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| Chicken And Rice |
What makes this dish above a very Singaporean dish is the fact that it is not the famous Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice at Maxwell Market. Nor is this the chicken rice from its (rival) neighbor that has its own accompanying story of ownership.
Instead, what makes it uber Singaporean is that I bought it from a stall in a coffee shop under a block of flats in a housing estate somewhere in Serangoon Housing Estate.
Because it means that chicken rice is truly everywhere in Singapore. Every coffee shop will have more or less one stall. Every hawker center will have more or less one stall. And then there are all those stalls in odd places in between. You get the Chatterbox kind which is hotel-standard. You get the Soup Restaurant kind that is distinctly Hakka in presentation and taste.
You really can get chicken rice everywhere.
After the location comes the taste. Now, whether this is a fantastic-tasting chicken rice or not, I don't know, but I'm happy with it. Chicken's always good for everything, and chicken rice is one of our go-to meals when we've no idea what to have for meals.
How it goes usually be something like,
"Eat what ar?"
"Don't know ley. Yesterday we had *insert dish*. Then the day before we had *insert dish*"
"Eat *insert dish* lar."
"You want to try *insert dish* at *insert place* or not ar? I heard quite good ley. Don't know, the reviews say one."
"But last night I had *insert dish* already so today I need something spicy/soupy/clean/light"
"So how like that? What we eat like that?"
"Chicken rice lor."
We like our chicken prepared in a variety of ways, and we can definitely wax lyrical about it. How we do it, how long we do it, how tender is it, how much ginger, how much of this, how much of that, how rounded is the taste, etc. etc.
Me, when it comes to chicken rice, I'm all for the roasted. It's the skin, that's why. Roasted skin tastes much better than steamed skin and I don't need that much ginger. :) I'm all for the meat of the thigh and the tender parts. I'm also all for the rice prepped in chicken stock. I don't care if it's oilier. Oilier rice or steamed plain white rice won't make really that much difference if you're already taking roasted chicken thigh when you're supposed to be eating steamed chicken breast plain anyway. :)
Because it means that chicken rice is truly everywhere in Singapore. Every coffee shop will have more or less one stall. Every hawker center will have more or less one stall. And then there are all those stalls in odd places in between. You get the Chatterbox kind which is hotel-standard. You get the Soup Restaurant kind that is distinctly Hakka in presentation and taste.
You really can get chicken rice everywhere.
After the location comes the taste. Now, whether this is a fantastic-tasting chicken rice or not, I don't know, but I'm happy with it. Chicken's always good for everything, and chicken rice is one of our go-to meals when we've no idea what to have for meals.
How it goes usually be something like,
"Eat what ar?"
"Don't know ley. Yesterday we had *insert dish*. Then the day before we had *insert dish*"
"Eat *insert dish* lar."
"You want to try *insert dish* at *insert place* or not ar? I heard quite good ley. Don't know, the reviews say one."
"But last night I had *insert dish* already so today I need something spicy/soupy/clean/light"
"So how like that? What we eat like that?"
"Chicken rice lor."
We like our chicken prepared in a variety of ways, and we can definitely wax lyrical about it. How we do it, how long we do it, how tender is it, how much ginger, how much of this, how much of that, how rounded is the taste, etc. etc.
Me, when it comes to chicken rice, I'm all for the roasted. It's the skin, that's why. Roasted skin tastes much better than steamed skin and I don't need that much ginger. :) I'm all for the meat of the thigh and the tender parts. I'm also all for the rice prepped in chicken stock. I don't care if it's oilier. Oilier rice or steamed plain white rice won't make really that much difference if you're already taking roasted chicken thigh when you're supposed to be eating steamed chicken breast plain anyway. :)
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| Quarter chicken |