Black pepper crab is the unofficial national dish of Singapore, made by stir-frying crab pieces with black pepper, garlic, shallots, and oyster sauce over high heat. The dish is seldom prepared at home, but people can easily find it at numerous street stalls and seafood restaurants.

Once the crab is cooked, it is often garnished with coriander leaves and paired with rice on the side.

Like many other dishes in Asia, chilli crab started as a street food item, but it has eventually become so popular that today it is considered to be the national dish of Singapore. It consists of a stir-fried crab covered in a succulent, spicy sauce.

The story of chilli crab's origin is a well-known anecdote - it was invented in the 1950s by Cher Yam Tian, who wanted to modify her stir-fried crab recipe by adding bottled chili sauce into the dish. The result was so delicious that her family persuaded her to start selling the dish, so chilli crab began its way to become the signature dish of Singapore. 

This Singaporean dish consists of crispy fried prawns that are doused in a rich combination of butter, crushed and toasted cereals, curry leaves, and chilis. Even though it is easily prepared at home, the dish is a staple at hawker centers and restaurant throughout Singapore and Malaysia.

Cereal prawns are occasionally served topped with a heap of toasted, almost sand-like cereals, and they are always enjoyed hot.

This Singaporean and Malaysian classic dish couples grilled stingray and spicy sambal paste—the chili pepper-based sauce that may incorporate various other elements such as lime juice, shrimp paste, ginger, vinegar, or sugar. The thin stingray fillets are usually coated with sambal and are then grilled and served on a banana leaf.

The whole dish is traditionally accompanied by lime wedges, onions, or sliced chili peppers, and there is also a special dipping sauce on the side. Apart from Singapore, the dish is also enjoyed in Malaysia where it is known as ikan pari bakar.

Fish head curry is a Singaporean specialty dish consisting of fish heads, coconut cream, tomatoes, and an array of seasonings such as curry leaves, garlic, chili, coriander, cumin, turmeric, pepper, and tamarind. The dish was invented during the 1970s as a way to use up unwanted fish heads.

Today, it is served with bread or rice on the side, and one simmering pot of fish head curry can easily feed a few people.

The main elements of this Singaporean soup include a flavorful fish-based broth that is enriched with milk and spices, bee hoon noodles (rice vermicelli), fried or boiled fish heads or fish slices, and mustard greens. Garoupa, snakehead, pomfret, and batang are the most common types of fish used in this dish, and the fish stock is occasionally flavored with brandy or rice wine.

This hearty soup is a classic hawker-style dish that is usually served garnished with fresh scallions. In 2010, CNN mentioned this soup as one of the forty must-try dishes in Singapore.

Sliced fish soup is a traditional fish soup originating from Singapore. There are many variations, but it’s often made with a combination of fish such as grouper, minced pork, cabbage, tofu, tomatoes, fish stock, salt, white pepper, sesame oil, cornstarch, soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine.

The fish and meat are marinated, sautéed, and then cooked into a soup with the vegetables and seasonings. If desired, cooked noodles can also be added to the soup. Sliced fish soup is a staple at hawker centers across the country and it’s believed that the dish was created by the Teochew people.

Crab bee hoon soup is a Singaporean delicacy that consists of bee hoon noodles (rice vermicelli) and succulent crab meat drenched in a silky, aromatic broth. Sri Lankan mud crabs are most commonly used in this dish, while the broth is usually made with a combination of chicken broth, butter, evaporated milk, ginger, garlic, white pepper, sesame oil, fish sauce or oyster sauce, and a splash of Chinese rice wine, brandy, or XO Cognac.

The soupy broth is also typically enhanced with leafy vegetables such as baby bok choy or chye sim, scallions, and cilantro leaves. This savory specialty is often served in a clay pot, while chili-based dipping sauces usually accompany it on the side.