Day 7

Getting Hainanese chicken rice in Sinagapore is like getting hot dogs in Chicago or pizza in New York City. It’s everywhere and everyone has their opinion on where to get the best in town.

My first encounter with Hainanese chicken rice was my freshman year of college at a friend's house whose mom was from Hainan. I thought it was genius. What was I thinking just cooking my rice in plain water when it could taste so good cooked in chicken broth and chicken fat?! Since then I haven't had it better than my first trip to Singapore when I took a hiatus from my US university to be a student in a Japanese University.

Hainanese chicken rice, as the name implies, originated in Hainan, located in south eastern China. However, everyone who is familiar with Singapore, has been to Singapore, and those living there will claim that chicken rice is the national dish.  It’s basically cut up pieces of steamed chicken, served over a bed of rice that has been cooked in the chicken broth, accompanied by some sliced cucumbers and a side of chicken broth. It's also served with three types of dipping sauce: dark, sweet soy sauce (it has the consistency of a balsamic reduction), chili sauce, and grated ginger sauce.

Eat it however you want. Most people like to drizzle the thick dark soy sauce over the rice first then dip the chicken in the chili and ginger.  For those, like myself, who aren’t too keen on just steamed chicken, there is also the roasted chicken version. I believe it’s much tastier and the skin has a lot more flavor. 

I have eaten at more chicken rice places in Singapore than I can count.  I have eaten it from hawker food stalls to fancy fine dining establishments and everywhere else in between. My conclusion is this, you should only pay about $3 SGD, a little over $2 USD for your chicken rice.

Case in point, the best chicken rice I’ve had is at a hawker food stall at the Tiong Bharu food center.  The chicken breast was moist and succulent. The broth was clear, light, and appeared to have little to no fat. The rice was fragrant of chicken essence and not at all greasy for rice that has been cooked in chicken broth and chicken fat.  It was very filling and cost me $2.50 SGD (about $2 USD).

The worst I’ve had is at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. Everyone seems to boast about it, even my taxi driver. There I paid $27 SGD (about $21 USD) for a plate of cold, dry, mealy chicken and plain flavorless rice.

In essence, if you’re paying anymore than $3 for your chicken rice in Singapore, you’re pretty much paying for air conditioning and a softer chair to sit.  Now if you’re really keen on that environment to enjoy your chicken rice, I recommend the Sheraton Towers hotel. They make a more than decent roasted chicken rice. It’ll cost about $24 SGD (about $20 USD), but the atmosphere is nice and when it’s 100 degrees F outside with 85% humidity I WILL pay extra for the air conditioning and not have to sweat it out on a plastic stool at a hawker food center. That's just me though. =)

Stay tuned for my next meal....