SHOALWATER BAY, Queensland: In a spotless kitchen tucked away in a military camp in Queensland, Australia, a handful of chefs busy themselves preparing dinner for the night.
At one end, chicken wings coated in batter are dropped into deep fryers; at another, vegetables stir-fried and sambal prepared.
It culminates in nasi lemak – but this is no ordinary incarnation of the rice dish.
A specialty of junior sous chef Bee Bee Jan Abdul Kadir, it comes with tomatoes on top of the usual cucumbers, and a “totally different” sambal paste made from a secret recipe of hers.
Soldiers here in the camp, in particular those from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), call it “Wallaby nasi lemak”, Madam Bee Bee told reporters on Monday (Nov 11) evening.
And it’s just one of a bevy of offerings whipped up by chefs from SATS Food Services at the new Camp Tilpal set up in an expanded portion of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area.
The camp can accommodate 2,000 people, and hosts the SAF, Australian Defence Force and other visiting troops for exercises.
These include Exercise Wallaby, the SAF’s largest overseas exercise which runs for nine weeks.
The final phase, known as Exercise Trident, is a bilateral military exercise between Singapore and Australia conducted between Nov 6 and 15 this year.
