I was issued a challenge by a seasoned makankaki that I should not proclaim any chicken to be the “world’s best” before tasting the chicken from Kampung Chicken Eating House. So I had to find out for myself just how good a chicken can get.
I am not an experienced Kampung Chicken man, but of late there has been a trend in the local chicken rice scene towards offering “Kampung Chicken” (KC) As you can see KC is not as fleshy and fat as the normal chicken and is often touted to have better tasting, firmer flesh and less fat. Presumably, KC’s are free range chickens that are allowed to run about in the “wild” and not force fed corn meal to fatten them up. (Actually I was told that since Bird Flu, Singapore does not allow free range chicken to be served. So KC are special breed of birds which are also bred in enclosed area but with different feed)
Plate of Lean Mean Kampung ChickenMy first taste of Kampung Chicken, was, well in a Kampung during one of my mission trips to Thai-Myanmese border. Now that’s real chicken, I was told. The meat was real chewy and even tastes gamey. I was told by my more senior friends that this was what chicken should taste like. So since then, I did not really have passion for wild chickens of any kind.
Since my foray into the makansutra forum however, I found many makankakis raving about five star chicken, which serves KC. So I had to try for myself. Oh oh. Strike 1 for the Kampung Chicken. Nothing to rave about really.
This time however, my opinions about KC has changed with Kampung Chicken House. The flesh is tastier then the normal white chicken and the big advantage is that you go away feeling a lot healtier since there is noticeably less fat. With KC, the breast meat actually tastes quite nice as it has a chickeny taste to it. Oh, btw, if you are wondering if KC are actually yellower in shade then its battery cousins, the reality is that the KC are coloured yellow because of the addition of yellow ginger into the boiling water. The restaurant owner, Jack, feels that the yellow color makes the chicken taste better.
When it comes to condiments, YCY’s chilli still beats this one hands down and the minced ginger at YCY is still better.
OK, so what is my conclusion? I think you can’t really compare KC to normal chicken. My mother prefers KC over Yee Cheong Yuen’s. (YCY – see “underrated white chicken blog), but I feel that YCY’s has got a better texture and well is more fleshy and juicy. Some of us actually like our chicken fat and fleshy, wink wink.
Conclusion:
Both are good in their own right and not fair to compare. But personally, I still perfer YCY’s white chicken. Put it simply, if I have a white chicken craving, I’ll be heading for YCY’s. If I feel a bit guilty about my cholesterol levels, then its Kampong Chicken Eating House I go.
4/5 Healthy, tasty, “real” chicken.
