Nasi Ayam Penyet

Happened to see Makansutra recommending this "flat chicken rice" stall at Changi Village and decided to give it a try last night, since the husband and I were meeting some friends there.

As expected, there was a queue in front of the stall since you have to self-serve. Luckily we did not have to wait long. Within 10 minutes, we were ready to eat. Guess I was too hungry then to remember to take photo until we were halfway through and the husband reminded me. By then, my fried chicken thigh had already gone through my merciless attack and was unfit for any photography.

But being the kind-hearted soul as I am (ah-hem!), I went through a few local food websites to get the picture to show here.

The chicken comes separate from the rice on a traditional-looking wooden plate, with some vegetables at the side and a heap of extremely potent sambal, yes, with all the tiny little chilli seeds included.

The rice was cooked just right to how I like it, topped with my favourite fried shallots. The chicken had a hint of spice, and according to this article, the stall uses Indonesian spices to cook the chicken, as this dish originated from Indonesia. The taste of the spice seemed to permeate throughout the whole chicken thigh, from the crispy outside, to the tender meat inside.

One thing I like about this is that the portion is just right. There was not too much rice to make you feel too full, and the chicken was fried with the right amount of oil, not too much to make you feel queasy halfway through the meal.

To be honest, this is only my third or fourth time eating Malay chicken rice so I had nothing much to compare it with, since I cannot remember how many donkey years ago did I last had one.

I have to admit that beneath all this hoo-ha, it is just another chicken rice stall. But sometimes, seeing normal everyday hawker food being presented in another way, can make the eating somewhat more enjoyable.