Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice – Maxwell Food Center

One of the Hawker Legends, as anointed by Makan Sutra in 2005, this singular chicken rice stall in Maxwell Food Center has always been sort of a mystery to me. This is largely due to my reluctance to join the snaking queues of lunch rush hour.

Thru a series of rather fortunate events, I found myself at Maxwell, 3pm, no visible queues in sight. Having lunched a couple of hours before, I was glad to have left the horrendous beef noodles at Vivo’s Food Republic mostly untouched.

The Service

Without the foreplay of queuing in our infamous afternoon sticky sun, and with the absence of many disgruntled patrons, willing me to order as quickly, as little as I can, ordering the legendary local delicacy seemed, a tad mundane. The nice middle aged lady behind the counter, with obvious experience with large crowds, was extremely efficient in her communication with the chicken handler.

The Food

I sat down a couple of tables down, unhurried, unflustered, hungry. To cleanse my palate, I took a sip of the mandatory accompanying soup. Almost immediately, my taste buds were dancing in a medley of possibly one of the best chicken rice soup I’ve ever tasted. Even the finely chopped spring onions were exceptionally tasty. The chopped pieces of steamed chicken were slathered in a brownish translucent sauce that merely hinted oiliness. This gave the otherwise boring flesh an extra boost in flavour. What fascinated me, was how well the rice was cooked. Any chicken rice lover would tell you that the rice is the most important part of this dish. The bed of rice which the chicken laid on, had a shade of canary yellow. Each grain, cooked to a point just past al dente, in no doubt the secret mixture of chicken fat, shallots, garlic and various wonderful ingredients. Like I said, the mixture was secret. When eaten alone, the rice gave off such a fragrant lift in my mouth that I could not contain my smile. Needless to say, I lapped up the entire plate of rice, chicken, skin and even the usually neglected cucumbers with such pleasure, I had to force myself to leave the hawker center before I ended up with a second plate.

Many have claimed this to be the best chicken rice stall in Singapore. I am not going to argue that, but as with matters of tastes, it is wise to leave a little room for doubt. I can’t wait till the next time I end up in Maxwell food center at 3pm again. Maybe I will make sure that happens soon.

p.s. I do not intend to rate hawker stalls as it is unfair for the prices we are paying.