Seetoh, Singapore street-food guru

Stevie Emilia, The Jakarta Post, Singapore

Ask Singapore's street-food guru K.F. Seetoh how he sees himself, and the response comes instantly, "I'm crazy". Come to think of it, he is crazy -- crazy about food.

With the right food question, Seetoh can talk for hours; about the food's history, ingredients to detailed cooking steps that leave you feeling famished.

"I'm like a pregnant woman. Every day I like (to eat) different things," confessed the 42-year-old bestselling creator of the makansutra food guides.

A self-proclaimed "noncook" when he started out, Seetoh said he learned the craft because he found it the best way to appreciate a dish.

His love affair with food runs in the family, from his Cantonese parents, but making it his job came later in life.

"I'm Cantonese. You ask any Chinese, Cantonese people are the most food-crazy people in China. We eat anything with legs but tables, anything with wings except airplanes."

Previously, Seetoh was a senior photojournalist with The Straits Times but gave up after about seven years on the job and then became a commercial photographer.

"But by 1994, I was very tired. At that time, I realized I couldn't carry on, although I was quite a successful photographer on my own. But I can't carry on. I have to start something new."

His extensive travel experiences while working as a photojournalist took him closer to foods of many ethnicities. In the West he saw how food was made into an art and crafted, how food was celebrated.

"Then I thought, why in Asia aren't people celebrating food? They're just eating," Seetoh said.

He got interested in the origins of particular foods and dishes. Going to markets and talking to hawkers he found thousands of "food stories". For the start, he said, there were the three main food cultures in South Asia -- India, China and Indonesia. Many spices, Chinese food and curries, he added, originated in Asia but no efforts had made to record this heritage.

"So I decided to do makansutra; the first and the most important thing is to help people know that while they enjoy the food, they know it's part of their heritage, history, legacy."

'Food spies'

Makansutra is not only a book, it is also a consultancy agency aiming to promote Asia food culture to a wider audience. It also arranges food tours of Singapore, has an informative Internet site and helped produce a food show for television.

"I still very much believe there's lot of food culture to promote in Asia. The Thais do it quite well, Japan does it very well but Indonesian food? Besides nasi and your satay and soto (clear soup), what does the rest of the world know about Indonesian food? Zero. I pity Indonesians who travel abroad. When they go out, they can't find their food and want to quickly come back."

After creating the bestseller makansutra food bible Singapore edition in 1998, he then inked a Indonesia and Malaysia series.

The glossy books, which list between 500 to 1,000 eateries each, have been printed several times -- its Singapore edition has reached its fifth printing and has sold more than 25,000 copies, a big record for Singapore.

For the food guide, Seetoh was assisted by independent team of food critics, known as "makanmatas" (food spies), who go incognito to the eateries and file intelligent and critical reviews. There are no restaurant advertisements in the guidebook to ensure it is independent.

"My book for me is to exercise how I share, I'm not a food expert, I'm a 'food anthropologist', I'm a makan guru. I just eat and talk," Seetoh said.

But hawkers have special place in his heart.

"They are the ones who gave birth to icons of Asian food culture. Asian food culture isn't born in restaurants, the rich Asian food culture that we love was born in the streets," he said. "For me, the hawkers are important. I call a guy, like the one who is selling satay, to me he's a soldier of food culture."

makansutra, he said, was aimed at creating and disseminating more information, putting food culture on a pedestal and showcasing Asian dishes to the world before the rich Asian street culture was "bastardized" by Western food and restaurant traditions.

So what's his criteria for good food then? "Enak gile (totally delicious)," he said, although he prefers something that he can only explain as the "third flavor", a lovely food combination -- not fusion -- that is especially rich in Singapore where new flavors are created as eating cultures blend.

An on Makansutra's food tour, guests can discover this special third flavor as they bus around to selected destinations in Singapore.

On their way, they are given what Seetoh calls "food of the mind" -- they are told where they are going, why, what they will be eating and why it is unique.

Seetoh has also ventured into television, including a four- season show on Singapore's channel i where he took viewers to find the best eating spots on the island.

Now, he also manages an eatery located next to Singapore's prestigious Esplanade theater where 12 selected hawkers offer their special food, from oyster omelettes to fried prawn noodles, from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. daily.

"It's seen as a very sensitive (move to open an eatery) for people like us -- food critics. But I'm not selling food, so it's ok. It's very fulfilling for me to be able to make people sit back and say enak (delicious)," he said.

Seetoh still has one thing he wants to do. After releasing the makansutra series for Jakarta, Malaysia and Singapore, he wants to do the same thing for other nations.

"We look to be the Lonely Planet of food. We want to do a food and lifestyle guide for every country."