice in New York City? Hawkers bring Singapore food abroad

Season 3 Part 4: Young hawkers fight & innovate to keep Singapore food culture alive

Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain’s documentary series “A Cook’s Tour” revealed a side of Singapore that most foreign media do not cover.

A Cook’s Tour: Season 2 Episode 10

Parts Unknown