Swee Kee 瑞记 Hainanese chicken rice ruled the chicken rice world in Singapore for two generations from 1949 before closing in Feb 1997. The plan originally was to renovate and expand the old shop in Middle Road, Singapore which had become an icon for locals and tourists alike. Meanwhile, the family and workers returned to Senai in Johor where they came from. In Jun 1997, the relatives set up New Swee Kee 新瑞记 with the blessing of the founder Mr. Po 莫瑞安 who (for unknown reasons) did not proceed with the plans to expand Swee Kee in Singapore.
I have (unfortunately) never tried the original Swee Kee in Singapore but the worker who had been with the old shop told me some interesting snippets about it. He said that every day the founding boss 莫瑞安 would personally select the live chickens one by one, picking only the best ones. The chickens were then slaughtered at the old shop ensuring that the meat was super fresh. The old shop also used the best imported Thai fragrant rice.
Other than these two aspects, New Swee Kee followed the traditions of the old shop as the owner (who is a nephew of the founder) and some of the workers are from the old shop. This is the current boss, the younger Mr. Po 莫泽安's son-in-law who will help take Swee Kee into the third generation.
New Swee Kee has done rather well - it was named one of the Top Ten chicken rice shops in Malaysia by Guang Ming Daily 光明日報 in 2007. New Swee Kee now occupies two shop lots in Senai. On the wall are several pictures of visits by celebrities and familiar dignitaries.
Now, Swee Kee is popular among the workers from the nearby Senai industrial park and golfers from the nearby Palm Golf Resort. Travellers using Senai airport also drop by.
The chickens are laid out in the old way in traditional large enamelled pans. Those in the foreground are normal farm chickens 肉鸡 and those in the background are kampung chickens.
We had half of a normal farm chicken 肉鸡. The chicken meat was tender with a firm, springy bite (not soft). The meat had a nice subtle chicken flavour and aroma.
The rice was fragrant, fluffy, flavoured with chicken oil but was not overly greasy.
The clear chicken soup that comes with the order was fragrant and tasty. The umami flavour come from slow boiling these chicken heads and necks.
Swee Kee's ginger sauce is outstanding. It has the aroma and taste of ginger blended with savouriness from chicken oil.
The chili sauce was the watery, drippy kind. My preference is for my chili sauce to be like a paste.
We liked this fried taugeh (bean sprout) side dish. The fresh taugeh was stir fried with bits of salted fish and lard crackles.
Our total bill for half a normal farm chicken, taugeh and two herbal drinks came to RM25.
Swee Kee chicken rice is certainly one of the better chicken rice shops in Johor. I will eat at Swee Kee again, if I am nearby.
Restaurant name: Swee Kee 瑞记海南鸡饭
Address: 98, Jalan Bintang, Taman Bintang, Senai, Johor
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/HAKB8
GPS: 1.614658,103.659009
Hours: 9:00am to 7:00pm (close at 3:00pm on Mondays)
Non Halal
Date visited: 29 Apr 2012
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