Singaporean here, with some comments on the Straits Chinese portion...
On the lumpia - the pictured variety would probably be more commonly referred to as popiah instead (given its provenance from a Singaporean hawker center), and the primary ingredient for the filling is shredded stewed jicama (known locally as bang kwang). I can't say for sure, but I doubt that variety of popiah would have any glass noodles either.
On Straits Hainanese chicken rice - in practice I don't see a lot of local hawkers adding pandan leaves to the rice when cooking. Also an important difference between the Singaporean and Hainanese varieties is probably the nature of the stock* - in Hainan, they might use pork broth, whereas in Singapore this is rarely done. Though I profess ignorance on other regional styles.
The picture you've chosen to depict a niang tofu dish appears to actually be for a curry laksa dish from a KL stall**, which I wouldn't have thought would have included niang tofu (it looks like green beans, tofu skin, and eggplant). This is entirely subjective (and biased towards Singaporean foodways), of course, but I do agree with you that a more representative example of a niang tofu dish, to my mind, is a clear soup^. That said, it is indeed quite common for yong tau foo stalls to offer a laksa-based soup too.
Just some pedantic nitpicking, but I do love and appreciate what you're trying to do here, so offering some suggested amendments in the most constructive spirit!
Taiwanese here. The benshen/waishen split is based on outdated politics that I don't believe accurately describe the reality of our food. For one, both benshen and waishen are not a homogeneous group. Hakka Taiwanese consider themselves distinct from Minnan Taiwanese, while Waishen people each identify with their respective city or province of origin. We don't call it waishen food but Shanghai, Guandong, Shangdong or whatever food. For another, there's already too much fusion. Minnan, Hakka, Teochew, Japanese, Waishen, Indigenous, and American influences have all mingled quite a lot. We have things like Japanese-influenced curry, Taiwanese style miso soup, meat floss sandwich, fried chicken, black pepper steak, Japanese-influenced schnitzel, Taiwanese bread, etc that can't be neatly grouped as either benshen or waishen.
Singaporean here, with some comments on the Straits Chinese portion...
On the lumpia - the pictured variety would probably be more commonly referred to as popiah instead (given its provenance from a Singaporean hawker center), and the primary ingredient for the filling is shredded stewed jicama (known locally as bang kwang). I can't say for sure, but I doubt that variety of popiah would have any glass noodles either.
On Straits Hainanese chicken rice - in practice I don't see a lot of local hawkers adding pandan leaves to the rice when cooking. Also an important difference between the Singaporean and Hainanese varieties is probably the nature of the stock* - in Hainan, they might use pork broth, whereas in Singapore this is rarely done. Though I profess ignorance on other regional styles.
*https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=ceddd346-4072-4981-b20d-f771bea7dd81#:~:text=One%20difference%20between%20the%20Hainanese,of%20the%20Hainanese%20chicken%20rice.
The picture you've chosen to depict a niang tofu dish appears to actually be for a curry laksa dish from a KL stall**, which I wouldn't have thought would have included niang tofu (it looks like green beans, tofu skin, and eggplant). This is entirely subjective (and biased towards Singaporean foodways), of course, but I do agree with you that a more representative example of a niang tofu dish, to my mind, is a clear soup^. That said, it is indeed quite common for yong tau foo stalls to offer a laksa-based soup too.
**https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=549422163893129&set=pcb.549422247226454/https://maps.app.goo.gl/q3sYroa6iREshQ1U6
^https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yong_tau_foo
Just some pedantic nitpicking, but I do love and appreciate what you're trying to do here, so offering some suggested amendments in the most constructive spirit!
Wow! You guys have gone above and beyond with this treatise!
Thanks so much!
So, will we be seeing a series that recreates each of these dishes (excepting of course the one you said you never ever make)?
My vote for the debut recipe is Three Cup Duck.
Thank you for your service 🫡🫡🫡
Taiwanese here. The benshen/waishen split is based on outdated politics that I don't believe accurately describe the reality of our food. For one, both benshen and waishen are not a homogeneous group. Hakka Taiwanese consider themselves distinct from Minnan Taiwanese, while Waishen people each identify with their respective city or province of origin. We don't call it waishen food but Shanghai, Guandong, Shangdong or whatever food. For another, there's already too much fusion. Minnan, Hakka, Teochew, Japanese, Waishen, Indigenous, and American influences have all mingled quite a lot. We have things like Japanese-influenced curry, Taiwanese style miso soup, meat floss sandwich, fried chicken, black pepper steak, Japanese-influenced schnitzel, Taiwanese bread, etc that can't be neatly grouped as either benshen or waishen.