Tekong - the OG cookhouse

It’s the first touch of military life for almost every enlistee.

Learning basic soldiering skills, getting used to military regimentation and making friends with people from all walks of life – life at Pulau Tekong may be far from what recruits are familiar with before they enlist, but the food still hits home at times.

What to eat at Tekong?

There are five types of meals – Muslim; Non-Muslim; Chinese Vegetarian; Indian Vegetarian; and Non-Muslim Special Diet (allergen-free meals) – for recruits to choose from at the start of their Basic Military Training (BMT).

However, once they select their meal type, they have to stick to their choice throughout their stay.

As part of our food-tasting stint, we had the privilege of tasting all five types of meals and the results surprised me.

The lunch set for the Muslim and Non-Muslim meals that day was the char siew chicken set. This comprised mixed brown rice, char siew chicken with gravy, chye sim with carrots, and old cucumber soup.

We chatted with Recruit (REC) Iain Lim and REC Md Rabbani, who felt that the char siew chicken thigh was “juicy and flavourful”.

Since enlisting on 13 May, these recruits have had about two months’ experience of eating at the cookhouse.

Our favourite meal is…

Asked what their favourite meal is so far, REC Lim replied that it was the bak kut teh (pork in white peppery soup).

“The meat is tender and the soup is quite peppery, so it makes for a good change to the usual meals,” said the 20-year-old from Pegasus Company, Platoon 4.

He also looks forward to Western Tuesdays, when the cookhouse usually serves western cuisine such as fish and chips and teriyaki chicken burger.

As for REC Rabbani, he shared that most of his fellow Muslims liked the curry chicken.

“The curry is not spicy, quite lemak (creamy) and pretty comforting. I’ll rate it 7.5 out of 10,” said the 20-year-old from Pegasus Company, Platoon 2. 

For myself, I had the privilege of trying out another dish usually served at the cookhouse – the halal-version of the bee hoon briyani set.

I was excited as this was something that I’d never tried before. Mine came with bee hoon briyani, two pieces of curry chicken, fish cake with sambal gravy, chye sim with carrots, and old cucumber soup.

 Just like what REC Rabbani said, the curry chicken was really good.

Fragrant and lemak, the curry elevated the taste and texture of the noodles, which was otherwise a tad dry and lacking in briyani flavour.

The chicken drumstick was tender and the meat came apart easily. The plain fish cake was made more flavourful thanks to the slightly sweet sambal with onions, while the stir-fried chye sim added a good amount of greens to the dish.

It made for a pretty comforting meal, to say the least. The old cucumber soup also had that taste of home, and I enjoyed it. 

Surprisingly flavourful vegetarian dishes

I also tried the two vegetarian options – the Indian Vegetarian and Chinese Vegetarian – and the flavours took me by surprise.

The menu for Indian Vegetarian was briyani rice; tau kwa curry; pumpkin with spice; achar (South Asian pickle); and dalcha (Indian lentil-based stew) soup.

For Chinese Vegetarian, it was almost the same, except they replaced the achar with kai lan and mixed vegetables. 

While the dishes are largely similar, the difference between the two cuisines lies in the ingredients used.

Onions and garlic are used when cooking the Indian version, while the Chinese version only uses ginger for flavouring.

This was probably why I really enjoyed the Indian version of pumpkin with spice – the garlic and onions gave a nice tang to the dish.

I polished off all the pumpkin – which was firm on the outside but soft and creamy when bitten into – despite being full from my bee hoon briyani earlier.

As for the tau kwa, I enjoyed the Chinese version, which came swimming in creamy curry. The fried bean curd soaked up the gravy, making it moist and flavourful.

On the other hand, the Indian version of the tau kwa was drier in comparison as it came in a stir-fried curry. Still, the curry flavours were prominent and each bean curd was well-coated with dried curry.

In short, the flavours of both vegetarian dishes agreed with me. But between the two, I would go for the Indian Vegetarian option.

Allergen-free recipes

For recruits who need a special diet, NTUC FoodFare – which is in charge of supplying cookhouses at Pulau Tekong and several other Singapore Armed Forces camps – has come up with a distinct menu which excludes the top eight allergens such as beans, soy and nuts.

While many might say that special diet dishes tend to be very bland, I was happy to discover that they tasted pretty alright.

For one, I was glad to have some pork slices. Soaked in tomato juices, the subtle taste of the tangy gravy could be tasted in the tender sliced pork, which was a pleasant surprise.

I was too full to try the chicken leg, but my dining companions said the meat was tender and the flavours of the potato stew came through.

All in all, I would say that the meals at the cookhouse are certainly well-balanced and well-portioned – with a good protein-to-carb ratio to fuel recruits up.

Still, I hope to see more variety and taste in terms of ingredients in the overall cookhouse menus. After all, we Singapore foodies are used to the best!