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2009-07-22
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_____________________________Recently there has been spades of negative reports about 勝利小廚 in 何文田... So how about the same named shop, with different owners and managements, that also sells a popular Thai style 'Hainanese Chicken' in 北角?The front kitchen of this Northpoint shop is managed by Thai cooks - the back kitchen meanwhile are run by Cantonese chefs doing chinese dishes. Some people might complain this to be a bit of a HYBRID model, but perhaps that's what it needs to do to survive in su
Recently there has been spades of negative reports about 勝利小廚 in 何文田... So how about the same named shop, with different owners and managements, that also sells a popular Thai style 'Hainanese Chicken' in 北角?
The front kitchen of this Northpoint shop is managed by Thai cooks - the back kitchen meanwhile are run by Cantonese chefs doing chinese dishes. Some people might complain this to be a bit of a HYBRID model, but perhaps that's what it needs to do to survive in such an hidden alleyway. (The 大少爺茶餐廳 in Happy Valley works on the same 茶餐廳・海南雞 business model, I don't see people complaining about there, so there's a bit of inconsistencies. )
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海南雞 (1/2 chicken. $80) -
As a Thai style version, they give you the pre-mixed thai chilli sauce. The dark soya sauce is slightly sweetened, but nowhere near as authentic as the slightly 'caramelized' version given at Sargeant's in the Food Republic outlets.
The chickens here are real 冰鮮雞, freshly slaughtered from selected farms in Canton and then transported here in as short a time as possible to slow down its decomposition but hopefully has pasted rigot mortis status in the meantime. Its similar to Japan's 築地直送's 冰鮮 philosophy, which used to mean ultra-freshness until lewd businessmen twisted its real meaning.... Its not the 雪臧雞 or somewhere inbetween "冰鮮/雪臧" ones the supermarkets sell.
My half a chicken on the bones, came with slight blood intact within the bones - for purists this is a good sign, for some others they might return the dish. I can't decide where I stand! The skin was very flavourful from the cooking in the herbal soup, also very thin. So how about the meat? It was actually quite tender but most of all, twice I dined here it actually had a lot of 雞味, as well as some positive flavour input from the cooking soup. In fact, I wouldn't hesitate to say this has so far been the best Hainanese chicken I've had recently, although I haven't gone out of my way to try much except Taikoo Sargeants, Happy Valley 大少爺茶餐廳, TST East 好時沙嗲, KLN's 金雞泰式, etc.
- Very happy with the chicken and its chicken taste. The breast part wasn't overly tender but acceptable, the wings were great, the thighs were great with cartilages removed. Just needs better Dark Soya sauce!
- The chicken served here is also WARM, which is great as most shops in HK serve it way too cold - probably to the air conditioning. Overseas in warmer countries, the serving @ room temperature is probably correct. Unfortunately, this philosophy doesn't hold true in HK, especially during winter months.
Chicken Rice -
Rice costs extra unless its a set. Truth be told, the rice didn't live up to the promise shown in the chicken. Half of the rice was rather plain, half of the rice has had Turmeric added. Anyone who has cooked Chicken Rice before will know that all Chicken rices are cooked in the same 'chicken broth' the chicken was cooked in - this is without exceptions. The original recipes call for garlic, shallots and turmeric and sometimes lemongrass to be firstly fried in rendered chicken oil (most of these are in the original soup too!), then the rice is fried in this flavoured oil. The rice having absorbed the oil, will then be cooked in the aforementioned Chicken Broth.
As simple as it sounds - all shops somehow turn up with very different tasting rices, but most of them don't have enough garlicky/chicken oil coating - the major complaint by many foodies. However, because the recipe calls for these to be coated PRIOR to cooking in chicken broth during the frying stage, it actually gets diluted again. Some add Turmeric powder or grated ones to mix in. Some add more oil afterwards. Some fry the rice again with more garlic oil and garlic (eg. KLN's 金雞泰式).
I mentioned all the above because it gives a better idea of what to expect from a Chicken Rice... The version here was lacking any chicken/garlicky oil, it also lacked chicken broth taste, it lacked aroma too. It did get some punch from the Turmeric though, its only redeeming feature plus the fact it was cooked to semi-hardness and using Thai long grain rice.
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-OVERALL, HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE CHICKEN BUT UNFORTUNATELY THE SAME CAN'T BE SAID ABOUT THE RICE.
-MY STIR-FRIED VEGIES WAS OK-GOOD, SALTED FISH, GARLIC, GINGER, BIT OF RICE WINE, RIGHT TEXTURE, YET SOMEHOW NOT AS AROMATIC AS I WOULD HAVE LIKED.
- SERVICE WAS REALLY FRIENDLY BY A FEW SENIOR STAFF. UTTERLY SURPRISED.
'5' - for my Half Chicken
'3' - for Garlic Chicken rice
WOULD COME BACK.
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