KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 — When I was young, my aunts and mother would tell me, “A chicken should taste like a chicken.”
It sounded strange, especially to my young self, as isn’t every chicken meant to taste like chicken? If not, I wondered what else it would taste like.
As I grew up and my palate slowly refined over the years, I finally understood what the older generation meant.
Nowadays, chicken is rarely reared naturally but instead, our supply comes from industrialised farms focused on rapid growth to maximise profit.
Even the breeds farmed are selected to produce smooth and soft chicken lacking that meaty flavor.
That compromise in the F&B industry involved injecting flavour by drowning the poached chicken in a mix of soy sauce and sesame oil, pairing it with a pungent ginger sauce or perhaps topping it with fried garlic.
That au naturel taste of the chicken was lost, unless you were gifted a hand reared chicken from a kind friend or relative.
Occasionally, restaurants would unveil special breeds of chicken with the promise of superior flavour.
This restaurant in Cheras, which has its own farm in Ipoh, offers the coveted Qingyuan breed of chicken which was famously served at a banquet for US President Richard Nixon during his 1972 visit to China.
Each chicken, weighing roughly two kilograms, is said to be corn fed and allowed to roam freely.
Under their skilled hands, some parts of the chicken, particularly around the drumstick area, have the coveted gelatinous fat under the skin, resulting in a silkier bite.
The meat has more bite and can be rather lean but the flavour is definitely there.
Since the chicken isn’t very large, it may have less meat; therefore, a half portion will comfortably satisfy two diners.
Here, the chicken sits in a fragrant soy sauce mixed with oil, complementing the chicken rather than drowning it out.
I prefer just eating it on its own to relish the flavour, but the leaner breast meat needed a dab of their ginger paste or soy sauce.
The flavour seems concentrated in the skin, chewing it releases all those precious oils to flood your mouth.
A whole chicken is RM70, a half portion is RM37, the lower quarter is RM23, and the upper quarter is RM16.
There’s also a chance to buy uncooked chicken, allowing you to cook it at home to suit your preferences. A whole chicken weighing approximately two kilograms is priced at RM50.
Pair the chicken with a plate of their oil rice (RM2.50), where separate light brown grains are fragrant with chicken oil rather than the artificial yellow from margarine.
Alternatively, you can opt for a bowl of hor fun noodles (RM4) with the chicken and crunchy, stubby Ipoh style bean sprouts (RM10 for a small portion).
There’s also Kai Si Hor Fun (RM10), a rich bowl of smooth hor fun with chicken broth laced with crustacean oil, shredded chicken and poached prawns.
They also serve roast pork (RM13 for a small portion) for those who aren’t chicken fans but the pork has a larger ratio of fat to meat, making it a very sinful meal.
Chicken rice is offered during the day while the night session features a menu of Sang Har Meen and Claypot Butter Lou Shue Fun.
If you wish to order the chicken, contact the owners to ensure you’re not disappointed.
Wong Kee Chicken Rice @ Restoran MIssokimissok
28, Jalan Kaskas 3,
Taman Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 016-6052525 (Alice) and 016-5514131 (Ah Wah)
Open: 9am to 2pm, 3pm to 10pm
Closed on the first and fifteenth days of the Chinese lunar month
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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