Chicken rice nation: Singaporean food in Tokyo

Tokyo has seen a profusion of Singaporean restaurants over the last few years, but one of our favorites for authentic chicken rice is still Sing Tong Kee.

Walking up the slope to Sin Tong Kee on a recent sweltering afternoon, it feels as if we’ve landed in humid Singapore. 

Sing Tong Hee's menu offers several carefully prepared and exotic options -- bak kut teh spare rib soup, char kway teow rice noodles stir fried in dark soy sauce, seafood wontons and vegetables over egg noodles -- but it's the national dish, Hainanese chicken rice, that is the real gem. 

Rich, coconut-based laksa soup is another favorite.

Chinese origins

Although it originated in China and is served throughout Southeast Asia, Hainanese chicken rice is synonymous with Singapore.

Hawker centers are full of stalls offering various takes on the dish, but it usually consists of a whole chicken stuffed with ginger and scallions, boiled until tender and eaten with rice and chili sauce. 

Served sliced on a bed of iceberg lettuce, simply garnished with a single sprig of cilantro, the chicken at Sin Tong Kee is juicy and delicately flavored.

It comes with a shiny mound of steamed jasmine rice and three colorful dipping sauces.

Puddles of soy, ginger and chili sauce

The first, an inky black puddle of dark soy and oyster sauce, is slightly sweet and viscous.

The second, a pale green mixture of pounded ginger and garlic with a squeeze of lime juice is outstanding, but the garlicky chili sauce was equally compelling.

But sometimes it's the basics that are the best, and the rice alone is worth the trip. Simmered in chicken stock and lightly seasoned with salt, the rice was fragrant and savory.

Attempts to negotiate a combination plate with both boiled and fried chicken were, in un-Singaporean fashion, flatly refused. But we’ll be back, and next time we’ll remember to bring along some mints: the sauces, while addictively tasty, do leave you with a persistent case of garlic breath.