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It's no secret that Singapore's hawker food is amazing, so much so that it has charmed internationally renowned chefs the likes of Gordon Ramsay, Marco Pierre White, the late Anthony Bourdain, and most recently, Michelin restaurant owner Wolfgang Puck.
Michelin restauranteur and chef
Those who have frequented The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands may find Puck's name familiar as he owns the one Michelin star steakhouse Cut by Wolfgang Puck.
Besides the steakhouse that bears his namesake, Puck also owns the fine dining establishment Spago Dining Room, which has been listed on the Michelin Guide.
The restauranteur and chef was in Singapore recently to attend Milken Institute's Asia Summit and the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix, but managed to carve some time out of his busy schedule to visit the wet market and sample some local hawker fare.
Made fresh yong tau foo
Puck was joined by his "good friend", the famous French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, during his quick exploration of Chinatown complex.
Both men were flanked by their respective teams, all of whom were hosted by Singaporean food influencer Veronica Phua.
Phua noted in her Instagram post that the visitors "were curious and asked a lot of questions".
This much was evident from her video, where the men were hardly seen without their phones, eagerly snapping pictures of the wares during their wet market walkabout.
Image screenshot from @veronicaphua/Instagram.
They were also unafraid to take a closer look, be it perusing the wares on display or peering into stalls and engaging with stall owners and hawkers.
At one point in the video, an inquisitive Puck walks into a fresh yong tau foo stall to take a peek behind the curtain.
Before you know it, Puck has befriended the female stall owner, who can be seen in the video showing the seasoned chef the ropes to the Hakka Chinese dish.
Image screenshot from @veronicaphua/Instagram.
As Phua so duly noted: "No one was immune to their charms."
Fried carrot cake
Puck's little jaunt did not stop at the wet market and he proceeded up to the second level of Chinatown Complex, where cooked food was served and sold.
While he was there, he apparently also won over some of the hawkers, who welcomed the Austrian-American into their stalls, handed him their wok turners and ladles, and put him to work behind their sizzling wok and simmering pots of broth.
In his Instagram post, Puck was pictured by the Japanese chef Tetsu Yahagi, where he can be seen trying his hand at frying up the local fried carrot cake.
He, of course, got to enjoy the spoils of his labour.
Seemingly unable to wait any further, Puck used his fingers to deftly pinch off some of the black carrot cake from the serving tray, which he balanced precariously with one hand, before he and the food had the chance to make it back to their seats.
Image screenshot from @veronicaphua/Instagram.
Feasted on local food
Once seated, Puck can be seen alongside Vongerichten digging into a spread of local hawker fare, which also included the white carrot cake, as well as Hokkien mee, satay, nasi padang, soy sauce chicken amongst others.
The foreign chefs also had no qualms to try more exotic dishes such as claypot turtle soup, remarking that it was "very aromatic", according to Phua.
Image screenshot from @veronicaphua/Instagram.
They were also taken by the other dishes they sampled and sang their praises, said Phua, who added that they were doing the Singaporean thing and "talking about food while eating".
Recounting the experience, Phua said: "I loved seeing how happy everyone looked as they grazed on the spread of assorted hawker food."
You can watch Puck's little excursion below:
Top image from @veronicaphua/Instagram