When close is almost enough

Let's face it. Hawker fare will never be the same here in Perth as it is in South East Asia. Not only are prices phenomenally ridiculous here, you constantly find yourself desperately seeking that familiar flavor of a well cooked hawker dish.

Enter Newton Circle which is perched in, of all places, a food court in the city. This long running establishment is packed during the office lunch hour and offers a range of hawker items at reasonable prices (for Perth city's crazy standards).

The most popular items here are clearly the Char kway teow and Hainanese chicken rice. The former is more akin to a Singaporean version with a slight dousing of sweet soy sauce with the addition of lap cheong (Chinese sausage) and the latter is more Malaysian in flavor with a more savoury soy dressing.

The verdict? As cliched as it sounds, it definitely is not as good as what you can get in most hawker centres in Singapore or Malaysia... at literally a fraction of the price. But it works to at least satisfy a craving. The Char kway teow has that sometimes elusive charred "wok hei" flavor which is a good indicator for any great wok fried dish. The seasoning however lacks depth and body which you find it the gutsy versions you might be used to.

The chicken rice is generous but the meat is definitely on the tough side (which is always made worse by most chicken rice establishments here that microwave the chicken before serving). The rice also lacks the ginger and garlic hit you expect when you tuck into this iconic dish. What is pretty good here is the chilli sauce - laced with lemon juice, it bears some resemblance to the lime spiked versions you get in Singapore.

All in all, Newton Circle is not a bad spot to visit when you want to find the familiar - it won't stop you yearning for the real stuff... but at least it helps jolt the food memory till the next time you find it.

Newton Circle
4/207 Murray Street
(Sidewalk cafe on the top floor of Carillon arcade)

Poultry & Grain

There are many dishes that local Singaporeans claim to be the proud national dish. Personally - I think that Hainanese chicken rice is the perfect mascot dish for this little island. There are thousands of variations of this fantastic dish all over Singapore - with some serving embarrassing examples and others creating magic with the basic ingredients of chicken and rice.

But just what makes a fantastic chicken rice? My assessment is based on some key fundamental traits, which while seemingly basic, is something that few get right altogether:

1. The Poultry - the chicken has to be still moist (ie. not overcooked till the meat becomes dry and tasteless) with a smooth, almost slippery skin that is achieved through careful poaching and submersion of the chook in iced water after the cooking process.

2. The Grain - The rice has to be packed full of flavour from a well seasoned chicken stock with noticeable but not overpowering notes of garlic and ginger. The rice grains should also have good bite (ie. not mushy overcooked gunk) without being too oily (which is an indication of way too much rendered chicken fat being used.

3. The Condiments - Thick black sauce which is only slightly sweet should be balanced against a ginger sauce that is not overly spicy or salty. Of course, there is the crucial chilli dipping sauce which should have a definite kick (from a blend of chilli padi) with a fine balance of garlic and my preference of lime juice - to cut through the fat in the poached chicken.

Sin Kee located on the second floor of the Margaret Drive Food Centre is a legend in the competitive local chicken rice scene. It has been around for yonks and is a great example of a chicken rice that gets a big tick in most of the elements highlighted.

Digression - This is a photo of one of the experienced cooks at this eatery preparing the chickens for cooking. Some may think it is a little morbid - but I actually think its pretty cool.

Anyways - back to the chicken rice. The chooks used here are huge - we ordered a whole chicken and it was a challenge finishing it amongst the four of us. The chicken skin here is exceptionally smooth and almost too tempting not to eat. The meat is perfectly cooked and very succulent. My only complaint is that Sin Kee uses a type of chicken which is quite high in fat content. The condiments were very competent and the chilli dipping sauce definitely had a good kick from the fiery chilli padi.

And of course... the rice - oh the rice! The rice here is very good - it is fragrant, aromatic, flavoursome. Exactly what good chicken rice should taste like. In fact I was so taken by the rice that I managed to scoff down two large bowls... which was more than I really should have eaten (refer to previous entry on the yin & yang).

I love Hainanese chicken rice - and the version here gives you a taste of history and a unique sense of warmth that is hard to put a finger on. More importantly, there is a strong sense of identity in this dish that is unmistakeably Singaporean. And whilst I only spent the earlier part of my life here, I identify with this dish - and in my books, that's a connection that I am extremely proud of.

A little bit of nostalgia

nostalgia (nŏ-stăl'jə, nə-): A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.
Hainanese Chicken Rice - a dish that has been the centrepiece of Singapore's culinary history for as long as anyone can remember. It is often the single dish that foreigners associate Singapore with, which is surprising given the simplicity of its composition - Boiled chicken, garlic and ginger flavoured rice, and a bowl of clear broth.

Given the popularity of this humble dish, there are literally thousands of eateries that specialise in it. And as with anything that has been around this long, chicken rice has evolved over time to cater to the tastes of discerning consumers (see previous blog on Hawkernomics). My favourite chicken rice places in Singapore serve a moist, just cooked chicken with smooth (almost slippery) chicken skin a result of dipping the boiled chicken in iced water immediately after cooking. The rice is always fragrant, with strong notes of garlic and the chicken stock its cooked in. Chilli dipping sauces (because condiments are a major part of this dish) are laced with lime juice and often include a blend of chilli padi for an extra kick.

And so, it was with some reservation that I decided to try the chicken rice at one of Singapore's oldest establishments, Yet Con, located on Purvis Street (a few blocks down from Raffles Hotel). This Hainanese restaurant is as old school as they come. Serving the same dishes since 1940, walking into this humble diner was like a blast into the past. An elderly man who looks like he's a permanent fixture sits in his favourite corner, sipping his tea. The owner sits placidly by the cashier till which consists of an abacus and a wooden table with pull out drawers for storing the day's earnings. Marble table tops that have stood the test of time are garnished by plastic crockery in red and orange. You can't help but respect this place which has seen many generations of Singaporeans come and go.

I ordered the chicken rice (of course) and sat and waited, admiring the jam jars filled with chilli and ginger dipping sauces. Before long, the waitress brought out a bowl of rice and a big bowl of soup. A plate of chicken on top of chopped cucumber arrived separately and I was ready to tuck in.

To be perfectly honest, this dish was not well executed. For one, the chicken (breast meat was served) was overcooked. Judging from this and the lack of the usual silky smooth skin, the chicken was not dunked in ice cold water to stop the cooking process. What was absent was also the usual sesame oil and soy dressing that is usually drizzled over the chicken, which just highlighted how dry the meat was. On to the condiments, the chilli dipping sauce was uninspiring - it was slightly sweet and only sour from the addition of rice vinegar which lacks the dimension that lime juice adds. Simply put, it lacked the gutzpah I look for in this condiment.

But the rice and accompanying soup won me over. The garlic and ginger flavoured rice here has an appeal that is completely unpretentious and screams home cooked nostalgia. It does not give the instant flavour hit that many successful chicken rice places here provide but it does trigger a part of your memory that remembers the way things were (or how they used to taste at least). The soup was a simple clear chicken broth that had its flavour amped up by the addition of preserved salted vegetables and a generous amount of fresh coriander. These two offerings were sincere and had a strange calming quality about them - definitely food for the soul.


As I paid for my meal and made my way out, I realised that great food doesn't always have to taste... well, great. Sometimes, the sincerity in its preparation and the respect of a dish's tradition does shine through and that in itself is pretty special. This place definitely does not have the best chicken rice that I've tasted, but its going to be one I'll remember... if only for old time's sake.