Year of local haute cuisine

(Clockwise from top left) Seroja's Trader's Rice and kueh bahulu, Pangium's buah keluak in sambal and with beef, and Restaurant Born's fish maw, Chinese cabbage and smoked eel, and buri with galangal and daikon. PHOTOS: SEROJA, CR TAN, RESTAURANT BORN
New: Gift this subscriber-only story to your friends and family

SINGAPORE – Tasting menus at high-end restaurants usually feature ingredients sourced from Europe, the United States and Japan – caviar, truffles, seafood, herbs, edible flowers, fruit and vegetables.

In 2022, young chefs made great strides in championing ingredients much closer to home – from South-east Asia and China. What is new is that these ingredients – some of them familiar and often taken for granted, others hitherto unknown – are showing up in high-end food.

Already a subscriber? 

Read the full story and more at $9.90/month

Get exclusive reports and insights with more than 500 subscriber-only articles every month

Unlock these benefits

  • All subscriber-only content on ST app and straitstimes.com

  • Easy access any time via ST app on 1 mobile device

  • E-paper with 2-week archive so you won't miss out on content that matters to you

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.