You must be wondering who is Sergeant Kiang. He is rumored to be the man first started the famous Chicken Rice in the Chatterbox Cafe at the Mandarin Hotel. He shared with us how he convinced the German Boss to start selling the Chicken Rice in the 70s.
He is the founder of Sergeant Chicken Rice with many outlets in the Food Republic Food Court in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan now. The Sergeant Chicken Rice is first started at the Rasa Singapura. He moved to several places including Chevron after the closure of Rasa Singapura and before he sold it off to the Breadtalk Group that owned the Food Republic Food Courts. He worked as the Consultant with the Breadtalk Group to train the Chefs in cooking the Chicken and the Rice. He even travelled to Taiwan and stayed there for 3 months to train the Chefs there to cook it. He left the Group in the early part of this year.
He then started the Jiang Ji Traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice at Havelock Road but closed it down when the coffee shop underwent a renovation in May 2011. He went disappeared from then till 10 December 2011 when he invited by the Banquet Group to manage the 'Sergeant Kiang's Kitchen'.
Sergeant Kiang's Kitchen is serving the white and the roasted chicken rice as well as the specialties dishes of Sergeant Kiang like the Mutton Soup and the Chap Chye (mixed vegetable). Sergeant Kiang mentioned that they will be serving more tze cha dishes from February 2012 onward.
The menu was presented to us by Susan Kiang when we seated. Susan Kiang is none other than the daughter of Sergeant Kiang. She was seen helping her father at the Jiang Ji Traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice and i gotta know her since then. She is a very thoughtful and friendly lady with a warm smile. She recommended that we should try the Chap Chye as she proudly proclaimed that is her father's specialties too. We ordered a quarter of the white chicken together with the Chap Chye.
The foods were served to us promptly by the friendly waitresses. Sergeant Kiang came over to talk with us. He shared with us some of his most memorable moments throughout his cooking career. His eyes sparkled when he talked about it. He said, cooking has always been his passion. He talked about those days when he was working as a cook in the Army Camp as well as those days working in the American Club before then. He said, the American Club served one of the best burgers at that time.
He left us to eat when he realised our foods were left unattended. The boneless white chicken tasted smooth, tender and succulent. It went perfectly well with the chilli. I am a superb fan of Chicken Rice and have been going around eating this dish at different places for a while. The chilli by Sergeant Kiang is one of the best if not the best. He has gotten the right balance in between the chilli, lime, garlic and ginger to obtain the right level of spiciness and taste. When interviewed by K.F. See Toh, the Makan Guru and the founder of Makansutra, Sergeant Kiang mentioned the most important factor to determine a good chicken rice is none other than the chilli itself. When talked about the chilli, the Sergeant emphasized that he did not use any preservative in making his chilli.
The thick dark sauce that served along with the chicken and rice is of superior quality. And, not forgetting the ginger paste, the ginger taste is well-balanced and not overpowering.
He did not use chicken fat during the cooking process for the rice but yet he is able to bring forth the fragrance and to obtain the amazing grainy and fluffy texture.
When we were about to done eating with our foods, Sergeant Kiang came back to sit with us and we ended up chatting for another hour. Sergeant Kiang is already 73 years old; he is one of the few surviving legends around to share his glorious past and to carry on the legacy. I could not help but wondering how much longer would it be? He mentioned none of his children is able to cook up to his standard of satisfaction and so, there would be most likely no one to inherit his cooking skills.
We paid a total of $24.40 for the meal but a chatting session with Sergeant Kiang is absolutely priceless.
We bid goodbye to Susan when she thanked us for coming all the way to Jurong Point to give supports to her father.
Another day well-spent with a legend sharing some of his most memorable part of his memories.
Strongly recommended.
Recommended Dish(es):
Chicken Rice, Chap Chye, Mutton Soup
Date of Visit: Dec 15, 2011
Other Ratings:
Taste
5 | Environment
5 | Service
5 | Clean
5 | Price
5
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