Traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice Balls *not bad*

Traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice Balls
Bukit Merah Central Food Centre
Blk 163 Bukit Merah Road
S(150163)
#02-06

- Hainanese Chicken Rice
- Hainanese Chicken Rice Balls
- Hainanese Mutton Soup

I won't say I have always loved chicken rice.  Well, I do remember when I was young, my family would always have sunday brunch at a particular chicken rice stall at Lim Ah Pin Road.

And during the days when I exploded, I would have half a chicken plus a packet of rice.  Just for dinner.

Anyways, chicken rice to me was something I do like, but not love.  And I have ever tried searching for the "best chicken rice" in Singapore, leading me to Far East Plaza, where there were two stalls, to Lucky Plaza, where I thought it was the best for awhile, then to Peace Centre, where I thought Sing Ho chicken rice was second to none, and finally settling at the Kovan Food Centre one, where I just ate and ate and ate.

Looking back, there definitely wasn't a best.  It was just my preference.  And my preferences shifted as I grew.

And that's another story altogether.



The first time I tried chicken rice balls was in Malacca, one of the two famous stalls.  I do remember liking the balls, but the chicken wasn't like Singapore-style, so I thought it was just ok.

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I had originally intended to order chicken rice balls along with chicken meat and innards.  But the moment I realised that they sold mutton soup, I couldn't resist the temptation.

I thought the mutton soup was nice.  It had the herbal flavour, no smelly mutton smell.  Plus the wolfberries did not cover the taste of the soup!  Meat tasted a bit braised, and was a little too touch for my liking.  Had to chew a little harder for the taste to come out.

The issue with this though, was that I thought it lacked in the after taste department.  Flavourful, yes.  But when I finished it I really did wonder where had the soup gone to.

I thought the rice balls tasted just nice.  It was served abit cold though - the rice balls were prepared and kept at room temperature instead of being served in those rice buckets.  It was not too strong in the garlic and ginger department.

The dark soy sauce (yes, it's extremely important to me.  More important than the chilli LOL) was too salty for my liking.  I prefer it thicker and sweeter.

Finally, the sauce of the chicken had some sesame oil taste, and I can't exactly say I like this combination despite my preference for sesame oil in some of my food.  Meat texture was pretty much standard.  Otherwise, I'd say that the sauce was quite bland, and was definitely the weakest of the meal.

Personally, I have always thought that the chicken meat is usually bland, and it is the soy sauce/oil/whatever combination aka sauce of the chicken rice that gives it the taste, hence my emphasis on the sauces.

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This stall is definitely interesting.  The soup's good, the rice balls were nice, but it was at room temperature, hence a little cold.  Perhaps the normal rice would fare much better since it was stored in the rice buckets.

Overall, I'd say its not bad.