Nan Xiang Chicken Rice: Great Chicken Rice but is it the Top 5?

The competition for the best chicken rice in Singapore is a tough one. There are a lot of chicken rice out there and most of them are not bad. The thing with chicken rice is that it is very easily franchised because the rice, chicken, chilli and soup can all be made in a central kitchen and distributed to several branches. Very little of it is operator dependent. So, as long as you can find someone who can chop the chicken, you've set up another branch of your chicken rice chain.

It's getting more difficult to blog about chicken rice because I really need to find one that has that special something in order to justify it being included into the blog since there are so many good chicken rice out there.

I actually do have a stash of chicken rice photos that lie unpublished because they were good but I just did not have much to say about their chicken rice. So when I chanced upon Nan Xiang last week, I was actually quite excited that at last I have found another chicken rice which has a little something special.



There are three things I would say about Nan Xiang. First, there are one of the very few stalls who claim that they still fry their rice before cooking. A lot of chicken rice stalls out there have stopped this practise because it is labour intensive especially if you have to cook bucket loads of rice. So when you eat the rice here, you can appreciate that extra fragrance and texture that sets it apart from the other stalls.

The second thing I would like to bring to your attention is that they have pasted on their display cabinet a newspaper cutting that proudly claim that their are one of the Top Five chicken rice in Singapore. I didn't take note of the details and who the other contenders were, but being able to be shortlisted as the Top Five is quite an achievement since I think that there are far more Chicken Rice stalls than any other types of food stalls in Singapore.



Now apart from the rice being very nice, I really like the ginger here. It is different from the ginger served at other places. The owner was mum about what goes into it, but it had a nice saltiness about it that went well with the chicken. If you are a lover of hot chilli, you would love their chilli sauce as well which is made from chilli padi and lime juice. That extra touch of lime juice rather than vinegar is also another indication that the owner is passionate about his food. The chicken is good, but much the same as any other good chicken rice stall around. Overall, this chicken rice gets a 4.5/5 because of the rice and condiments.



Since we were dining with our venerable Uncle Smart, we just had to request for the most prized part of the chicken for him. I actually wanted to try some but did not managed to get to them in time.



When I met the owner, I had a sense that I have met him before somewhere but I just could not put my finger on it. It was only when I started writing the blog that I realised that he looked a bit like our Hokkien Mee Uncle from Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee! Have a look at the two gentleman and see if you agree with me.

Conclusion

Yes this chicken rice is special, but is it really Top Five? What would your Top Five be?

Nan Xiang Chicken Rice
Left hand side facing the Carpark
Whampoa Food Centre

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Singapore Fried Hokkien Mee: Fantastic Chilli and Lard!

Did you know that you can't actually register a company name with the word Singapore anymore? I guess it makes sense since everything is already Singapore this and Singapore that. I reckon they should do the same with "Raffles". (or have they?)

Anyway I think the name Singapore Fried Hokkien Mee is very apt since Hokkien Mee is very uniquely Singaporean. You can of course find it in other countries nowadays but they are never as good or as varied as the ones here. I have been on record (Sunday Times) to say that Hokkien Mee is grossly underated in Singapore and that it is my first hawker dish I would eat when I get back from overseas.

To be completely honest, my first spoonful of this Hokkien Mee was pretty unmemorable. BUT that was before I added the sambal chilli and a piece of the crispy pork lard. Boooom! Phwah Sayah! Shiok lah! For a guy who does not usually take chilli, that is a big complement. The sambal here is very tasty and not overly spicy. And the pork lard, oh the pork lard, one of the best I have ever tasted. Light and crispy and oh so pang (fragrant). Why, oh why, do you tempt me so! Oh heavenly pork lard? The combination of the noodles, chilli and pork lard really made my day! 4.5/5



Lovers of Chinese Style Mee Goreng will be very happy to know that this stall also fries a pretty mean Mee Goreng. Actually if you think about it, the ingredients are almost identical except for the addition of Tomato Ketchup. So any HKM stall should be able to fry a Mee Goreng. The Mee Goreng was a bit dry that day but I felt it could be easily fixed. Tastewise is as good as the ones that I usually eat at seafood restaurants, but at a fraction of the price. 4/5 Please note that Mee Goreng is only available at off peak periods ie in the afternoons at around 4 to 6 pm as they get too busy frying HKM during the peak periods.

Conclusion

If you like to eat your HKM with sambal, this is your place to be. If you don't then maybe this is the place where that will all change!

Singapore Fried Hokkien Mee
Whampoa Food Centre
4pm to 1.30am

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