Chatterbox’s Chicken Rice Is Served Boneless — So What Happens To Its Wings?

Singapore’s most famous chicken rice isn’t even created by an Asian? The story is that executive chef Peter Gehrmann — an alum of The Savoy in London and executive chef for The Mandarin Singapore as it was known back then — was tasked by the hotel owner to include three local dishes on the Chatterbox menu. While this might sound perfectly normal these days, it was unorthodox back in 1971, when local food just didn’t feature in posh hotels. So, supported by a local team, Peter went around trying hawker dishes and finally decided on three dishes: char kway teow, laksa, and the chicken rice now synonymous with Chatterbox’s name.

The dish made its debut on 1 August 1971, the same day the hotel opened its doors, and will be celebrating its golden jubilee next year. The hotel held an eating competition during its 35th anniversary celebrations — during which the winner inhaled a serving in all of 71 seconds. Plans for its 50th celebration next year are still under wraps.

Singapore’s former president Tony Tan and the missus apparently celebrated their wedding anniversary at Chatterbox when it first opened in 1971 — with a chicken rice dinner. They were pictured doing so again at their 53rd anniversary in 2017 (above). And according to hotel staff, they were spotted in recent years too. Other famous personalities who’ve been spotted include a host of Hong Kong actors, and Singapore’s very own JJ Lin, who reportedly likes entertaining overseas guests at the restaurant. Celebrities aside, the Chatterbox chicken rice also has some legit Crazy Rich Asian fans: according to hotel representatives, hungry Indonesian customers have flown in their private jets just to pick up some five boxes of the Chatterbox chicken rice. Some cravings just need to be satisfied.

Given the popularity of the dish, it's understandable that no chef is about to rock the boat. The chicken rice recipe has remained unchanged over the last few decades, and while it might be tweaked slightly based on the fluctuations in the taste of the raw ingredients, the end product has been kept consistent in flavour and texture over the past decades. Check out the restaurant when it first opened in the 1970s. Love the fierce contouring on the ladies' faces.

… the full recipe. Only six chefs in the world are privy to the top-secret recipe in the dish’s 49-year history. While two have since retired, the third is executive sous chef Liew Tian Heong (above), who has been with hotel for over 30 years. The other three are also still cooking at the hotel too, in a space dedicated to the creation of this famed dish and separated from all other kitchens — yes, it is such a fiercely guarded recipe that even the cooking process cannot be witnessed by other chefs. This also means that the dish — though not Halal-certified — is cooked in pork- and lard-free premises.

The chooks are delivered fresh 365 days of the year from a farm in Malaysia specially commissioned to rear the chickens for 65 to 70 days, longer than the usual of 50 to 55 days. This translates to bigger birds that weigh 2kg each, and each chook yields just four servings of chicken rice. Yes, you get a generous quarter of a bird in each portion (pictured is how the dish was served in the ’90s).

The chicken is cooked in a stock together with aromatic ingredients such as ginger, garlic and pandan leaves. It is then rapidly cooled under running water instead of being plunged in iced water. According to the hotel representatives, this means that the chicken won’t develop the clear layer of gelatin beneath its skin, so if that’s your thing, you’re going to miss that “jelly” sorely (pictured: a takeaway version of the dish).

Perhaps one of the draws of Chatterbox as a “chicken rice place” is that, apart from the main event, there’s also a strong supporting cast of other local dishes — and we don’t just mean sides like rojak ($17) and ngoh hiang ($18). The restaurant has recently updated its menu design so as to better highlight its Asian focus — Western items are now on a separate menu. Eagle-eyed fans might also notice that the new layout is similar to that of the restaurant’s Hong Kong outpost in Tsim Sha Tsui, opened late last year. Apart from the design update, the menu also features some new items, such as a white seafood bee hoon, previously a monthly special that proved so popular that it became a staple.

For the cloak-and-dagger operation behind the preparation of the chicken rice, the dish won’t blow anybody away on first taste. Yet, it’s a reliable dish to return to. This writer visits about four times a year with the family for many reasons: the price might be high but the portioning makes for an extremely filling meal. The components — chicken, rice, dips (dark sauce, tart chilli sauce, young ginger paste) — are suitably flavoursome without being overly rich, so that you still feel like you're having a pretty wholesome meal. The entire set is also well-balanced in the sense that you wouldn’t feel that one component outshines another. The meals we’ve had here have been consistent in flavour and texture too. Ironically, it was during this particular hosted tasting that we encountered a chicken portion a tad dryer and tougher than usual. Performance anxiety, perchance? Nonetheless, we still look forward to eating here with the fam again.

Before you scream blue murder at the price tag, know that a whole Boston lobster — at least 350g with its shell on, with about 160g of meat — comes with this bowl of laksa. You're also paying for the hours taken to prepare this dish: the laksa broth uses a seafood base cooked overnight with prawn head and shells. Fried aromatics are then added to it in the morning and it is simmered for another three hours. This makes for a super lemak, umami bomb that will have you slurping up every drop of the gravy, never mind the doctor’s orders.

Topped with abalone, fleshy, large ang kah shrimps, squid rings and scallop, this is one decadent seafood bee hoon. The strands of noodles are also entwined with bits of fried egg and slivers of fatty pork, so that you get a mix of textures in every bite. But what we love most about this dish is the fact that the rice vermicelli is super saturated with sweet flavours of a chicken and seafood stock, yet remains deliciously toothsome. Rather than the usual rice vermicelli which turns mushy quickly upon braising, the chefs here use Xinzhu beehoon from Taiwan, known for its ability to remain QQ.

The Mandarin Chicken Rice is served completely boneless — so you won’t see wings on your plate (unless you request for it, that is). What happens to all the wings from the hundreds of birds that the restaurant goes through each day? They’re transformed into this platter of crisp-yet-tender deep-fried chicken wings, each enrobed in a gloriously golden salted egg coating. Unlike a lot of places that use ready-made salted egg powder, here, the chefs steam the yolks and then hand-press them through a sieve to achieve the desired texture — one that is velvety yet not artificially smooth. Those addicted to salted egg chips might find the flavours a bit muted, but it’s really a dish that grows on you with its surprisingly subtle punch. We do wish that the flavours from the curry leaves and chilli padi could be more pronounced to lift the creaminess of the salted egg coating, though.

The current location for the coffee house is rather nondescript compared to the early 2000s, when Chatterbox was relocated to the top floor during the hotel’s renovations — feasting on the chicken rice while taking in the panoramic view of the glitzy city scape was such a treat. But nostalgia is the most powerful seasoning of all, and Chatterbox continues to draw their fans, many who have been eating here since they were children and now dine here with their own kids.

Chatterbox is at 333 Orchard Rd, Level 5 at Mandarin Orchard Singapore. Tel: 6831-6288. Open daily 11am to 11pm. www.meritushotels.com/en/mandarin-orchard-singapore/dining/chatterbox.html