Hoover Rojak: On the Hunt for Best Rojak in Singapore

March 3, 2010 | 26 Comments

A couple of years back, I went to Whampoo Hawker Centre with my dad, and we ordered a plate of rojak from Hoover’s rojak. I have no idea why I remember it so clearly, but deep down, I think I know why – this is the best rojak in Singapore, at least to me.

The problem with it, is that there is no clear definition of rojak. To one person, mentioning the word may means the Chinese intrepretation of Salad; a platter of fruits and vegetables with dark and sweet sauce, while to another, it’s the best beer snack after a long day at work.

You know what I think? To me. rojak is the best appetizer before a meal; good for satisfying my itchy teeth, and at the same time, it’s also the best after meal snack – light, and refreshing, not to mention all the fruits and vegetables in it.

Every rojak consist of: a good mixture of cucumber, beans sprout, pineapple, turnip, deep-fried tofu and youtiao (fried fritters). Drizzled with the most gorgeous sweet-tangy sauce, with sugar and peanut providing the additional crunch – we have a rojak. Each stall like to outdo the other by throwing in different ingredients like mangos, apples, shrimp paste, or some tiny crispy stuff, but you know what’s the best? A squeeze of lime does wonders to the rojak. It makes the whole thing taste so, so much better!

This is why I like Hoover’s Rojak. Their rendition of the popular local dish has a very distinct lime taste in the sauce. With the ever-crispy fried fritters, crunchy cucumber and pineapple – this is my favorite rojak in Singapore.

You are going to tell me where’s your best rojak in Singapore.

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Comments

26 Responses to “Hoover Rojak: On the Hunt for Best Rojak in Singapore”

  1. caibao
    March 3rd, 2010 @ 4:56 am

    i like you tiao and deep fry tofu only haha!

  2. hahazZ
    March 3rd, 2010 @ 8:12 am

    AGREED!!! i tried before this stall’s!!!! (should be the same one…no other famous whampoo drive hawker right? :/ )

  3. Angeline
    March 3rd, 2010 @ 9:04 am

    lao hong ser rojak at dunman food centre is nice!

  4. SamuelGoh
    March 3rd, 2010 @ 9:33 am

    YES! Whampoa rojak is still the best!

    others that people rave about (old airport rd, tampines fc) I find nothing much..

  5. Maureen
    March 3rd, 2010 @ 9:46 am

    i like toa payoh rojak @ old airport road market~

  6. tootall
    March 3rd, 2010 @ 2:34 pm

    soon heng rojak at Gourment Paradise Food Court, TPY HDB Hub. It’s under renovation now though, till 15 Mar 2010. Not too far away from it’s re-opening!

  7. cleartear
    March 3rd, 2010 @ 2:56 pm

    oh my hubby favorite, but my mom keep saying dun eat too much, very poisonous (in cantonese, ho toad)… me not a fan of rojak, but my hubby is so he say this stall is very good should be very good bah haha. Anyway i prefer to order you tiao only, and i like to order century eggs whenever i order rojak anywhere.

  8. Ju (The Little Teochew)
    March 3rd, 2010 @ 5:52 pm

    Hahaha! Your “itchy teeth!” I used to frequent a rojak stall at Old Airport Rd, before they renovated the place. And there was this elderly couple who made fantastic rojak. But the queue is crazy. Recently, a Canadian blogger came to SG and one of the dishes I let her try was rojak. She couldn’t stand the smell of the shrimp paste sauce! LOL.

  9. ciki
    March 3rd, 2010 @ 7:23 pm

    why is ur camera work so amazing. u make me wanna slather myself with rojak and do the happy dance! mwuahaha.. its like as if your rojak shot is food couture, and I’d gladly wear it. :P

  10. ladyironchef
    March 3rd, 2010 @ 10:05 pm

    caibao: Actually i only like youtiao! HAHAHA i always like to order rojak with just youtiao, or at most cucumber and pineapple. Don’t really like fried tofu and turnip

    hahazZ: Yeah there’s only one famous rojak in Whampoo. It’s beside an equally famous braised duck stall.

    Angeline: okay i recorded that down!

    Samuel: I love their rojak, will go all the way to whampoo just for this, and the hokkien mee there

    Maureen: It’s call toa payoh rojak?

    tootall: Thanks for sharing! will check it out after it reopen from the renovation : )

    cleartear: Why you don’t like rojak? it’s awesome! haha same i only like youtiao, the rest can do without, just give me all the youtiao in rojak

    Ju: I know right, my teeth always get itchy! not good. but, but the shrimp paste sauce is the one that makes rojak taste good! haha

    ciki: HAHA happy dance with rojak? sounds like a plan! i tried rojak in KL once, not quite the same as the one we had in Singapore. Have you tried our version before?

  11. emily
    March 4th, 2010 @ 2:28 am

    there’s one somewhere in chinatown, hong lim food complex i think. it has cuttlefish and tau kua pao too :) and if i don’t remember wrongly, it’s super cheap :)

  12. Linda@eatshowandtell
    March 4th, 2010 @ 8:15 am

    Brad, there’s an awesome rojak place at East lagoon hawker cente. On the way back from japan, we popped into the hawker centre and had one of the bext rojak ever, it had century eggs in it! YUM

  13. cleartear
    March 4th, 2010 @ 11:26 am

    brad, cos i only like you tiao haha, so if only you tiao like not rojak leh… rojak also not very healthy, prefer to use my cholesterol on other stuff.

    And 1 funny thing is i dun drink hawker centre coffee but love to dip you tiao into kopi-O…

  14. L
    March 4th, 2010 @ 12:54 pm

    This is off-topic, but could you recommend the best places for authentic Thai food here?

  15. cleartear
    March 4th, 2010 @ 3:24 pm

    L, ah roy thai at funan is good.
    Brad, have u been there??

    Ju.. i like ur blog too ohoh, sorry off topic too.

  16. diva
    March 4th, 2010 @ 6:20 pm

    I LOOOOOVE rojak. I think it’s the best snack and best appetizer for a good feast out at the hawker centre. You make miss my local rojak. And this place is noted. I’m not sure I’ve been before! Looks delicious and they’re so generous with the sauce. I like mine with loads of ground peanuts as well.

  17. ladyironchef
    March 4th, 2010 @ 8:15 pm

    emily: But, what’s the name? there’s so many stalls there!

    Linda: oh really? i only been to the lagoon once, didn’t get to try a lot of stuff there. what else u all tried there? the chicken wing is pretty famous too

    cleartear: haha but it’s still rojak what, with the dark sauce and youtiao, who cares about the other ingredients :D

    L: Hello there, I’m not so sure but authenticity since i only been to Thailand once, but i had very good thai food at Sweet salty spicy http://www.ladyironchef.com/2009/12/06/sweet-salty-spicy-modern-thai-cuisine/

    diva: HAHAH i can tell you really like rojak. Oh yeah the best snack ever! ground peanuts always go so well with the dark sauce yeah

  18. Linda@eatshowandtell
    March 5th, 2010 @ 11:26 am

    we also had the infamous chicken wings.. hmm and so so laksa.

  19. J2Kfm
    March 5th, 2010 @ 12:16 pm

    Haha, I can’t share what’s my fav in Spore, but there sure is a LOT of varieties here in Malaysia. I like mine sweet-ish, with a spicy kick.

    Ingredients-wise, the prawn cracker is a MUST.

  20. ladyironchef
    March 5th, 2010 @ 9:07 pm

    Linda: infamous chicken wings? sounds like there’s a story behind it! haha

    j2kfm: I tried rojak in KL before, it tasted very different to the ones in Singapore. I think i still prefer our version :D

  21. button
    March 7th, 2010 @ 5:58 pm

    i <3 rojak. it simply makes my day. rojak = love = home

  22. cleartear
    March 9th, 2010 @ 5:55 pm

    brad, try ah roy thai at funan one day and blog abt it? its own by this thai family.. very long time liao. They serve very good steam fish, salted fish kailan, raw prawns, and cha-yan (milk tea). If u go there often, sometimes they have special stuff not in menu.

  23. ladyironchef
    March 10th, 2010 @ 1:30 pm

    cleartear: okay i got that! ah roy thai :)

  24. Marti
    March 23rd, 2010 @ 6:11 am

    Brad, I swear you will have me visiting Singapore before I know what hit me! Great picture and another great description… how did you sneak such a thorough description in without even saying that was coming up?

  25. ladyironchef
    March 24th, 2010 @ 12:07 am

    Marti, promise me you will come to Singapore very very soon! :)

  26. xychicz
    April 5th, 2010 @ 1:17 pm

    i’m a food lover and sometimes i have no idea where to begin the search of good food. thanks to ur blog i can now explore them!! yay!

    btw i tried a nice rojak @ far east shopping centre! 5th flr, just in front of the lift. i’m salivating jus by thinking the taste of it! omg

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