TRY : Mee Pok Man

You've only been away for 5 days and already its starting....

You just can't concentrate anymore on menus that offer 8-ounce burgers with home fries, macaroni and cheese, corned beef hash and flapjacks...your eyes glaze over as sandwiches and salads merge into a meaningless, shapeless glomp of green lettuce. The little nagging sensation deep down in your belly has given way to steady desperation...your taste buds are giving up, your appetite has left the building, suddenly you can't think about anything else except.....chili....CHILI!!!!!

Let's face it. We've all been there. You can take the Singaporean out of Asia, but you can't take Asia out of the Singaporean. Red cut, green cut, with soya souce, without soya sauce, flakes, powder, sambal belachan, assam pedas, those scary hot small Thai ones, the sweet one just for chicken rice...we just can't live without chili. And obviously by the same token, without what us Singaporeans fondly refer to as 'local' food*.

Thankfully, New York is one city where you won't need those just-in-case packets of Maggi mee and chili powder you put in your suitcase. This true melting pot has everything, you name it. Ok, maybe not EVERY thing, I still can't find decent popiah, char kway teow (not penang style), and chili crab...but let's not dwell on what I haven't been able to find, and concentrate on what I (and my other kaki* here) have found instead:

Fishball mee/mee pok - New Chao Chow (Mott St between Hester and Canal Sts). Ask for the fishball noodles, and they understand 'dry' if you want it dry. They have thin noodles as well as the more wavy mee pok type. Add the red chili sauce and the green cut chilis and its all pretty authentic.

Xia Long Pau - New Green Bo (Bayard St between Elizabeth and Mott Sts). Shanghainese style dumplings that are just bursting with juicy pork or crab filling - served with vinegar and ginger.

Prata/Roti Canai - This is generally quite yummy in most of the Malaysian restaurants around the city, but we like Singapore Cafe (69 Mott St) and New Malaysia Cafe (48 Bowery). The chicken curry that comes with is pretty good too.

All-round good 'local' food - Check out Penang in Soho, (Spring St between Greene and Mercer Sts). Their roti canai is good, as is their mee goreng (indian style), penang char kway teow and nasi lemak. And you have to order their peanut pancake for dessert - this is basically prata with a peanut paste in the middle, lightly fried. DELICIOUS! Why don't they have this back home? Introduce yourself to Ban the owner (a real Penang boy) to make sure the cooks don't tone down the chili (as they generally do for the Western palate). Belachan is also available here if you ask nicely.

Spicy Szechuan - Grand Sichuan, (St Marks Place, East Village)
Great handmade noodles with minced meat, very good fish dishes too. Everything is pretty spicy, which we like. And surprisingly cheap too.

* 'local' = typically Singaporean; 'kaki' = group of good friends (also means 'leg' in Malay)