After buying my ticket, I decided to head out to the shops nearby to have dinner. Wanted to try the Tuaran Noodle shop nearby which I saw the other day. But something else caught my eye. It was Guang Ming Daily’s “Hainan Chicken Rice King” poster. Well, I’m not a big fan of Guang Ming Daily, and neither do I read any Chinese newspapers, but the “Hainan Chicken Rice King” recognition is like SIRIM quality control sticker. That means that stall sells one of the best Hainan Chicken Rice in the country. I decided to see for myself if the stall actually lives up to it’s billing.
The chicken rice shop.Tasting chicken rice has been one of my specialties all along, second only to tasting Fried Koay Teow. I know, I know, Ipoh and Malacca are THE chicken rice states, not Penang. But I grew up tasting many different kinds of chicken rice from the north to the south (even as far as Singapore), and even learnt how to make good chicken rice (he just taught me how to make the rice, but I forgot how to do it already) from my ex-chef father, who is also a food enthusiast. So, carrying my ego that is much bigger than my oversized feet, I stepped into the shop for some evaluation.
Before I start, I should remind you, that chicken rice is quite a sensitive dish. Well, I’m such an expert food taster to determine if other dishes require such “criteria”, but this somehow seems to be a must in chicken rice. First impression is very important, and your customer’s appetite depends heavily on your presentation.
I ordered chicken thigh as usual (it’s the most tender part, and has more meat than the drumstick, so it’s my favourite lol). Since the “Hainan Chicken Rice King” stall I frequent uses pek cham kei (boiled chicken I think. It’s famous in Ipoh, but I heard the ones in Ipoh are overrated), I decided it was only fair if I judged this by ordering boiled chicken as well. So boiled chicken it was.
The shop owner preparing the chicken rice.
The shop owner preparing the chicken rice.
The chicken rice stall.
Hainan Chicken Rice(RM6.00 for drumstick, RM5.50 for other parts)
Presentation:
If I’m not wrong, I remember that there is an unwritten rule in chicken rice: If your customer is more ragged looking (like a construction worker, carpenter etc.), give him/her bigger pieces of meat, while chop the chicken thinner if your customer looks more delicate (usually office workers, clerks or dainty women). Suiting the size of the chicken with your customer’s taste is important, and will allow your customer to enjoy the dish much better. Since I was dressed in quite a rough fashion, he gave me thick pieces of chicken. Too thick for my taste, but can’t blame him, he was just following what he saw.
The food:
The rice didn’t give me any particular reason to remember what it tasted like. It went into my mouth and down my throat like just any normal rice. I ordered white rice later on, and I doubt there was much of a difference.
Now, it’s time for the chicken. 1 bite in it told me it wasn’t your everyday chicken. It kinda made me recall my father’s words, that the best chicken rice always use kampong chicken, where the meat is more solid, densed and tasty. But the thing was it didn’t taste like usual kampong chickens. It was just something different, but I couldn’t tell what it was.
Conclusion:
It was quite good. The chicken was the most interesting part of the dish. I doubted that it was kampong chicken, but it was solid and tasted better than normal chickens. Definitely a must try if you pass by Inanam. The rice could be improved though.
After trying to figure out what chicken it was, I decided to find out. Approaching the shop owner, I asked him if the chicken was kampong chicken, because it didn’t quite taste like kampong chicken. Turns out it wasn’t. It was some sort of chicken (couldn’t remember the name he told me, and nor could I understand the Chinese words he showed me) that fed on some kind of feed and cooked in some kind of way that the skin and meat is different from the common commercial chicken (please pardon my Mandarin. I only got C5 in my SPM so this is what I could make out from what he was trying to tell me).
You can try to decipher the Chinese words. Do tell me if you find out what chicken it is.
The shop owner turned out to be someone from Kuantan, and was very happy when he heard I was from Penang. He seemed like a well travelled person, because he spoke to me in Penang Hokkien and told me he could speak in a few other dialects. He’s of Hainanese descent. We talked about his trips to Penang, and the food, and how the new generation of hawkers wasn’t living up to the standards of their fathers and predecessors.After all that chatter and two plates of chicken rice, I decided to go to Inanam Bus Terminal to catch my bus. When I went up the bus, I saw this shady looking kid who dressed kinda “prawn-like” (that’s what Chinese call it), that is something quite similar to the street look I always don. Similar, but not the same (eg: He wore skinny jeans while I wear baggy pants). Still, despite his shady look, he looked kinda terrified when I sat beside him, probably due to the way I dressed (now you understand why I was served thick pieces of chicken).
The road to Tawau was rough. A lot of zig zags. Made me regret eating so much that night. Could barely sleep lol.
I found out that to get to Tawau, I needed to go past Ranau and Sandakan. Dang. Should have went straight away from Sandakan last week. Still, I don’t regret making the extra trip past Sandakan because of the experience I had in Keningau, and my trip in Tawau is perfectly timed in a way that a “mysterious person” is in Tawau at the same time as I am. I’ll reveal who the “mysterious person” is soon. If we get the chance to meet up.
No comments:
Post a Comment