Ā Mā Chicken Rice

Ah yes, Hainanese Chicken aka Chicken Rice is a dish that is popular in most parts of Asia.  It originated, as the name implies, in the Hainan Province of China.  Through travel, it has spread across SE Asia and has morphed into different versions.  Yet, the basic premise is the same, poached chicken served with chicken oil rice and all the condiments (which are similar or different depending on the location).  It seems like a simple dish, but as you know, those are the type of things that you can easily mess up.  Our latest food adventures has brought us to Ā Mā Chicken Rice in Redmond.  This is a Cambodian restaurant and hence this is the version of chicken rice that we got to try (among other things).

So let's get right to it with the Chicken Rice accompanied by the aforementioned chicken oil rice, sweet chili sauce and what I like to call "crack sauce" made of fermented soybean, sugar and ginger.  Very reminiscent of Nong's Khao Man Gai in Portland (albeit the Thai version).  At the table, there was also the classic ginger & scallion condiment as well as chili crunch.  I found the chicken oil rice to be super delicious with enough seasoning and aromatics for impact.   The rice itself was not mushy while not being hard either.  The dark meat chicken was buttery and succulent while flavourful on its own.  Best thing to dip the chicken into was the crack sauce as it was a bit of everything with some spice.  However, the ginger & scallion condiment was a classic match too, especially since it was mostly ginger.

For those who wanted something a bit different, yet still technically qualify as chicken rice is the Crispy Chicken Rice.  So the rice for this was exactly like the previous dish, therefore it was an excellent base to start with.  On top, there was a considerable amount of deep-fried chicken breast.  As much as it was white meat, it was still tender and almost juicy.  On the outside, it was plenty crispy with a fairly thick coating.  To compliment the fried chicken, I thought the fermented soybean sauce to be the best match.  It really brought the chicken to life with sweet and savoury elements.

Another dish we had which was on point was the Phnom Penh Noodles.  If you have ever been to Phnom Penh in Vancouver, you will be very familiar with this dish.  It comes in both dry and soup form, where we tried both.  I personally love the Dry Phnom Penh Noodles myself as the flavors are more concentrated.  Consisting of rice noodles mixed with a sweetened soy sauce, the bowl was full of liver, ground pork, shrimp, green onions and fried shallots.

The soup version of the Phnom Penh Noodles sports the basically the same ingredients except instead of the soy mix, everything sat in a hot broth.  I felt the broth was clean, sweet, a bit meaty and slightly briny.  Noodles were still al dente despite sitting in the hot broth.  It soaked up some of the flavors and tasted good on its own.  However, I enjoyed using the chili crunch to amp things up a bit.

Other than the chicken rice, the other best dish of the meal was the Ā Mā Dried Noodles.  These had thinner and firmer egg noodles that were topped with ground pork and dried shrimp, dried mushrooms and a piece of that fried chicken.  This was so savory and full of umami.  Noodles had a nice elasticity and chew to them.  Overall, the food at Ā Mā Chicken Rice is delicious and well-prepared.  Portions are good and the prices are reasonable.  Great for a casual meal any day of the week.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Delicious

- Reasonable pricing

- Ample portions

The Bad:

- Super busy and a wait for a table is normal

- Tight seating