NineS MaCao Chicken Rice @ Pandan Indah

I've noticed this NineS MaCao Chicken Rice @ Pandan Indah on ShopeeFood delivery for quite some time but have never ordered as I didn't know what MaCao chicken was.  I actually read/pronounced MaCao as Macau....and thought it was some kind of Macau chicken (as in chicken from Macau) similar to the well-known Wenchang chicken (from Hainan, China).

Apparently, I got the pronunciation wrong! >.<  It's not MaCau chicken but MaCho Kai.....MaCho as in Ma (horse) and Cho (grass).  I was told this by a restaurant owner (a place I frequent for breakfast on a weekly basis for their kai see hor fun, not because it's supremely good but because the people manning the place is extremely friendly), that this specific type of chicken is fed with grass eaten by horses! :O  Ooo, grass fed chicken...like grass fed beef lah! :D

Well, this was the first time I've heard of such a thing.  Intrigued, I placed an order for their Signature MaCao Chicken Rice (Single) @ RM14.90 just to see what it's all about.  This is a stall within Kafe Cahaya Bulan in Pandan Indah that's probably more well known for its sam kan chong noodles (pork ball mee with siew cheong or roasted pork sausage) and chao cheong (deep fried pork intestines) which is what I'd get if I'm here.

Their packaging is one of the nicest and neatest packaging I've seen chicken rice come in...lol.  The package contains their signature poached chicken with condiments of pickled carrot and radish along with cucumber slices and sauces.

First things first, the poached chicken is free range, so you can expect the flavour of the chicken to be better than broiler chickens or those raised in confined spaces.  I asked for the thigh portion but got the wing section instead.  I actually don't mind since I like that the meat is much leaner with visibly no fats underneath the skin, so I was able to eat the skin too.

Although the chicken is tender, it does not have that smoothness like poached chicken or wat kai.  The taste and texture of the chicken is more like eating a good steamed choy yin kai (free range chicken).  The meat has a bit more bite but with more flavour and sufficiently tender too.

I really liked the rice as it had tons of flavours from being boiled in a good chicken stock, one of the better ones I've eaten in recent times.  The only tiny disapproval was perhaps it was a little oilier than I would have liked.  The stock is usually made with frying chicken fat with some aromatics and boiling the stock with chicken bones as well. 

Three sauces were given, packed in separate tiny containers.....soy sauce, chilli sauce and ginger paste. The soy sauce for the rice had hints of sesame oil but was a tad oily but so were the chilli sauce and ginger paste.  I know some chicken rice sellers would add chicken broth to their chilli sauce and ginger paste to make them more flavourful.  Actually all three of their own-made sauces tasted great if only they were less oily.

Luckily, the crunchy sliced cucumbers and the refreshing carrot and radish pickle offered some relief to an otherwise oily chicken rice.  I especially enjoyed the pickle which isn't something commonly offered by chicken rice sellers.

I added on a Braised Egg @ RM2.80 just o bump up the total in order to qualify for a ShopeeFood discount voucher.  Nothing about the egg that deserved special mention as it was hardly braised (very obvious from the colour).  Other options here include Roast Chicken Rice (RM14.90), Vietnamese Fried Chicken Rice (RM18.90) and Handmade Chicken Paste Soup (RM7.90).

My Personal Opinion

Overall, it was a pretty good chicken rice.  If they can dial down on the oiliness in the rice and sauces, it would be even better though prices are also a little bit more expensive than the usual chicken rice but that's acceptable since this is macao chicken after all and not the normal broiler chicken.

NineS MaCao Chicken Rice @ Kafe Cahaya Bulan

26 & 28 Jalan Pandan Indah 1/18

Pandan Indah

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 014-969 6803