Green Chili Chicken Rice @ Sims Vista Hawker Centre • Surprise Bonus of Red Sambal 🌶

Finally came to try the famous green chili chicken rice at Sims Vista hawker centre. The queue was at least 10 deep despite social distancing measures (only takeaway or max 2 persons per table allowed).

Stall name: Green Chili Chicken Rice

Address: 49 Sims Place, Singapore 380049 (stall #01-09, Sims Vista Market & Food Centre)

Nearest MRT: 5 minutes walk from Aljunied station

Hours: 10:30am - 1:30pm (Fri off)

The queue starts and stops, coming to a complete halt whenever a customer ahead orders like 10 packets 🙄 

Testing my handphone camera's 10x zoom capability, from way back in the queue.

Not bad, reached the front of the queue in about 20 minutes.

Only one dish on the menu - the legendary green chili chicken rice. There're options for more green or red chili. I struggled a bit on whether to get more sambal but decided against it as this was my first tasting - not 100% sure that I will like it.

Finally got the legendary green chili chicken rice - the wait wasn't as long as I had feared.

All these for $5 - rice, fried chicken thigh slathered with green sambal, red sambal at the side, keropok, cucumber and a soup. (Chicken thigh is the default option, they also have chicken breast, if you prefer. Just ask for it.)

The basmati rice was tender, well greased and a little nutty which I like. The long grains were infused with nice subtle aroma and taste of spices.

oops... can't see the thigh under the green sambal. (Looked a little like Cantonese ginger scallion sauce but this was green chili sambal.)

The huge chicken thigh was marinated in red colour spices, cooked by boiling and then fried to a slight crisp outside on order. The fried chicken was smacked with the flat of a chopper like they do with ayam penyet, then chopped into large chunks. The chicken was given a dribble of kicap manis (sweet soy sauce), then slathered with the signature green sambal.

The meat inside was fork tender and moist. The inside tasted savoury with slight sweetness. The skin was slightly crisp, and tasted savoury. 

Okok, I am coming to the sambals now. 

The green sambal, this stall's claim to fame is really as tasty as the hype claimed. It was spicy sweet with mild heat from coarsely ground green chili and sweetness from chopped onion. Oil and savoury seasoning held the sambal together. It tasted delightfully spicy sweet with a mildly hot aftertaste. I also enjoyed the soft crunch of the juicy chili and onion pulp.

While the friendly lady boss was preparing my order, I asked if this was Ayam Goreng Cabe Ijo, a specialty from Padang (West Sumatra) and the green chili was sambal Padang. She said it is their own recipe mixing elements from Indonesia and Malaysia. I thanked her but didn't continue the conversation as there were 15 people behind me in the queue 😅

The red sambal was the surprise. It was ultra spicy with a bit of savouriness for balance. It packed a delightful masochistic punch.

So when we mixed everything together, boomz - sweet aromatic spiced rice, savoury sweet fried chicken, spicy sweet savouriness from two types of sambal, hot and hotter - you can just imagine the riot of colours and robust but complementary flavours in your mouth.

The savoury fish keropok was very crisp and did not feel greasy at all. It's a very nice fish cracker.

The accompanying soup was savoury with mild flavour and aroma of spices. The presence of cardamon was prominent. Self serve with small bowls at the stall front.

If I rank what I like on the plate in descending order, it will be red sambal, green sambal, basmati rice and fried chicken. But, they combined together to make a wonderful dish greater than any of the parts individually.

Oh... there's no need to get additional red or green chili. There's enough for me even though I love them, as the stall was generous with their sambals. 

OK, this one is definitely worth queuing for. A true hawker gem. Just hope that when you are there, there ain't too many 10 packet type customers ahead of you 🤣

Please share your thoughts & experience with Green Chili Chicken Rice. Thank you.

       

                     

             

             

               

               

             

           

           

           

                         

           

             

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            A post shared by Tony Boey Johor Kaki (@johorkaki)          

       

     

            

Written by Tony Boey on 11 Oct 2021