The Dead Cockroach: Zhao Ji Hainanese Chicken Rice - Tumeric Chicken Rice @ Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre

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It is not an exaggeration to say that Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre is heaven for fans of Singapore's national dish - the iconic chicken rice...

All sorts of chicken rice can be found here, from the common roasted, poached and soya sauce chicken to the not so common salted chicken and the star of today's topic, turmeric chicken from Zhao Ji Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Being one of the latecomer to this food centre, Zhao Ji appears to be the underdog here. It does not help that they are surrounded by the more established names such as Ma Li Ya Virgin Chicken at the front and Hawker Chan at the back.

However, judging from the queue I encountered on the day of my visit, they should be doing okay.

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I actually noticed this stall sometime ago when seated near it while having the chicken rice from Ma Li Ya.

There are two groups of different colored birds hanging on the rack behind the window. We are more familiar with the fairer kampung chickens but it is the yellow-skinned birds that caught my attention.

From the signboard, I found out that the stall serves kampung chicken, huang jiang ji, curry chicken and brown rice chicken rice.

I figured that the yellower birds are the huang jiang ji which I understood to be chickens rubbed down with turmeric powder.

It piqued my interest to know how it taste therefore I ordered a plate of huang jiang ji fan ($4) to try. I did not request for a specific chicken part.

The stallowner was quick to clarify that his huang jiang ji fan is not huang jiang fan (chicken biryani) to which I acknowledged.

My order is served on a disposable styrofoam plate.

The rice had the fragrance of chicken stock and pandan flavor. I like how the grains are loosely separated and not overly greasy.

As for the chicken breast, it is neatly chopped in thin slices and the portion seems generous. However, more than half of the yellow chicken skin is unaccounted for. Hey, if the yellow skin is your selling point, what is the point of serving without it?

Although the breast meat texture is soft and tender, it tastes just like the regular poached chicken. The tumeric does nothing in terms of taste except providing color for the skin.

Deserving of a mention here are their sauces.

The chili sauce has strong garlicky notes and if you prefer your garlic chili not too tart, this is for you. It is slightly spicy but not too deadly. Perfect to dip the bland chicken meat with.

The ginger dip from most chicken rice places are way too diluted and we do not have to look too far for an example. A fine representative would be the one from Heng Ji Chicken Rice. Their version is so runny if you pour some on the rice, you can see it disappear through the gaps.

The one here, however, is so concentrated it will remain on top of the rice. I find it particularly tasty, probably seasoned with chicken stock, salt and sugar. With the sharp ginger taste, it adds a fragrant zest to both chicken meat and rice.