Those who frequent the Straits Times online forum STOMP, will know that it has been running an online poll to find Singapore's favourite hawkers since the end of August. The results will be announced in the Straits Times on Sunday, but since the voting has been closed since September 30th, Pretensions has jumped the gun to announce the winners here.

For the uninitiated, Singapore has had a longtime tradition of street hawkers who began peddling their wares from pushcarts and even bicycles in the '50s and '60s. The food was always cheap and delicious, but not always hygienic, due to the itinerant nature of the hawkers (no licences then) and depending on their source of ingredients. In the late 70s and 80s, the Singapore government stepped in, requiring licences for continued operation and moving the hawkers to permanent hawkers centres (non-air conditioned) and food courts (air-conditioned). This enabled regular inspections for food cleanliness to be enforced and has overall, been a good thing; though some may complain about the relative blandness and homogeneity of today's hawkers.

The categories selected by the ST provide a good cross-sampling of Singapore's hawker cuisine, and in a testament to our food culture, there were several hundred votes cast! Please note that the photos shown below are merely generic representations of the kind of food and are not actual dishes from the winning hawker stalls. Nearly all the photos are courtesy of the Visual Guide to Singapore Food. The rest are credited in their descriptions.

Bak Kut Teh - Founder Rou Gu Cha Cafeteria, 347 Balestier Road
Char Kway Teow - Hill Street Fried Kway Teow - Block 16 Bedok South Road 01-187, Bedok South Road Market & Food Centre
Chicken Rice - Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, Maxwell Road, Stall 10 Maxwell Market
Fish Soup - Blanco Court Fried Fish Soup, 341 Beach Road
Fried Carrot Cake - Chey Sua Carrot Cake - Block 127 Toa Payoh Lorong 1, 02-30 Toa Payoh Lorong 1 Food Centre
Fried Hokkien Mee - Nam Sing HokkienFried Prawn Mee (Hougang) - Block 51 Old Airport Road, 01-32 Old Airport Road Food Centre
Indian Rojak - Sabeena's Indian Rojak (Halal) - Block 270 Queen's Street, 01-152 Albert Centre
Kway Chap - Zhu Jia Pig Organ Soup - Block 504 Bishan St 11 (S11 food court stall 9)
Laksa - 328 Katong Laksa - 216 East Coast Road
Mee Goreng - Sabeena's Indian Rojak (Halal) - Block 270 Queen's Street, 01-152 Albert Centre
Mee Rebus - Goody N Jolly - 80 Marine Parade Road, B1-113 Parkway Parade Shopping Centre
Mee Siam - Goody N Jolly - 80 Marine Parade Road, B1-113 Parkway Parade Shopping Centre
Minced Pork Noodles - Tong Ji Mian Shi, Block 505 Beach Road, Golden Mile Food Centre 01-100
Nasi Briyani - Singapore Zam Zam Restaurant, 697-699 North Bridge Road
Nasi Lemak - Selera Rasa Adam Road No. 1 - 2 Adam Road, Stall 2 Adam Road Food Centre
Oyster Omelette - Katong Oyster Omelette, Geylang Lorong 9, Xin Lai Lai
Prawn Mee - Beach Road Prawn Noodle House, 370 East Coast Road
Roti Prata - Thasevi Food Famous Jalan Kayu Prata Restaurant, 235-239 Jalan Kayu
Wonton Mee - Ji Ji Wanton Noodle Specialist, Block 531A Upper Cross Street, 02-49 Hong Lim Food Complex
Yong Tau Foo - Shun Li - Block 115 Bukit Merah View, 01-397 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre

P thinks they've left a couple categories out tho'. What about Rojak, the quintessential asian fruit salad? P's vote for that goes to Hoover Rojak at Whampoa Drive for their wicked chilli & Hae Koh (prawn paste) sauce and the use of jellyfish in the rojak. Right near Hoover is P's favourite Popiah stall in a coffee shop. Can't remember the name offhand, but it as 3 numbers in it... They've also left out satay, sigh.

Still, the full report (probably with hawker interviews) will be in this Sunday's Straits Times so watch for it!