Sin Kee Chicken Rice - Bib Gourmand Poached Classic

Sin Kee builds its plate around a single idea carried out with unusual discipline: chicken poached in a bone-and-seasoning stock, then plunged into iced water to set its texture, and rice cooked in that same poaching broth rather than served alongside a bowl of soup. The stall works only in poached chicken, dressed by a trio of house condiments that includes a Cantonese-style grated ginger dip. Recognised with a Michelin Bib Gourmand, the recipe traces back to a family stall that opened on Margaret Drive in the early 1970s and now operates from a coffee shop at Holland Drive. What follows is a closer look at the dish, the preparation behind it, and the lineage that carried it here.

The name points to a place the stall no longer occupies. Sin Kee began as a hawker stall on Margaret Drive in the early 1970s under Mr Leong Fook Wing, part of the old Queenstown food centre that a generation of nearby residents grew up eating at. After his passing in 2008, the business passed to his sons, and the recipes split along the family line: one son continued under the Margaret Drive name elsewhere, while Benson Leong, together with business partner Edwin Goh, relaunched this stall at Holland Drive in 2016. The chicken has been made the same way across each move, which is much of why the plate still tastes like the one longtime customers remember.

The chicken rice is the whole point of a visit, and the stall serves it in only one form: poached, never roasted. The bird is cooked in a rich stock built from chicken bones and seasonings, which draws flavour into the meat while keeping it gentle and even in doneness. Rather than being flattened under a cleaver and shaved into thin slivers, the chicken is cut into thick, generous chunks, so each piece keeps its plumpness and bite. The skin sits smooth over meat that stays moist through to the breast, a part that often dries out at lesser stalls.

Sin Kee follows an older approach in which no soup is served on the side. Instead, the broth used to poach the chicken is folded back into cooking the rice, so the grains carry the flavour that a separate bowl of soup would otherwise hold. The result is rice that reads as savoury and aromatic without turning heavy or slick with oil, a restraint that sets it apart from the glossier, richer versions found elsewhere. Nothing from the poaching process is wasted; the flavour simply moves from the pot into the rice.

Bean Sprouts and Oyster-Sauce Greens

Beyond the chicken rice, the stall keeps a short line of vegetables to round out the meal. Bean sprouts are a common order, blanched to keep their snap, while greens are dressed simply in oyster sauce. These sides are built for balance rather than spectacle, a plainer counterpoint to the richness of the chicken and the seasoned rice, and a way to turn a single plate into a fuller sit-down meal.

The Gizzards

For those who order beyond the standard plate, the gizzards are worth adding. Cooked in the same poached style as the chicken, they are prepared with enough care that the offal stays clean-tasting and tender rather than tough or bitter, a common failing when gizzards are rushed. They reward the diner willing to look past the headline dish, and are singled out in the Michelin listing alongside the chicken itself.

The Three Condiments

Three condiments arrive on the side, and each is made in house. The soy sauce lends depth, the chilli sauce is built on lime and vinegar for a sharp, tangy heat, and the third is a Cantonese-style ginger dip that regulars single out as often as the chicken itself. The dip blends young and old ginger, grated by hand and loosened to a watery consistency with only a gentle spiciness, meant to refresh the palate between bites rather than overpower the meat. Together the three let a diner adjust each mouthful, from bright and sharp to cool and savoury.

Margaret Drive Sin Kee Chicken Rice carries a half-century-old recipe with a clarity of purpose that its Bib Gourmand recognition reflects. For a plate of poached chicken shocked to a clean finish, broth-cooked rice and a ginger dip made by hand, it remains one of the most rooted chicken rice stalls in the Queenstown area. Arrive early, and bring cash.

Block 40, Stall 5, #01-39, Holland Drive, Singapore 270040 (within Chang Chen Mee Wah Coffee Shop)
Opening Hours: 11am – 8pm, or while stocks last (Tue – Sun), Closed Mon
Tel: +65 8428 7865
Payment: Cash only