Update: Yuan Lang Soy Sauce Chicken Master has permanently closed.
Among the many chicken rice stalls at Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre, Yuan Lang Soy Sauce Chicken Master is often the overlooked one...
I visited the food centre on a Monday to grab my late lunch after an appointment at the nearby hospital. It is probably a bad idea to visit a food centre on the first day of the week since a majority of the stalls would be closed but this stall is just one of the few options available.
This stall sells soy sauce chicken that you can have with noodle or rice. Hanging on the rack alongside the soy chicken is something quite unusual - the salted chicken - which many might mistaken for Hainanese chicken.
However, do not confuse it with salt baked chicken either because it is not baked. Think of it as the poached version of salt baked chicken that is cooked in a stock made of Japanese scallops, dried octopus and a variety of herbs giving the chicken its unique taste.
What the stall cannot emphasis enough is that they do not use MSG so what you are ingesting are all natural goodness.
If you notice from the signboard, they used kampung chicken which are healthier.
You might want to know that they do not serve cucumber nor the usual garlic chili with their chicken rice here. What they do have, is the sambal chili for their dry noodle.
Indeed, when you have no chili sauce to interfere with your tastebuds, you can truly appreciate the natural flavors of the chicken.
What I got on my plate are chicken breast chopped in thick chunks. I noticed the skin is more yellow than the usual pale Hainanese chicken and there are no fats underneath at all.
Even though I had the breast meat, the texture is tender and smooth. Some might even say it bounce. I am most intrigued by the savoriness on the skin which is very addictive but unfortunately, a good portion of the skin is missing where the briny essence of the flavors are.
As for the rice, it is slightly dry with a strong garlicky aroma I like. It is also not greasy at all so I could eat without guilt.
I also ordered a sui kow soup ($3.50) to have with my meal. There are a total of four dumplings in the soup and each of them are jumbo-sized filled with minced meat and black fungus.
You should see how beautifully the skin is pleated which reminded me of a goldfish's tail. You might be interested to know that instead of cutting the black fungus into slivers, they wrapped a whole piece inside instead.
Because of the word "Yuan Lang" on the signboard, I assumed the business owner is from Hong Kong and how I determine whether a stall run by a Hong Konger is authentic enough is when they used kai lan instead of chye sim.
Yuan Lang Soy Chicken Master is the underdog among all the big names. Hopefully, they can get picked up by the radar soon and receive the recognition they deserve.
335 Smith Street
#02-041
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Yuan-Lang-Soy-Sauce-Chicken-Master
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