Culinary Delights at the River Hongbao 2013

The River Hongbao at the Float @ Marina Bay is an annual Chinese New Year event which returned on a larger scale this year. Aside from the exciting musical performances and beautiful lantern displays, the Food Street drew huge crowds of people especially during the first few days of Chinese New Year.

Organised by the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations, Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Singapore Tourism Board and Peoples’ Association, this largest outdoor festival Food Event was held collaboratively with stalls from Guangdong province, a region which features familiar Cantonese delicacies. As such, visitors were spoilt for choice with the vast array of snacks from more than 40 food stalls featuring local and Taiwan street delights.

The star of this year’s food event was none other than the Guangzhou Steamed Pork. Prepared with a traditional Guangdong method by the chef, the entire pig (which hit the scale of 30kg) was marinated overnight with salt, sugar and black pepper. It was then placed on a metal rack and steamed for an hour to get that distinct flavour. For only $10 a plate, this pork belly dish was sprinkled with a dash of sesame seeds and served with homemade spicy sauce and pink ginger. The meticulous preparation method sealed the juice of the meat and allowed the fats to melt effortlessly in your mouth.

Part of the fun in this year’s outdoor food carnival was to catch the chefs from Guangdong in live action. Locals as well as tourists watched them prepare a wide range of food from garlic steamed oysters to deep fried crab in egg batter. Aside from witnessing these chefs whip up their signature delights, dishes from other regions in China such as the cold marinated pig ears and the piping hot steamed vegetables and pork buns from the exotic Shangri La grabbed their attention, too!

As for the other dishes, visitors were impressed with the sight of hearty Kebabs and the fragrant smell of the Oyster Omelette. The price for a portion ranged from $0.60 to $5 and so, they were able to taste a variety of dishes without bursting their wallets. Restaurants such as Lerk Thai and even Hansang Korean Restaurant & Market from the Turf City also made an appearance at this year’s Food Street. This gave food lovers more options to try for a very affordable price. Some of these were various Korean side dishes and Jap Chae (Korean stir-fried Vermicelli). A trip to the River Hongbao Food Street wouldn’t really be complete without desserts. This time, there were so many sweet delights to choose from. Some of the crowd favourites were the chocolate-flavoured Kueh Tutu and the Dora Keiki (round-shaped Japanese pancakes with sweet cream filling).

Visitors were also in for more CNY treats as the Food Street was filled with all-time favourite goodies like the pineapple tarts. One of the highlights was definitely the Lotus Gold Coin, a remake of the mooncake filled with crunchy peanuts. The treats were more than enough to satisfy everyone’s cravings for local delights and CNY goodies. Overall, it was another successful River Hongbao event which brought together locals and tourists in one place to celebrate the Year of the Snake. For more information about the River Hongbao 2013, click here. See Also: Enjoy more Cantonese cuisine using OpenSnap New to the area? Use OpenSnap to find out the best places to dine nearby