Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice Outlet To Open At Compass One Soon

Chicken rice is the dish that kind of makes everyone happy in Singapore. Or maybe happy isn’t quite the right word. Perhaps content would be right.

It’s the dish that people always default to when they don’t know what to eat, or just want to eat something. It’s got rice that’s more than white rice, meat, chili, you can add in some vegetables for some healthy goodness, and sometimes there’s the achar.

And all cultures love chicken. It’s the basic dish that we can all default to.

The goody stuff that’s plain on the outside and oh hmmm once you eat it.

Perhaps even chicken will love chicken.

If you just need more chicken rice pictures, perhaps you can visit @kueypng on Instagram.

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everyday #508

A post shared by ji fan fan (@kuey.png) on May 7, 2019 at 9:18pm PDT

But anyway, as for why I’m talking so much nonsense…

It’s because there’s nothing much more than the following picture telling us about…

Boon Tong Kee coming to CompassOne replacing Ayam Penyet Ria at level 1

And that’s it.

Yeah, that’s the news.

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Oh, you’re still here. I guess you’d like to know more about Boon Tong Kee then.

Here’s a picture of their chicken rice:

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Damn, you really want to know more about Boon Tong Kee huh?

Alright, here’s a little history lesson.

Boon Tong Kee, been here since 1979, serving Cantonese Chicken Rice

In 1979, Mr Thian Boon Hua started a small stall in Chinatown, serving Cantonese Chicken Rice. Later on, he established Boon Tong Kee’s first restaurant at Balestier Road in 1983.

That’s the chain you know of that opens until 4.30 a.m. And soon after… more chains pop up and there are now 7 (going to be 8) in Singapore.

Wait a min… Did you say Cantonese Chicken Rice?

Yep, yep I did.

But relax, Hainanese Chicken Rice is still Hainanese. There’s a difference.

While Hainanese Chicken Rice originated from Wenchang chicken in Hainan, Cantonese Chicken Rice started from White Cut Chicken (白切鸡).

According to GastronautDiary, the Cantonese version soaks the chicken in icy cold water, then hangs to drip-dry after boiling to form a layer of gelatin beneath the skin.

The Hainanese version is soaked in room-temperature water for 30 mins, drip-dried, and placed on a tray covered with a piece of towel.

Nowadays you just eat only and can’t tell much of a difference, so Chicken Rice is now somewhat same-same-but-different.

Anyway, Boon Tong Kee later included Tze Char (or Zi Char, depending on how you roll) from 1999 onwards.

So, even if you really don’t know what to eat, you can still just go to Boon Tong Kee instead of ordering good old chicken rice.

Even if you don’t, you can now boast that you know the difference between Hainanese and Cantonese Chicken Rice (OK, it’s not a boast at all, but hey at least you learned something).