Not all fusion food are made equal. Truthfully, most have ceased to impress us—we’ve seen the likes of ramen burgers, sushi burritos; heck, you could even call Mos Burger a pioneer for hawking rice burgers since the ‘80s. But a new contender has emerged, so daring and novel it made us sit up and listen. In an audacious move that’s one for the books, Old Chang Kee has released a double-whammy of a local heritage item: the chicken rice curry puff.
Deftly named the Hainanese Chicken Rice’O ($2 or $3.60 for two), the revolutionary puff is the first of the brand’s Heritage Series, launched to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year and Singapore Bicentennial. And available through Feb 28, it’s extremely limited-edition. A golden layer of the signature Old Chang Kee crust encases a generous filling of Hainanese chicken rice, steamed boneless chicken, coriander leaves, and Old Chang Kee Hainanese Chilli sauce. If it sounds like a blasphemy, it is—but a tasty, on-the-go one. For reasons known only to the ingenious Old Chang Kee chefs, the Rice’O is a near-perfect take on our national dish that nails both flavour and feel—once you get over the initial confused sensation of tasting chicken rice in a curry puff.
Also released during the launch are CNY-appropriate cookies ($16.80 per jar) in familiar local flavours: Curry cookie, made of the same curry recipe as the brand’s Curry’O; and the Nasi Lemak cookie, a bright amber cookie topped with ikan bilis and peanuts. You might also want to pick up the new range of bottled chilli sauces ($5.80) and cooking pastes ($5.80-$6.80)—but if we’re honest, we’d say save your dollars and just taste the Rice’O before it goes down in history.
The Hainanese Chicken Rice’O is available from now through Feb 28 at all Old Chang Kee outlets nationwide.
