For a food recipe to become a national dish, its origins should be uniquely and deeply rooted in one’s culture. However, Singapore made their chicken rice as a national dish not because they invented it, but because they made an existing dish a whole lot better, and made it their own speciality. Here’s why chicken rice is Singapore’s signature national dish.
It’s an “Innovated” Hainanese Chicken Rice
The chicken rice dishes at River Valley and other food places in Central, Singapore was originally made by Hainanese immigrants in Singapore. They only paired the plain rice with boiled chicken to create the dish. But, Singaporeans decided to innovate this dish and added a special sauce that is made of ginger, chilli garlic, and soy sauce.
The Quality of Chicken Rice
When you look it up online, you will find that most of the eateries and restaurants are competing against each other to create their version of chicken rice. In Balestier alone, you will discover several places that have the best chicken rice.
It’s Sold Almost Everywhere
If it’s your first time visiting the country, you will most likely see that most of the food hubs and hawker centres are selling it. Even when you go to Ang Mo Kio, you will still find chicken rice dishes. They can even deliver it for you for late-night dinners.
It’s Simple Yet Flavourful
The concept of chicken rice is to boil the chicken with ginger and garlic cloves, and then the chicken will be soaked with cold running water. To bring out its unique flavour, the chicken poaches broth will be used for making the chilli garlic and ginger sauce.
It Has Different Rice Recipes
Since various restaurants want to present the best chicken rice, their cooks will create a different rice recipe that will complement the chicken. Some of them use different varieties of rice and add a new ingredient to make them different from other restaurants.
These are just among the many reasons why chicken rice became Singapore’s national dish. If you want to try one, then you should go to a Boon Tong Kee branch now! You can get their famous chicken rice at Whampoa, Ang Mo Kio and River Valley.
Resource:
https://visual.ly/community/Infographics/lifestyle/chicken-rice-why-it-singapore%E2%80%99s-national-dish
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