Interesting article, but the author really oversells chicken rice. I've had it in the spot he talks about--Tian Tian--and although it was nice and much better than "boiled chicken with rice" makes it sound, it's nowhere near as transcendent as the author suggests.
Truth is, it's a bit of a bland dish. Yes, the way the rice is infused with chicken is nice, but there are way better dishes to be had in Singapore, objectively. This is a case of Singaporeans feeling strong kinship for a dish which, on paper, isn't all that exciting. And I suppose the author, having flown fifteen hours to taste it, couldn't acknowledge it wasn't all that great...
Interesting article, but the author really oversells chicken rice. I've had it in the spot he talks about--Tian Tian--and although it was nice and much better than "boiled chicken with rice" makes it sound, it's nowhere near as transcendent as the author suggests.
Truth is, it's a bit of a bland dish. Yes, the way the rice is infused with chicken is nice, but there are way better dishes to be had in Singapore, objectively. This is a case of Singaporeans feeling strong kinship for a dish which, on paper, isn't all that exciting. And I suppose the author, having flown fifteen hours to taste it, couldn't acknowledge it wasn't all that great...