Went to Singapore late last year, for the nth time but this trip I was forcing myself to pay more attention and take more photos! Ended up eating at 8 various different Singaporean Chicken Rice shops there - and the verdict? Might not be conclusive as it was psychically not plausible to visit them all but I found quite a few of them to be a little over-rated. Despite Singapore having the better rice execution overall and retaining the expected & separated rice texture, Hong Kong does wins hands down with chicken quality. It starts off as a 1--1 competition on score.
The No.1 stand out with the Chicken in Singapore, was definitely Tian Tian (天天). The chicken was gorgeous on 1 out of 2 occasions, but the rice seemed a little muted on both counts. Rice wise, two shops really came into contention, namely Wee Nam Kee and Boon Tong Kee. The rest of my 8 visits were quite normal, I would say. But at least flufffy enough.
南香海南雞飯 Nan Xiang in Hong Kong, just like Sergeant Chicken (三巡), was originally based from Singapore. I visited one of their outlets in Singapore this time, famous for being one of the remaining shops to render the chicken fat first before they fry the rice grains . Upon returning to Hong Kong, I tried this shop twice just to ensure consistency, and I have got to say that not only is HK's outlet of 南香雞飯 better than the one I have visited in Singapore, but it beats many of the Chicken Rices over there bar the Top 2 or 3 shops I managed to try. The rice is especially good, and better than most boasted shops in Singapore.. If not just either.
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整體超抵食
Chicken Rice Set - Part of the $40ish dollars set dishes for promotion, this gets you the full deal including Soup, Chicken wtth Rice is already completef, The green Vegetables and the 3 sauces presented in the end were given a knod of approval . ,
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雞是有調味汁的. 好. 但嫌未去骨?
The Chicken... This is served with Bones Attached. Hence it is called 貴妃雞 instead. This bit differs the most from the Singaporean version. However the original Hainan version is served like this, so it is not like it is bucking from the original recipe that much. The chicken is quite tender and has a detectable chicken taste. What's interesting is that this chicken came with a sesame-soy based sauce beneath the chicken. This is very Singaporean, but somehow most shops serving Chicken Rice in Hong Kong are served dry. 4/5
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雞飯很好吃
The Rice... The rice in Hong Kong are usually way too wet and also weak in flavours. Singapore also makes some weakish flavoured rice in most cases, but every 8 of the shops I went to cooked them fluffy and individually grained. Hong Kong 南香 managed to pull both feats together: the rice is fluffy and not sticking together, but it also has a good combination of Chicken Oil and Stock flavour, as well as some garlic and galangal. Although I haven't tried all chicken rice in HK, so far this remains the best one I have tried in town. 5/5
****************************** I often think that people over expect from a simple Chicken Rice dish. Most of the chickens including Kampong free-range ones that I ate in Singapore were quite tough, in fact, make that 7 out of 8 shops. And they were usually tasteless except Tian Tian. The rice there is cooked much drier on average, but only 2 shops were outstanding in flavours and may be only 2 other ones would have been a pass.
I was actually quite surprised by the standard of the Chicken Rice served at this HK outlet of the original Singaporean Shop.
The No.1 stand out with the Chicken in Singapore, was definitely Tian Tian (天天). The chicken was gorgeous on 1 out of 2 occasions, but the rice seemed a little muted on both counts.
Rice wise, two shops really came into contention, namely Wee Nam Kee and Boon Tong Kee. The rest of my 8 visits were quite normal, I would say. But at least flufffy enough.
南香海南雞飯 Nan Xiang in Hong Kong, just like Sergeant Chicken (三巡), was originally based from Singapore. I visited one of their outlets in Singapore this time, famous for being one of the remaining shops to render the chicken fat first before they fry the rice grains . Upon returning to Hong Kong, I tried this shop twice just to ensure consistency, and I have got to say that not only is HK's outlet of 南香雞飯 better than the one I have visited in Singapore, but it beats many of the Chicken Rices over there bar the Top 2 or 3 shops I managed to try. The rice is especially good, and better than most boasted shops in Singapore.. If not just either.
.
Part of the $40ish dollars set dishes for promotion, this gets you the full deal including Soup, Chicken wtth Rice is already completef, The green Vegetables and the 3 sauces presented in the end were given a knod of approval .
,
.
This is served with Bones Attached. Hence it is called 貴妃雞 instead. This bit differs the most from the Singaporean version. However the original Hainan version is served like this, so it is not like it is bucking from the original recipe that much. The chicken is quite tender and has a detectable chicken taste. What's interesting is that this chicken came with a sesame-soy based sauce beneath the chicken. This is very Singaporean, but somehow most shops serving Chicken Rice in Hong Kong are served dry. 4/5
.
The rice in Hong Kong are usually way too wet and also weak in flavours. Singapore also makes some weakish flavoured rice in most cases, but every 8 of the shops I went to cooked them fluffy and individually grained. Hong Kong 南香 managed to pull both feats together: the rice is fluffy and not sticking together, but it also has a good combination of Chicken Oil and Stock flavour, as well as some garlic and galangal. Although I haven't tried all chicken rice in HK, so far this remains the best one I have tried in town. 5/5
******************************
I often think that people over expect from a simple Chicken Rice dish. Most of the chickens including Kampong free-range ones that I ate in Singapore were quite tough, in fact, make that 7 out of 8 shops. And they were usually tasteless except Tian Tian. The rice there is cooked much drier on average, but only 2 shops were outstanding in flavours and may be only 2 other ones would have been a pass.
I was actually quite surprised by the standard of the Chicken Rice served at this HK outlet of the original Singaporean Shop.
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