Manhattan vs Singapore chicken rice. Rachel Askinasi/Marielle Descalsota/Insider Chicken rice, the national dish of Singapore, is known for being cheap and delicious. In New York City, the dish costs eight times more than it does in the city-state.
Insider’s reporters in NYC and Singapore tried the dish in each city. Singapore’s unofficial national dish has come to New York City, but it’s come with at least one big difference: the price. Singapore’s Hainanese chicken rice.
Marielle Descalsota/InsiderChicken rice is exactly what it sounds like: a plate of chicken and rice. It comes in several varieties — the classic version uses poached chicken, but variations can use roasted chicken or even deep fried cutlet. It’s often served with a couple slices of raw cucumber, some sauces, and a side of soup.
In Singapore, the dish typically costs around $2. 50. Now, thanks to a Singapore-style hawker stall that opened in New York City in September, you can get a similar meal.
Urban Hawker houses 17 vendors, each of which was curated by KF Seetoh, the founder of the World Street Food Congress and Singaporean food tourism company Makansutra. Seetoh teamed up with Urbanspace to bring the iconic hawker stalls of Singapore to New York with this Midtown Manhattan spot on 50th Street. “We wanted to bring Singapore’s hawker culture and export it to the rest of the world,” Seetoh told Insider in a phone call.
Seetoh added that they don’t “cheat on ingredients,” and serve only authentic Singaporean food. But prepare to spend a whole lot more money. At Urban Hawker, a plate a chicken rice is listed for $17 — eight times its cost in Singapore.
Insider sent two food reporters — Marielle in Singapore, and Rachel in New York City — to hawker stalls in their respective cities to compare prices, flavors, and various components of the dishes. Here’s what they found. In Singapore, many locals dine at hawker centers, or open-air food stalls.
Kopitiams, or coffee shop-style hawkers, are commonly found in residential areas. Kopitiam-style hawker in eastern Singapore. Marielle Descalsota/InsiderCoffee Express 2000 is a kopitiam that sells a variety of food, including traditional Singaporean cuisines like Chinese and Malay fare.
The kopitiam is popular among many residents living in the eastern town of Pasir Ris. Marielle, Insider’s visual features reporter in Singapore, visited her local kopitiam on a weekend evening. Kopitiam-style hawker in eastern Singapore.
Marielle Descalsota/InsiderMany of the kopitiam’s dozen stalls were empty. Many people chose to take out their food, and those who were eating on location paired their meals with Singapore-style coffee or iced tea. Singapore’s hawker centers are casual.
Most locals were wearing t-shirts and flip flops. Like most kopitiams in Singapore, there was only one stall serving up chicken rice. Roasted chicken ready to be served.
Marielle Descalsota/InsiderPoached chicken is the most popular option among locals in Singapore. Marielle opted for the roasted chicken, as the crispy skin adds texture to the dish. The chicken stock that’s used to poach the meat is also used to cook the rice and used in the soup that accompanies the dish.
As chicken rice is typically cooked and prepared before stalls open for service, Marielle got her dish in no time. Chicken rice stall in Singapore. Marielle Descalsota/InsiderThe dish came with only three ingredients on the plate: strips of roasted chicken, rice, and two strips of cucumber.
This stall had three options for sauces: sambal, which has a sweet and spicy flavor; kicap manis, a sweet umami soy sauce; and a sauce made out of ginger. In Singapore, cooks will often serve more rice than chicken. In this kopitiam, the rice was fluffy and lightly flavored.
Chicken rice with sambal and kicap manis. Marielle Descalsota/InsiderThe ginger flavor came through clearly in the rice, as did the sesame oil that was used to prepare it. The chicken was fresh and succulent.
Close-up shot of a strip of chicken. Marielle Descalsota/InsiderThe chicken is usually served warm or even cold as it’s soaked in cold water after blanching. But the rice is often served piping hot — in this case, both the meat and rice were served at room temperature.
As for the soup that comes with the dish, it’s usually bland and tastes like warm water with a hint of scallion. This one was no exception. The sauces are Marielle’s favorite part of chicken rice.
Kicap manis. Marielle Descalsota/InsiderWhile the recipes for sambal can vary greatly between each stall, this version was tangy, slightly sour, and a little spicy. The kicap manis had an umami flavor and a slight sweetness to it.
Together they added a balanced yet complex flavor to the dish. Marielle also picked up an iced lemon tea from the local kopitiam for one Singapore dollar and 30 cents, or about $0. 91.
Lemon tea from a kopitiam-style hawker. Marielle Descalsota/InsiderDrinks, whether cold or hot, are served in plastic bags like this one. The iced tea was refreshing and mild.
It was sweet and tangy, with a strong black tea flavor. While Marielle has eaten hundreds of plates of chicken rice and usually enjoys it, it’s rare for her to be wowed by the chicken broth soup. Eating chicken rice in Singapore.
Marielle Descalsota/InsiderSingapore chicken rice recap:Total spent on food and drink: 5. 30 Singapore dollars, or around $3Price of chicken rice: SG$4 What was included: A few strips of roasted chicken, one bowl of rice, two cucumber strips, one bowl of soupBest part of the dish: The fluffy, aromatic rice and flavorful saucesTips from the reporter: Load up on the sambal for a deliciously spicy kick — and don’t be afraid to add chillies to the sauce if you want even more heat. Manhattan’s Urban Hawker is on the retail street level of an office building in Midtown.
Urban Hawker in Midtown Manhattan. Rachel AskinasiThe eatery is between 6th Avenue and 7th Avenue — a few blocks from Rockefeller Center, and a short walk from Times Square and the Theater District. Inside, Urban Hawker is set up with food stalls lining the perimeter of the two-level space and has seating in the center and off to one side.
Rachel arrived at Urban Hawker at 1:15 p. m. on a Friday, and the lunch crowd was in full swing.
Urban Hawker was packed during our visit, and it seems to follow the same layout as other Urbanspace food halls. Rachel Askinasi/InsiderThere were people dressed in suits, families with young children, individuals who brought their computers, and tourists who were all in search of something to eat. Many of the diners Rachel spoke with said they had heard about the food hall on TikTok.
At Hainan Jones, the stall serving chicken rice, customers were lined up and ready to dish out their $17. The line and menu at Hainan Jones. Rachel Askinasi/InsiderHainan Jones had the longest line in Urban Hawker.
There was even a sign that estimated wait times of up to 25 minutes after placing your order. Rachel could smell the roasted chicken even from a distance. There were plenty of chickens ready to be carved.
Rachel Askinasi/InsiderSeetoh said the chicken rice stall is the most popular dish at Urban Hawker. “I’ve heard customers say our chicken rice is ‘freaking legit,” Seetoh said. “One customer told me her son studies in Columbia, and when he eats our food, it feels like he’s in Singapore again.
” The dish came with a serving of chicken that had been poached and then roasted with an oil baste, as well as rice cooked with garlic, shallots, stock, and pandan. It was served with raw cucumber slices, a cherry tomato, a bowl of soup, and two dipping sauces. Rachel’s meal from Urban Hawker.
Rachel Askinasi/InsiderThere was a large mound of rice in the take-out bowl and six thin slices of chicken sitting on top. The chicken, which was served warm, was delicious. The juices from the meat dripped into the top layer of rice, and the skin was soft and salty.
The flavor was simple but rich. The soup container was about two-thirds full. But what the broth lacked in quantity, it made up for in flavor.
The broth, which wasn’t unlike miso soup, was simple and had tiny discs of scallion floating around in it. It was light, warm, and not too salty. The rice had a hint of sweetness from the pandan and umami from the stock it was cooked in, but it didn’t taste salted.
The rice component of Rachel’s lunch. Rachel Askinasi/InsiderWhen paired with the fresh cilantro, the flavor of the dish went from rich to refreshing. The rice itself wasn’t super fluffy and light.
Instead, it was dense and firm, with the texture of each individual grain coming through clearly. The New York City chicken rice with one small container of each sauce, so Rachel asked for extra. The dipping sauces were a highlight of the meal.
Rachel Askinasi/InsiderThe sambal had a gorgeous orange color. It had an intense, spicy heat and a pulpy, liquid base. Notes of ginger and garlic came through as she ate more of the sambal.
The kicap manis was a thicker sauce with a velvety texture and sweet flavor. It added a fruity, savory layer to the food. To drink, Rachel got an iced earl grey lemon tea from Kopifellas at Urban Hawker for $5.
75. Iced lemon tea from Urban Hawker’s Kopifellas. Rachel Askinasi/InsiderThe Kopifellas stall was two down from Hainan Jones.
The iced tea had a floral flavor and was more layered than she was expecting. It was sweet without being sugary. This was Rachel’s first Singaporean chicken rice experience, and, for the most part, she was delighted by it.
She loved the soup and her iced tea. Rachel Askinasi/InsiderNew York City chicken rice recap:Total spent on food and drink: $25. 77 (including tax and credit card surcharge).
Price of chicken rice: $19. 26 (including tax and credit card surcharge). What was included: Six thin slices of chicken, a large portion of rice, one cherry tomato, five cucumber slices, a small bunch of cilantro, soup, and two dipping sauces.
Best part of the dish: The flavorful, moist chicken and the duo of sauces. Final thoughts from the reporter: Aside from the mostly bland rice, Rachel enjoyed the dish — the chicken and the two sauces were the highlights. She felt the $17 price tag wasn’t outrageous, considering the amount of food she got and the cost of other lunch options in the area.
After all, a salad from a chain restaurant can easily cost $17, too. Overall, Insider’s reporters enjoyed their respective meals. Manhattan vs Singapore chicken rice.
Rachel Askinasi/Marielle Descalsota/InsiderWhile Marielle enjoyed the Singapore kopitiam’s rice, and Rachel felt the Manhattan food hall’s version left much to be desired, both thought the roasted chicken was fresh, and the sauces appealed to both reporters’ palettes. Ultimately, both reporters felt their meals were delicious and value for money, considering how much similar meals cost in Manhattan and Singapore. Read the original article on Insider.
From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/chicken-rice-urban-hawker-nyc-singapore-price-comparison-2022-10