Chicken rice battle: Heng Ji Chicken Rice (62y.o) vs Whampoa Nan Xiang Chicken Rice – Woodleigh (2y.o)

For our next veteran vs new series, I decided to feature one of Singapore’s national dishes: chicken rice. Fluffy steamed chicken, aromatic, slightly sinful rice, and the holy trinity of black, red, and pale yellow condiments, ahh… perfection on a plate.

Why these contenders?

For the veteran side of things, I chose Heng Ji Chicken Rice at Chinatown Complex because it’s one of the oldest ‘ji fan’ establishments in Singapore, with 62 years of operations. Oh, and also because I haven’t personally patronised them — which makes this the perfect excuse to do so (wink).

On the other end of the spectrum, 2-year-old Whampoa Nan Xiang Chicken Rice at Woodleigh Village Hawker Centre was started by 28-year-old Shaun in 2024, who was featured as a new-age hawker by several publications when the food centre first opened.

Heng Ji Chicken Rice

Though Heng Ji Chicken Rice has been around for over 6 decades, it has gone through a lot of changes. In Aug 2024, former 2nd-gen owner, Mr Chan, unfortunately passed away.

The stall is now run by a pair of Malaysian-born PR cousins, whom the late Mr Chan had trained and passed the recipe down to. The stall only does steamed chicken without any roasted options, which was great (team poached chicken for life!).

Prices are reasonable, with a small plate of chicken rice priced at S$3.80 and a large plate at S$4.80. I went ahead and ordered a small Chicken Rice (breast portion) and a Chicken Thigh Rice (S$4.80). I noticed that the stall doesn’t serve the usual bowl of soup on the side, and judging from Google reviews dating back 7 years, this has long been their style.

I sparked things off with the small plate of chicken breast rice. At S$3.80, I must say that the portion is substantial. It arrived with reasonably-sized chicken breast slices resting atop the mound of chicken rice with thin cucumber slices by the side.

With the chicken breast sliced this thick, I was already bracing myself for a tough chew. But none of that happened — each piece was tender and succulent. Compared to the chicken rice sold at my neighbourhood, this is, in my book, a gold standard.

The chicken rice was quite fragrant, but would benefit from having a stronger aroma and flavour of the chicken fats. While the rice was cooked just right, what irked me slightly was how fragile the grains were, breaking into smaller bits even before I could fully chew them. In a strange way, it kind of reminded me of com tam (Vietnamese broken rice).

The Chicken Thigh Rice was equally executed well. Silky and soft, each piece glided down my throat with ease. I loved how bouncy the texture of the meat and skin was.

I had no complaints about the condiments. The chilli was subtly spicy with a little zing while the fragrant dark soya and slightly spiced ginger just tied everything flawlessly.

So Lemak (3y.o) vs Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak (28y.o): Gen-Z or F&B veteran does it better?

Whampoa Nan Xiang Chicken Rice – Woodleigh

Some of you might find the Whampoa Nan Xiang Chicken Rice brand familiar. Started by Shaun’s mum at Whampoa Hawker Centre, the business, at one point, had expanded to 10 outlets, but has now downsized to only 2.

Shaun’s story of joining his mum in the hawker trade isn’t your usual business takeover tale — there’s a bit more juicy tea to it. His mum was taunted by an ex-employee who told her that if he had quit, her business would fail because of her age (the audacity!). Angry and wanting to defend his mum, Shaun decided to take the reins back in 2022 and fired the ‘big bully’.

When Shaun first started, things were tough. He learnt the art of chopping chicken the hard way, and was scolded by several customers who berated his terrible skills. He had to experiment and perfect his mum’s recipe as everything was shared in the ‘agak-agak‘ way, with no specific measurements. Since setting up Whampoa Nan Xiang Chicken Rice in 2024 at Woodleigh, Shaun has learned a lot from each of his workers. He put systems in place and created an SOP on how to prepare the chicken rice. Today, both outlets use it to maintain a consistent quality.

Besides steamed chicken, the stall also offers roasted and kampung chicken options. To keep things fair, I stuck to ordering the steamed version.

The Steamed Chicken Rice – Breast Portion (S$4.50) separates the meat on a plate with a soy-based sauce underneath. Similar to Heng Gi, the breast meat here was soft and juicy. Judging from the texture, the chefs probably soak the chicken in ice water after poaching, resulting in a gelatine-like mouthfeel.

The Steamed Chicken Rice – Thigh Portion (S$4.50) was just as well-cooked as its breast counterpart. Bouncy flesh and silky skin, each piece of thigh meat was a delight to tuck into.

If I had to nitpick one element of the chicken that I didn’t really like, it was the gravy. It was slightly too sweet, but it didn’t affect the overall flavour of the meat.

It has been some time since I had such glorious chicken rice. Fluffy and fragrant, each grain of rice had a strong punch of unctuous chicken fat together with aromatics like pandan leaf and ginger. The bowl of soup was also a delight to slurp on, possessing a daikon-like flavour.

The chilli here immediately commands attention with its fiery heat and subtle tanginess —definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Verdict

After weighing all the factors, I must say that both stalls were neck and neck. Overall, Whampoa Nan Xiang Chicken Rice had fewer shortcomings, which is why it emerges victorious in this showdown.

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