Influencer in US restaurant asks what is 'Singapore noodles', gets told 'it's our version of a pad thai'

If you've ever travelled to Western countries, you would no doubt have encountered a mysterious dish known as 'Singapore noodles'.

While it remains a staple at Asian eateries overseas, many Singaporeans have never heard of it.

That was the conundrum faced by local influencer Kevin Tristan when he travelled to the US recently.

In a TikTok video posted on Tuesday (April 4), the 23-year-old Filipino-Singaporean dancer shared how "there's this thing called Singapore noodles" in many Asian eateries he encountered there.

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@kevintristan99/video/7218050602457206018?[/embed]

He continued: "There are so many good Singapore noodles — like char kway teow, Hokkien mee, wanton mee, laksa… and I want to know what I'm ordering, right?"

In hopes of getting to the bottom of the mysterious 'Singapore noodles', he asked a server at one such eatery what the dish was.

"What is your Singapore noodles, 'cos I'm from Singapore and don't know which one it is," was Kevin's innocent question.

The response he got, however, made his jaw drop.

"She goes like, 'our Singapore noodles is like our version of a pad Thai'," said Kevin with much incredulity.

What made it equally shocking was the waitress' response when told that pad thai — a sweetish stir-fried noodle dish garnished with crushed peanuts — is from Thailand.

Kevin recounted: "She was like, 'yeah I didn't make the menu, Americans ruin everything'."

Suffice to say the exchange did nothing to make him want to order the dish to find out.

"Yep so till now I still don't know what Singapore noodles are, can someone enlighten me please?" he concluded.

Well, it turns out 'Singapore noodles' is one of those made-up dishes that don't come from its supposed place of origin, just like General Tso's chicken and Mongolian beef. 

Origins of Singapore Noodles 

According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), which published an article to uncover what exactly is 'Singapore noodles', the stir-fried dish has its roots in Hong Kong.  

Renowned Singaporean chef Damian D'Silva told SCMP that the dish was created "in the 50s or 60s" by chefs in Hong Kong who "wanted to make something exotic". This led to the use of curry powder in the noodles.

The fact that Singapore at the time wasn't as well known as it is now contributed to the element of exoticism, shared the MasterChef Singapore judge.

And while the dish has many variations across many Western countries (even Jamie Oliver has a recipe for it), the consensus is that the ingredients should include vermicelli, curry powder, some meat (either pork, chicken or prawns), eggs and vegetables.

But it's not just a ubiquitous menu item found in Asian restaurants stateside, the dish is actually a common zi char dish here in Singapore too.

It is typically offered as Xing Zhou mi fen, which loosely translates as, you guessed it, Singapore vermicelli noodles — a greasy amalgamation of the above-mentioned ingredients. The dish isn't exactly our favourite, but we can imagine that it's something one might order when desperately homesick aboard.

Commenters who answered Kevin's call for help chimed in with their own understanding of what 'Singapore noodles' is all about. While the responses were varied, most agreed that it's "some sort of stir-fried noodle" with the addition of curry powder.

One thing's for sure though — it's nothing like pad thai.

ALSO READ: 'Singapore Noodles' packaging with Native American imagery baffles actual Singaporeans

candicecai@asiaone.com

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