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Immigrants from China's Hainan Island brought chicken rice to Singapore many decades ago, and in the years since then it has become a national icon. It comprises poached chicken served with fragrant rice cooked in chicken broth with ginger and garlic accompanied by a zesty chilli-lime sauce, a pungent ginger puree, and thick black soy sauce. Aficionados may argue for hours over which stall has the most silky-textured meat, the most sumptuous rice, or the most incendiary chilli.

Cantonese and Malay hawkers have adopted the dish too, making subtly different versions with different spices and also fried or roasted chicken. However, the glorious combination of grainy, aromatic rice, tender meat, and vibrant condiments remains constant. The Fun - and the decadence - comes in trying all the diverse variations to find your own favorite.

Recommended Restaurants

Boon Tong Kee

425 River Valley Road, Telephone : (65) 6736 3213

199 East Coast Road, Telephone : (65) 6478 1462

Chatter box

333, Orchard Road, Meritus Mandarin Hotel, Telephone : (65) 6831 6291

Five Star Hainanese Chicken Rice

191 East coast Road, Telephone : (65) 6777 5555

Long Kee Chicken Rice

#02-25 Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, Block 531A Upper Cross Street

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice

Stall 10, Maxwell Road Food Centre

YetCon

25 Purvis Street, Telephone : (65) 6337 6819

Recipe

Ingredients
1 (2-pound) chicken
1 scallion, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 slices fresh, peeled ginger
6 tbsp vegetable oil or chicken oil rendered from chicken fat
6 to 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 cups long-grain uncooked rice, washed and drained
1 tsp fine salt

Mix together for Chilli Sauce
2 to 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice, 5 tbsp finely chopped fresh red chilies, 5 cloves garlic, chopped, 3 tbsp finely chopped ginger, 1 tsp fine salt, 1/2 cup boiling hot chicken soup

Method
Boil a large pot of water. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with scallion and ginger. Add chicken to boiling water, breast side-down. Lower the heat to a simmer just under boiling point and cook, covered until just cooked through, about 40 minutes. Bathe the chicken in an ice water bath till chicken is cold to create a tender, springy texture. Heat oil in a rice cooker, add garlic, stir fry till fragrant. Add uncooked rice, stir fry for two minutes, add salt and enough chicken soup to cover 1/2 inch above the top of the rice. Boil on high heat, lower heat when steam holes form, cover and steam for 30 minutes till rice is cooked. Chop chicken and serve with steaming hot rice and chilli sauce. Dark soya sauce is the ideal accompaniment.