Recipe: Sweet Syrupy "Singapore Slingers"

Sweet Syrupy "Singapore Slingers"

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• crush :

  to put pressure on a food, like a garlic clove, to break the skin and release its flavor; or to pulverize or grind a food, like a cracker, into small particles with your hands, blender, or food processor.

• juice :

  to extract or squeeze out the juice of a fruit or vegetable, like a lemon, orange, or carrot, often cutting open or peeling the fruit or veggie first to access its flesh.

• measure :

  to calculate the specific amount of an ingredient required using a measuring tool (like measuring cups or spoons).

• pour :

  to cause liquid, granules, or powder to stream from one container into another.

• stir :

  to mix together two or more ingredients with a spoon or spatula, usually in a circle pattern, or figure eight, or in whatever direction you like!

What is a Singapore Sling?

• A "sling" is a sweetened drink with distilled liquor and water. A sling made with gin is a "gin sling." The Raffles Hotel Long Bar in Singapore claims it created its version, the Singapore Sling, in 1915. 
• The original recipe is lost, so it is unclear what the ingredients were besides gin when it was first mixed, except perhaps cherry brandy, lime juice, and pineapple juice. Today, there are many variations, which may include gin, pineapple juice, cherry brandy, orange liqueur, herbal liqueur, grenadine, lime juice, bitters, and club soda. A maraschino cherry is often added as a garnish.
• Sticky Fingers Cooking's version is alcohol-free. Sweet Syrupy "Singapore Slingers" are made with orange juice, lime juice, water, and sugar.

Let's Learn About Singapore!

• The Republic of Singapore is an island country in Southeast Asia. It consists of one main island and 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. 
• The capital city is also called Singapore and is a city-state, the largest and most populous in the world. Other sovereign city-states include Monaco and Vatican City.
• Singapore is located just off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. The Johore Strait and Malaysia are north of it. The Strait of Malacca is to its west, and the Singapore Strait is to its south. The South China Sea is on its eastern border. Indonesia shares Singapore's southern and western maritime borders. 
• Singapore has a total area of 284.3 square miles. It is about one-quarter the size of the smallest US state, Rhode Island. It has a population of over 6 million. In comparison, Rhode Island has about 1.1 million people. 
• About 74 percent of the population is of Chinese descent, 13.5 percent is of Malay descent, and 9 percent is of Indian descent. About 3 percent come from other origins.
• There are four official languages in Singapore: English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. The national language is Malay. English is the lingua franca or bridge language used in government and business.   
• The government of Singapore is a unitary parliamentary republic with a president, prime minister, and parliament (legislature). The currency is the Singapore dollar.
• Singapore became a self-governing British colony in 1824. It merged with the newly formed Federation of Malaysia in 1963. Singapore seceded and gained its independence on August 9, 1965. It became a member of the British Commonwealth in October 1965. 
• Singapore is one of the Four Asian Tigers, along with Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan. From the early 1950s to the 1990s, these four developing Asian economies grew rapidly with increased industrialization and consistently high growth rates. 
• Singapore has become one of the leading worldwide financial centers. Its economy has a solid reputation and a prime credit rating. Singapore is one of the most expensive countries in which to live. Its main industrial sectors include financial services, manufacturing, and oil refining. 
• The island nation is primarily low-lying land, with about two-thirds less than 50 feet above sea level. In the center of the island, the terrain is rugged, with granite hills, including Bukit Timah, the tallest hill at 537 feet. In the east are flat sandy plains and low plateaus. 
• The country has had to reclaim land from its surrounding waters, expanding its total land area and allowing it to increase development. 
• Singapore is 85 miles north of the equator and has a tropical rainforest climate, with high humidity and plentiful rainfall. Temperatures are relatively consistent throughout the year, between 73 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, with a monsoon season from November through January. 
• Two hundred years ago, Singapore was covered in rainforests. Due to urbanization, 95 percent of the forests are gone. In the last forty years, the country has taken steps to create parks, gardens, and nature reserves to preserve its flora and fauna and improve the quality of life for residents. 
• The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve on the slopes of Bukit Timah Hill offers hiking, climbing, and viewing plants and wildlife. Visitors may see monkeys, like the crab-eating macaque, the Malayan pangolin, Malayan colugo (flying lemur), squirrels, like the red-cheeked flying squirrel, snakes, like the reticulated python, and the Singapore freshwater crab. 
• Hawker centers (open-air) and food courts (indoor and air-conditioned) are popular places to buy and eat street food in Singapore.
• Singaporean cuisine includes Chinese, Indian, and Malay influences. Peranakan cuisine in Singapore is a hybrid of Chinese and Malay foods. Malay hawker centers may include Tamil dishes. 
• The Singapore Food Festival in July celebrates Singapore's cuisine.
• Hainanese chicken rice is considered a national dish of Singapore. It consists of poached chicken served with seasoned rice, chili sauce, and sliced cucumbers as a garnish. 
• Other popular dishes include chili crab (crab stir-fried in a tomato-chili sauce), "char kway teow" (stir-fried noodle dish eaten for breakfast), and fish head curry (red snapper fish head in a curry sauce with eggplant and okra). 

What's It Like to Be a Kid in Singapore?

• Kids in Singapore start school in January. There are four terms during the year with breaks in between, and the school year ends in November. Students are required to wear uniforms.
• The sports kids may participate in are football (soccer), swimming, basketball, volleyball, track and field, rugby, and tennis.
• Kids and their families may enjoy visiting the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tropical garden was founded in 1859 near the Orchard Road shopping district in the city of Singapore. 
• Other fun family attractions include the Singapore Zoo, Children's Museum Singapore, Gardens by the Bay and Cloud Forest, the Singapore Flyer ferris wheel, Universal Studios Singapore, KidZania amusement park, Adventure Cove Waterpark, Jacob Ballas Children's Garden, and the beach at East Coast Park.  
• For a breakfast or snack, kids may eat "kaya toast," two slices of toast with butter and "kaya" (sweet coconut custard) in between. It is often served with soft-boiled eggs.
• Some of the sweet treats kids may like are "kueh tutu" or "putu piring" (steamed rice flour cake filled with sweetened ground peanuts or grated coconut), "ice kachang" (shaved ice topped with red beans, jellies, corn, peanuts, and sweet syrups), and pandan cake, a cake flavored and colored green with the juice or extract of pandan leaves.