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The chicken meat is tender and succulent, and the rice and chilli sauce are also excellent.
Singapore, September 5, 2009 - After he suffered a stroke last year at age 73, Leong Fook Wing, founder of the original Sin Kee chicken rice stall at Margaret Drive, had only one thing on his mind. He summoned his son Benson to his bedside and asked: “Do you still remember the recipe? Don’t give it up.”
After being assured that the family recipe was in safe hands, the old man lapsed into a coma and died five days later.
“My father’s philosophy was to keep a good thing going,” says Mr Leong, who kept his promise by reviving one of Singapore’s most well-known names in the chicken rice business.
“It was very important to him that we continue the tradition.”
There are several stalls with the same name – including one at the old Margaret Drive location – but the Sin Kee now at the recently upgraded food centre in Mei Chin Road is the real McCoy.
The elder Leong spent a few years working in Chinatown in the 1950s before starting his own business. The family operated the stall in Margaret Drive for about 25 years before moving to Mei Chin Road for 10 years, and then closed the business down when the food centre was being revamped.
According to Benson Leong, the family recipe is a traditional Cantonese version of chicken rice. “We make sure the chicken is fresh – we have had the same supplier for about 50 years and they know what kind of chicken we need,” he says.
“It’s a mature chicken, between 35 and 50 days old, and we cook it in such a way to make sure the texture remains soft and juicy.”
The cooking method involves submerging the birds completely in boiling water for between 30 and 45 minutes. Other pioneering chicken rice places – such as Swee Kee – steamed their chickens instead.
Whatever the X factor happens to be, the chicken meat at Sin Kee is tender and succulent, and the rice and chilli sauce are also excellent.
“Our chilli sauce is more on the sweet-sour side, while the Hainanese style is more salty,” says Mr Leong.
Their rice is also cooked using ginger – ours is with garlic, onions and pandan leaves. We also use top grade Thai fragrant rice – if you have nice chicken without good ingredients to complement it, it’s no use.”
The price for a whole chicken is $24 while the price for a single portion starts at $3.
“My father set the benchmark and we have been setting the benchmark over the years,” says Mr Leong. “We don’t change to accommodate individual customers and we’re not going to change.”
His dad would surely have been proud.
Sin Kee Famous Chicken Rice
Where: Block 159 Mei Chin Road, #01-22
Tel: 6473-9525
Opening hours: 11am to 8pm (closed Mondays)
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» Chicken rice paradise
