Looking forward to Eat With Your Family Day on 17 November? Make the meal an extra special one with some of these family meal ideas that gets everyone involved.

#1 Have a popiah party

Get the whole family involved in “cooking” dinner with a popiah-making assembly line. Ingredients like bamboo shoots, turnip, beansprouts, cucumbers and more are easily available at the supermarket, and there are places that sell popiah skin to save you the trouble of making it yourself. For an extra bit of family meal fun, have a competition to see who can make the biggest, firmest or tastiest popiah—the winner doesn’t need to help with the washing up.

#2 DIY Sushi dinner

With a bamboo mat, some Japanese rice, and fillings of your choice, you’re all set to start making your own sushi rolls for a family meal. Start with simple ones filled with imitation crab, tamagoyaki, avocado and cucumber to build your confidence, before going on to more complex ones like the california roll or dragon roll.

#3 Cook-your-own hotpot dinner

Hotpots aren’t just for Chinese New Year! For a hassle-free family meal, consider ordering in from popular joints like Hai Di Lao or Beauty in a Pot. And if you’ve got some time to spare, challenge yourself to make your own soup stock—maybe even something like a Korean army stew for the family to feast on before bingeing on some k-dramas for dessert.

#4 Potluck picnic

It might be rare that you get to end work so early so make the most of it by getting a breath of fresh air and catching the magic hour this Eat With Your Family Day. Get every member of the family to contribute part of the family meal and head down Marina Barrage, Pasir Ris Park, East Coast Park, or one of the other scenic sunset spots near home for a picnic. This is a great time to bust out a charcuterie or butter board!

#5 Try hyped-up TikTok recipes

Plan a three-course family meal with trending TikTok recipes. For example, you could start with the watermelon salad as an appetiser, go on to a baked feta pasta or ramen lasagne as a main, and end off with a delicious dump cake for dessert. You’ll get to see if the trending TikTok recipes are really worth the hype, and everyone can have fun making their own TikTok videos in the process.

#7 Have a hawker food showdown

Everyone’s got an opinion on where to find the best chicken rice, nasi lemak, hokkien mee or char kuay teow in Singapore. So pick a hawker dish and send each member of the family to take away their favourite variations of it from across the country. Then gather around for a taste test where everyone can vote on which is truly the island’s best. If this goes well, you can make this an Eat With Your Family Day tradition!