Dish finder in Singapore

Poached chicken, rice cooked in the stock, chilli-ginger sauce and dark soy. The unofficial national dish, at every hawker centre.

Rice noodles in a rich coconut and dried-shrimp curry broth with prawns and cockles. In Katong the noodles are cut short and eaten with a spoon.

Flat rice noodles fried in a very hot wok with dark soy, lard, egg, Chinese sausage and cockles. Smoky, rich and best from a hawker with a queue.

Egg and rice noodles braised in a rich prawn stock with squid and pork, served with lime and sambal.

Pork ribs in a peppery garlic broth, refilled for free, with rice, youtiao and Chinese tea. Singapore's version is clear and peppery rather than herbal.

Mud crab in a sweet, tangy tomato and chilli gravy, mopped up with fried mantou buns. Priced by weight; ask before you order.

Flaky, griddled flatbread with a fish or chicken curry to dip, from 24-hour Indian Muslim stalls. Order it plain, with egg or with onion.

Coconut rice with fried chicken or fish, anchovies, peanuts, egg and sambal, wrapped in banana leaf at the simpler stalls.

Chicken, mutton or beef skewers grilled over charcoal with peanut sauce, cucumber and rice cakes. Lau Pa Sat's satay street closes to traffic for it each evening.

Toast with coconut-egg jam and slabs of cold butter, with runny eggs seasoned with soy and pepper and a kopi. The kopitiam breakfast.

A whole red snapper head in a sour, spicy curry with okra and aubergine, a Singapore-Indian creation from Little India. For sharing.

No carrots: radish cake cubes fried with egg and preserved radish. White is plain, black is fried with sweet dark soy.

Springy egg noodles tossed in chilli and soy, with char siu and wontons on the side. Ask for it without chilli if you prefer.

A thin, crisp fermented rice and lentil crêpe with sambar and chutneys, from the South Indian vegetarian restaurants in Little India.

Pineapple, cucumber, turnip and fried dough in a sticky prawn-paste and peanut dressing. Sweet, sour and pungent; vegetarian stalls skip the prawn paste.

Shaved ice with pandan jelly, red beans, coconut milk and gula melaka syrup. The best cure for the heat at any hawker centre.