Hey Hive!
Even though there are still people getting covid, it's basically being treated like a cold these days so thankfully almost everything is back to normal now! There are no more restrictions on dining these days and you don't even have to wear a mask anymore if you don't want to! It's a huge relief and this allows us to try different food places again!
Last week, I shared about a Lunar New Year buffet lunch we went on with Sean's relatives which was delicious! A few weeks after that, we went to visit my brother and his family for the New Year and we decided to get them chicken rice for dinner!
Source: Asian Inspirations
Chicken Rice is one of my all-time favourite local dishes, which makes sense since it is Singapore's national dish. If you've never had Hainanese Chicken Rice before, it's a dish of (typically) poached chicken and seasoned rice, served with chilli sauce and cucumber slices. It's ubiquitous in Singapore and you can find a stall that sells chicken rice in almost every hawker center here.
Their nearby mall had one of our favourite chicken rice restaurants called Boon Tong Kee! It started out as a small stall in Chinatown serving Cantonese chicken rice in 1979 and Mr Thian Boon Hua later established a restaurant with his family in 1983. Now they have quite a few restaurants all over Singapore! It's a true homegrown business story.
My family used to patronise this restaurant every so often and they never disappoint. In fact, Sean and I tried it a year or so ago and it's still as delicious as ever! The restaurants themselves have changed somewhat, with more outlets and fancier interior decor but as long as the food is the same, that's all that matters.
This outlet definitely looked very fancy unlike the one I remember my family going to in the East side of Singapore or the one Sean and I visited, which are more rustic and traditional-looking. This one looked very modern and clean like a cafe.
They even had self-order kiosks outside the restaurant which I did not expect. But I guess they must be really popular that they needed those. Here's a look at the menu, which of course features their signature chicken:
But they do have quite a few other dishes as well like soups, egg dishes and various appetizers:
Like most Chinese restuarants here they also have seafood section despite being known for their chicken rice.
And of course they have a meat section as well:
We ordered takeaway since we were going to my brother's house and we bought half a boiled chicken, some fried tofu and lots of the special chicken rice.
Everything looked and smelled so good! They had spinach prepared so we didn't need to buy vegetables. The chicken normally comes with some cucumber slices as well though.
The chicken was so tender and juicy! Sean and I prefer roasted chicken with our chicken rice which they unfortunately did not have at the time but this was really delicious still. The meat was so flavourful as well and didn't need any additional sauces but it goes well with the special ginger-garlic chili sauce too.
Here's a look at the special chicken rice:
If you've never had chicken rice before, it's not just regular rice. This is jasmine rice that's been cooked in the chicken fat, with garlic, shallots, pandan leaves and other aromatics. It gives the rice so much extra flavour that you really can just eat it on its own!
This was the fried tofu which came with a side of mayonnaise. We've tried their fried tofu before and typically the outside is very crisp while the inside is soft and fluffy.
Unfortunately by the time we sat down to eat the tofu wasn't as crispy due to the condensation in the takeout box and by the time I remembered it it was too late. Either way it was still really yummy nonetheless.
Overall it was a very satisfying meal indeed; even my young niece really enjoyed it! We ended up buying a few boxes of rice extra but it was alright since Sean likes it and we took it home. It's been a good few years since I've tried Boon Tong Kee's white chicken but I'm glad to see it still holds up to this day. If you're ever craving some restaurant-quality chicken rice, definitely try Boon Tong Kee!
Thanks so much for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
[//]:# (!pinmapple 1.40655 lat 103.90211 long d3scr)
Check out my previous post in this series!
