My parents are the reason for the creation of this dish. A combination of hours of soup simmering “炖汤”（duntang）rooted from the cantonese traditions/specialty, and the infamous hainanese chicken rice that became a Singapore must-eat. The fulfillment of combining these 2 cultures ignited the creation of something that makes silly sense yet, must not be challenged by the disparity of 2 cultures and provoke the 'foodies' out there.
A sup-ed up soup that is original and totally relatable.
Why not a hainanese chicken rice soup without all the physical chicken nor rice it in? You can have chicken rice every stone throw away in Singapore food establishments, but all the flavors condensed into a soup, uniquely mine.
I experimented with different types of chicken, from old mother hen, sakura or an xing, kampong, organic and even poussin. The poussin yield the best flavor and stuck to it ever since. Extracting the rich chicken-ie flavor is complete only when the meat turns tasteless. Of all the chickens, the rare and expensive poussin is the toughest to extract because this bird is sure-packed with flavor. The typical ginger paste just doesn't make the cut... i needed a really heavy ginger compote to make it work. Finding a good sesame oil without overpowering nutty taste also means no korean or japanese ones. As for the source of fats for these components to render together, my trusty poultry-selling auntie gather the very rare kampong chicken fats for my purpose. So no nonsense chicken fats will ever be used. Normal chicken fats, usually from all kinda chicken, smells putrefied. You need so much aromatics to render away the stench that it might overwhelmed the good chicken taste. Good unsalted butters solve this fatty situation too.
This combination is sieved through a couple of time till smooth before having to enhance further with more ginger compote and fresh pandan.
i still eat my favorite kampong chicken rice ever so often with personal judgement that i rarely pass. Lol. This national treasure dish still warms the heart and comfort every Singaporean.
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