Hainanese Chicken Rice

Hainanese Chicken Rice something that I will always miss when I am away from Singapore, especially when I travel to western country. Remember years back after my trip back from USA, I told my hubby that I want to have chicken rice.

Hainanese chicken rice could be easily found in almost all corners in Singapore. In fact, most of the native Chinese here are able to cook their own family version of chicken rice. The rice is a very important factor. Traditionally, chicken fats, garlic and shallots are used to lightly fried with the rice grains before cooking. Due to health concern, chicken fats had been discarded. Chicken broth (that is used to blanch the chicken) and ginger are then added to cook with the rice. Some will also add in pandan leaves to give the extra aroma to the rice.

In order to ensure that the chicken is not over cooked and to remain its tenderness, most of the chef will soak the chicken in ice water for a while, immediately after removing from the boiling broth. But this procedure somehow will loose part of the original chicken taste.

If you prefer to have that orginal taste of the chicken, you may want to want to try out the chicken at Chicken House. Over there, they serve kampong chicken which is less fatty and they do not soak their chicken in ice water to maintain its original. You will also note that the skin of the chicken there is much yellowish than other places else.

Chicken House

Address: 255 Upper Thomson Road

Contact no.: 6456 0698

Operating hours: 10am to 9.30pm.

Kway Chap @ Macpherson

Kway Chap (in Teochew) or 粿汁 is another Teochew cuisine in Singapore that could be taken as breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is served with a bowl of flat broad rice sheets in soya soup base and your own selection of braised pig's innards (intestines), tau pok, salted vegetables and some with braised ducks. A good chilli sauce is also a must for kway chap.

The soup is normally made with chinese herbs, spices (like cinnamon and cloves), pork bones and dark soya sauce. The rice sheets for kway chap should be thin, smooth and silky. The rice sheets should be taken together with the soup, as the rice sheets is normally bland.

The kway chap served at Chuan Lai Kway Chap King was different from most of the places I had. This place was a favourite stall by a few of my colleagues and they brought me here for lunch one day.

Chuan Lai has a wide selection of sides for you to choose, they include, braised duck, pig's innards (intestines, stomach, etc.), pork belly, pig's skin, pig's trotters, tau pok. beancurd, salted vegetables. The braised sauce and soup here has a much stronger herbal taste than other stalls and its slightly gooey. Those who like strong herbal taste will appreciate the kway chap here. I like the large intestines here, very well clean and no foul smell. The pig's skin is also good, all fat removed and braised till its real soft, its almost melt in the mouth.

Chuan Lai Kway Chap King/Chuan Lai Guo Zhi Wang

Address: 560 Macpherson Road

Contact No.: 67441252

Operating Hours: 8am to 12.30am

Istimewa Nasi Padang @ Hoy Fatt Road

Spicy food has always been something I fancy. Nasi Padang is one that I like very much. I love the spices and chilli that are used to cook the food.

If you are also a fan for Nasi Padang, I would like to recommend you to try Istimewa Nasi Padang. This stall is always with long queue during lunch hours. Understand a lot of their customers are taxi drivers and the working force nearby.

What made this stall so popular? I believe it is because not only the food is nice, the price is also very reasonable. I was there having lunch with my hubby and we ordered beef rendang, fried chicken, squid in black sauce, fried fish and sayor lodeh (mixed vegetables curry), all these for $11.00 for two persons. If you are sharing your food, the stall owner will serve you a small plate of their self-made sambal belachan. The sambal belachan is really good to go with the rice or fried chicken.

The beef rendang was cooked till soft and tender, the gravy is rich and you can taste the strong spices in it. The gravy is good to eat with the rice.

Most of the places, the fried chicken are very dry in the inside after deep fried. But over here, the fried chicken is crispy on the outside and yet tender and juicy in the inside. Apparently I noticed that almost everyone will order their fried chicken drum stick.

The squid in black sauce was my favourite, the squid was cooked just right, soft and chewy. Unlike some stall, the squid is always over-cooked and taste like chewing rubber band. I also like the egg in the squid, silky and soft, but sinful to eat, high in cholestrol...haha.

For sayor lodeh, the vegetables are cooked till soft. The gravy absorb the sweetness from the vegetables and coconut milk is fragant. The gravy is so nice that I even drink it on its own...hehe.

Come and try it out yourself and share your views with me. As some popular dishes will be sold out quickly, its best to patron them before 12.00pm. For breakfast, they will serve longton and nasi lemak.

Istimewa Nasi Padang
Address: Blk 28 Hoy Fatt Road #01-24

(Inside Cheong Wah Coffeeshop)

Opening hours: 6.30am till 3pm (or when sold out)

Close on Sunday

Grilled Cuttlefish Head @ East Coast Lagoon

Whenever I come to East Coast Lagoon Hawker Center, I will surely patron East Coast Rojak for their grilled cuttlefish head. Their cuttelfish heads are well flaten before grilling, so that they will be crispy and easy to chew after grilling. The shrimp paste (or Hea Ko) here is very rich in taste and go very well with the cuttlefish. I always asked for the shrimp paste without chilli as I prefer its original taste. Each cuttlefish head cost $2.00. The plate showed in the photo below contained 4 of them.

You can also try their grilled tau pok and you tiao. The tau pok is pretty big here and the vegetables stuff in them are fresh and crunchy. The plate of combo below cost $3.00.

East Coast Rojak
Address: East Coast Lagoon Hawker Centre, #01-20