hainan chicken rice

Hainan Chicken rice, a popular dish in malaysia and Singapore - it can be considered Singapore's national dish - is a simple dish of poached chicken, steamed rice, and chicken soup, but there is a major difference between a good one and a version that is just so-so. The chicken should be juicy which often it is not, having sat on the counter all day. the soup needs to taste of chicken, not just hot water. The rice must be light and fluffy not dried-out glug from the bottom of the pan. And most importantly, the condiments that accompany this dish - the ginger dressing, and the ground fresh red chilli must be home-made and delicious and not just poured out of a bottle. Yuk, I hate cornflour! For teh above reasons, if you got to Maxwell Food market in Tajong Pagar, Singapore, you will see two Chicken rice stalls -  one is always busy with people and the other dead quiet. True, Singaporeans love to queue and so join a line because they want to do what everyone else is doing, but the plain fact of the matter is, one chicken rice is good and the other is not. In future blogs, i will reveal the secrets of Hainan Chicken rice.