Bukit Merah Central Food Centre, Stall #02-51
The Stall & Its Story
Pin Sheng Chicken Rice is not a stall that crept into existence quietly. Since opening in December 2022 at Bukit Merah Central Food Centre, it has drawn long queues, media attention, and even a public endorsement from Member of Parliament Melvin Yong. The man behind the wok is a former head chef at Boon Tong Kee — one of Singapore’s most recognisable chicken rice chains — and that pedigree is immediately legible on the plate.
The name “Pin Sheng” (拼胜) loosely evokes the idea of striving for victory through effort, and the food reflects that ethos. This is not a casual, phone-it-in hawker operation. Every element — the poaching temperature, the ice bath, the rice fat ratio — has been given serious thought.
Ambience
Bukit Merah Central Food Centre is among the newer, better-maintained hawker centres in Singapore. The architecture is open-air but covered, with reasonable ventilation and relatively clean common tables. Fluorescent lighting casts everything in that familiar, unfussy hawker glow — no atmospheric pretension here, and none needed.
Pin Sheng’s stall itself is compact and unadorned. A handwritten or simply printed menu, a glass display of whole chickens and char siew hanging on hooks, and a constant procession of regulars. The queue forms early, sometimes before the 11am opening, and by noon it snakes several stalls deep. Seating fills quickly during the lunch window. If you arrive at 11:30am expecting a leisurely sit-down, recalibrate your expectations. Go at 11am sharp, or closer to 2:30pm when the crowd has thinned.
The nearest MRT is Redhill, approximately a 15-minute walk away — a gentle deterrent that has done nothing to reduce footfall.
The Dishes — An In-Depth Analysis
Steamed Chicken Drumstick Rice — $5.50
This is the anchor dish, and the reason the queue exists.
The chicken arrives pre-chopped, skin-on, arranged over a separate mound of rice. A small bowl of cabbage soup completes the set. The presentation is traditional and honest — no garnish theatrics.
Texture: The flesh is the first revelation. It yields immediately to the chopstick, not in the way of overcooked meat that falls apart, but with a controlled, deliberate tenderness — the result of precise poaching just below a rolling boil. Beneath the skin sits a thin, trembling layer of set gelatin, amber-hued and translucent. This is the hallmark of proper Hainanese-style preparation: the bird is submerged in an ice bath directly after cooking, which shocks the skin into contracting tightly and traps the natural juices just beneath the surface. Without this step, that gelatinous layer collapses, and the chicken becomes merely decent rather than memorable.
Hues: The skin carries a pale champagne-gold tone from the soy marinade, deepening to a warm amber at the edges. The flesh beneath is white with a faint blush near the bone — correctly cooked, not overdone into greyness.
Flavour: Restrained and elegant. The natural sweetness of the chicken is at the forefront, with a savoury, lightly soy-kissed finish. It is not aggressively seasoned; the seasoning exists to elevate, not to dominate. The drumstick is slightly on the smaller side, which is the one legitimate grievance — you will finish it wanting another piece.
The Rice
The rice is cooked in chicken stock and rendered chicken fat (schmaltz), scented with pandan, garlic, and ginger. The grains are individual, neither clumping nor dry — a balance that requires attentive water-to-fat calibration and resting time after cooking.
Texture: Fluffy, with a slight oiliness that coats the mouth pleasantly. Each grain has structural integrity; pressing it between tongue and palate, it yields with mild resistance before dissolving.
Hues: A warm, creamy ivory — not stark white, which would indicate plain steamed rice, and not yellow, which would suggest excessive turmeric or an inferior fat source. The colour here tells you the chicken fat is of good quality and properly rendered.
Flavour: Subtly savoury, faintly garlicky, with an aromatic background note from the pandan. It is not the most assertive chicken rice in Singapore, but it is balanced and refined. A dash of dark soy sauce pooled alongside transforms each mouthful.
Chilli Sauce
Pin Sheng’s chilli is made in-house, as any serious chicken rice stall demands. It is a blended red chilli sauce — ginger and garlic are present in the base — with a clean, forward heat that registers on the mid-palate and lingers without punishing.
Hues: A vivid lacquer red, closer to a fresh bird’s eye chilli tone than the dull brick-orange of bottled commercial sauces.
Texture: Smooth with a slightly viscous body. It clings to the chicken rather than running off — a practical virtue.
Critique: The heat is present and commendable, but the sauce lacks acidity. A well-made chicken rice chilli should carry a bright tanginess — often achieved with lime juice or rice vinegar — that cuts through the richness of the fat-cooked rice. Here, that dimension is muted. The sauce pleases but does not excite.
Char Siew — from $6 (platter) / from $4 (rice set)
The char siew is an auxiliary offering rather than the main event, but it earns its place.
Texture: Lean-to-fat ratio is moderate. The meat does not melt in the mouth the way a premium Cantonese roastery’s version might, but it has sufficient moisture and a firm, satisfying bite.
Hues: A deep mahogany lacquer on the exterior, caramelised nearly to the point of char at the edges — which is correct. The cross-section reveals a gradient from dark crust to rosy-pink interior.
Flavour: The maltose glaze is the highlight — it carries sweetness without being cloying, and there is a genuine wok-breath smokiness embedded in the crust. This smoke is not performative; it comes from direct flame contact, and it lingers. Eaten alongside the rice with a drizzle of the glaze pooled at the bottom of the platter, it is an addictive combination.
Lettuce with Oyster Sauce — from $3
A cautionary ordering note: skip this. The oyster sauce is bland and thin, delivering almost no umami depth. The lettuce itself is cooked past the ideal point, losing the faint bitterness and snap that make the vegetable interesting. It neither refreshes nor complements. If you want a vegetable side, look elsewhere on the menu or at adjacent stalls.
The Full Meal — How It Works Together
The intelligent way to order at Pin Sheng is a chicken drumstick rice per person, a shared platter of char siew, and individual portions of the dipping sauces. The soy sauce should be applied to the chicken directly; the chilli is best mixed into the rice itself so the heat distributes evenly through each spoonful. The cabbage soup — pale, clean, lightly saline — serves as a palate reset between bites of the richer char siew.
The meal is complete, economical, and deeply satisfying. Two people can eat well for under $18.
The Recipe & Cooking Method (Hainanese Poached Chicken)
Understanding what makes Pin Sheng’s chicken work requires understanding the classical technique it employs.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 1 whole kampong or free-range chicken, ~1.4kg
- 4 slices ginger
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 stalks spring onion
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp salt
- Ice water bath (large bowl, heavily iced)
For the rice:
- 2 cups jasmine rice, washed
- 3 tbsp rendered chicken fat (collected from the poaching liquid)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ginger, grated
- 2.5 cups poaching stock (skimmed)
- 1 pandan leaf, knotted
- Salt to taste
Method:
Bring a large pot of water to a gentle simmer — never a rolling boil, as agitation toughens the muscle fibres. Add ginger, garlic, spring onion, and salt. Submerge the chicken fully; if it floats, weigh it down. Maintain the water at 80–85°C. A kitchen thermometer is not pedantic here — it is necessary. Poach for 35–40 minutes depending on bird size.
While the chicken poaches, skim the fat that rises to the surface and reserve it. This rendered fat is the flavour foundation of the rice.
When the chicken is done — a skewer inserted at the thigh joint should yield clear juices — remove it immediately and submerge it entirely in the ice water bath for 15 minutes. Do not skip this step. The thermal shock firms the skin, sets the subcutaneous gelatin, and halts residual cooking. This is what separates good chicken rice from great chicken rice.
After the ice bath, brush the skin with a mixture of light soy sauce and sesame oil, then rest the bird for 10 minutes before chopping.
For the rice, fry the garlic and ginger in the reserved chicken fat over medium heat until fragrant. Add the washed, drained rice and stir to coat every grain. Transfer to a rice cooker, add the poaching stock and pandan leaf, and cook as normal. The stock carries the gelatin and aromatics from the poaching — this is where the rice gets its depth.
Delivery Options
Pin Sheng Chicken Rice does not currently operate through major food delivery platforms such as GrabFood or foodpanda. The stall’s hours — Monday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm only — are also incompatible with the dinner delivery window that most platforms optimise for.
For those unable to visit in person, the only current option is self-collection or requesting someone to tapao (takeaway) on your behalf. The chicken rice travels reasonably well over short distances if the rice and chicken are packed separately to prevent sogginess, and the chilli is packed in a sealed container. Quality degrades notably beyond 30 minutes, as the gelatin layer softens and the rice can turn gluggy.
There is no indication the stall has plans to expand to delivery at the time of writing.
Verdict
Rating: 8 / 10
Pin Sheng Chicken Rice is the work of a craftsman who knows exactly what he is doing and does it with consistency. The steamed chicken is the product of genuine technical discipline — the ice bath, the poaching temperature, the quality of the bird are all non-negotiable here, and the results show. The rice is well-executed and honest. The char siew is a worthy accompaniment.
The weaknesses are real but minor: a chilli that needs more acidity, a portion size that leaves you wanting just one more slice, and a vegetable side that should be quietly removed from the menu. None of these diminish the core offering.
If you are serious about chicken rice, Pin Sheng belongs on your list.
Address: 163 Bukit Merah Central, #02-51, Bukit Merah Central Food Centre, Singapore 150163 Hours: Monday – Saturday, 11am – 4pm Not halal-certified. Cash accepted.
Sonnet 4.6