Taiwanese YouTuber supports local hawkers with food vlogs
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Taiwanese food blogger Alison Wu's favourite spicy noodle dish in Singapore is the laksa from George’s Katong Laksa.
ST PHOTO: EUGENE TAN
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SINGAPORE – It is a hot Monday afternoon and Ms Alison Wu snakes behind a bak kut teh signboard to reveal her favourite laksa stall.
George’s Katong Laksa at 307 Changi Road is the 33-year-old’s favourite spicy noodle dish in Singapore. And she has tried dozens of bowls.
The Taiwanese, who moved to Singapore 10 years ago for work, is better known as Ali Eats – a food YouTuber with more than 72,000 subscribers to her channel.
She tells The Straits Times in Mandarin over a bowl of piping hot laksa: “I mostly recommend local food because I like hawker food. It’s the most representative of a culture. Restaurants can be nice, but a lot of restaurants do fusion food – I don’t want fusion. I want the local dish in its most authentic form.”
She has top picks for almost every local cuisine – Dickson Nasi Lemak at Joo Chiat, kaya toast at YY Kafei Dian in Beach Road, putu mayam from Belinda’s Pancake in Ang Mo Kio and mee rebus from Rahim Muslim Food at Chong Boon Market.
Ms Wu, who works full time in the hospitality industry, started her YouTube account in 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when service jobs took a hit. “I wanted to give myself something to do, and my favourite thing has always been food, so I thought I should just do what I know best.”
She uploads videos weekly and films on days when she is free. Her gear is simple – a video camera or her phone, and sometimes a small tripod.
“Being a food vlogger means always finding somewhere new to introduce, and that isn’t always easy. I follow a lot of local food bloggers on Instagram and talk to foodie friends of mine to keep up to date on new places. I also just go around and discover hidden gems sometimes.”
On her Google Maps app, the tiny island of Singapore is dotted diligently with bookmarks of places she enjoyed visiting and others she plans to check out. Documenting Singapore food has gained her a strong local following – over 70 per cent of her viewers are from Singapore.
“Most commenters are positive, but of course, there are always some comments like: ‘You’re Taiwanese, how can you possibly judge our food?’ There are also people who criticise my recommendations and say they’re bad. I found it quite disheartening at first, but I’ve learnt to take it in my stride.
“Food content is subjective. Not everyone will agree, but ultimately, if I like something, then it’s nice to me.”
Although Ms Wu has long been a foodie – weaned on Taiwanese night market snacks – she was initially unimpressed with local hawker fare.
“I was really homesick in my first few years here. I missed a lot of Taiwanese food, like duck blood and stinky tofu, and I wasn’t particularly taken with Singaporean food.
“I started embracing and appreciating it only in my third year here as my taste buds got used to the food. I began to understand and enjoy the spices and herbs Singaporean food uses, which Taiwanese food doesn’t. Perhaps because of the proximity, Singapore also has very good Thai and Vietnamese cuisines.”
Her gastronomical adventures also opened her eyes to the brutal rentals, manpower shortages and harsh realities of the Singapore food scene.
Although Ms Wu has long been a foodie – weaned on Taiwanese night market snacks – she was initially unimpressed with local hawker fare.
ST PHOTO: EUGENE TAN
“It’s so competitive. A lot of stalls close fairly quickly. I’d be looking through my bookmarked places on Google Maps and realise: ‘Oh, that’s permanently closed now.’ Even stalls that have good food sometimes close down because there aren’t enough customers.
“That’s also why I want to recommend hawker food, because I want to support them where I can. Hawker life is so tough, some of them get up at 4am or earlier just to prepare for the day.”
And she intends to continue reviewing hawker food for a long time more. Ms Wu, who has a Singaporean boyfriend but declines to say more about him, hopes to settle down and have children here.
“Yes, the cost of living here is definitely higher than in Taiwan, but the average income is also higher. Taipei is expensive. It’s almost impossible to buy a home in Taipei on an ordinary person’s salary, so I really envy Singaporeans’ Housing Board scheme, which makes buying their own flat possible for most of them.”
