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Roadside stalls at Insadong

Roadside stalls 볼 때마다 맛있는 음식을 생각나요. The mental linkage of roadside stall to delicious food has a lot to do with my past experience of eating at the roadside stall. I remember when I was a kid, I love to eat the 'wanton mee' (만두 면) sold at this roadside stall. The stall was actually operating illegally at night. Nevertheless, people were queuing up for its 'wanton mee'. That was the best 'wanton mee' I have ever eaten. It was a pity that such good food was not allowed to be sold over a roadside stall.

Roadside stalls were banned in Singapore because of concern for public health. In the past, contaminated food was the main culprit in spreading diseases like Cholera and Dysentery that claimed many lives. To better regulate the standard of hygience in food preparation, all roadside hawkers were shifted to hawker centres to continue their fares. Hawker centres have since become something very unique in the Singapore food culture map.

Singapore may have ranked among the best in the world for public health but one of the casualty it claims along the way is the roadside stall which is a common sight in many countries that enjoy vibrant roadside food culture. Whatever it may be, if I do sit at a roadside stall overseas, it will probably remind me of my childhood day in Singapore.