Rong Ji Chicken Rice – Comfort Food-Worthy Chicken Porridge At Dunman Food Centre

If anyone says that porridge is strictly “sick-people food”, I will fight them on this. I’m not talking about the plain, watery types that don’t have a lick of seasoning but rather, hearty flavourful bowls of congee. And from the number of good things I’ve read about Rong Ji Chicken Rice, I was curious to see if it lives up to its reputation. 

Manned by an elderly couple in their 70s, the humble chicken rice stall has been in operation since 1972 and continues to attract quite the loyal crowd after their move from Joo Chiat Lane to its current home in Dunman Food Centre. You can easily spot its bright blue sign from its prime location at the entrance of the hawker centre or just follow the long line leading up to the stall. 

The duo was working in tandem as they did their best to provide brisk service to their customers. Their day usually begins when everyone else’s has ended – 1am. From there, it’s prep all the way until they open their stall bright and early at 6am all the way until 3pm. The uncle is in charge of slicing up the chicken while the auntie busily ladles out bowls of porridge and prepares rice and takeaway orders. Apart from Chicken Rice ($3) and Chicken Porridge ($3), there’s also Pork ($3) and Fish Porridge ($4) on the menu. 

The Chicken Porridge was served piping hot in a large bowl and smelled heavenly. It came topped with pieces of you tiao (fried dough fritters), an egg sporting a beautiful golden yolk, and dashes of sesame oil and white pepper. As I spooned up the porridge, I could spy a generous amount of chicken hiding within. 

I was expecting the texture of the porridge to be the thick, sticky type but to my surprise, it was right in the middle between that and the watery, Teochew porridge-kind, leaning towards the Hainanese-style. Although I usually prefer my congee to be on the thicker side, I found it easier to gobble up Rong Ji’s version as it went down pretty smoothly and didn’t fill me up too quickly, allowing me ample time to savour and polish off every grain. 

The uncle was especially proud of his poached chicken – “只是卖白鸡!” (we only sell white chicken) – so I decided to go all out with a half chicken ($12). Deliciously tender, the meat was dressed in a savoury-sweet sauce made according to a secret recipe that uncle is tight-lipped about (it’s okay, we all have our secrets). 

Dip the chicken in a mixture of chilli sauce and dark soy sauce for that ultimate “chicken-rice-combo”. I’m not much of a fan of the rice as I prefer my grains to be more separated and not as mushy.

Sadly, the uncle mentioned that he was getting on in years and it won’t be long before we might have to say goodbye to Rong Ji Chicken Rice so hurry down to have a taste of their yummy chicken porridge before it’s too late!

MissTamChiak.com made an anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.

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