The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) continues to promote in the Philippines a cooking style popular in the Lion City.
For the second phase of its Zi Char promotion, STB partnered with five restaurants in Metro Manila serving Singaporean dishes. Zi Char, which means “to cook and fry”, is a popular cooking style in Singapore with hints of Malay, Indian, and Peranakan influences. It’s home-cooked inspired and comes in large portions.
It highlights Byrd Tubs’ (@byrdtubs) Har Cheong Gai and Salted Egg Fried Chicken, China Mommy’s (@chinamommyPH) Sotanghon Crabs, I’M Hotel’s HotKiss Kitchen’s Chilli Crab Brioche Burger, Sambar’s (@sambarph) homestyle offerings, and Comer y Comic’s (@comerycomic) flavored butters.
“Many of us are missing Singapore dishes, and this is an exciting chance to taste our Zi Char favorites as we wait for borders to open,” said Ruby Liu, STB’s area director for the Philippines.
Zi Char or Char lang
Following the first YouTube series where Marvin Agustin learned how to pronounce “Zi Char” (tse-chah), the actor and restaurateur this time teaches fellow celebrities how to cook Zi Char dishes for the web series “Zi Char or Char Lang”.
Agustin’s guests include musician-couple Karylle and Yael Yuzon, comedian Victor Anastacio, and former love team partner Jolina Magdangal.
Agustin will teach the guests how to cook Zi Char recipes such as chili crab and pork rib king. If it’s a success, he will say “Zi Char!”, and if not, then it’s “char lang!”
“I’m so excited for people to see ‘Zi Char or Char Lang’ because I really had fun shooting this with my friends and I was able to share my knowledge about Zi Char, thanks to chef Bjorn!” he said.
