Chicken Rice Balls @ Nanyang Chicken Rice Ball, Malacca

 

Chicken rice is already one of my favourite comfort foods. But when it is packed into bite-sized bombshells, well sign me up! All jokes aside, there is something special when they are packed into tiny morsels. Maybe it is my biases speaking, but I digress. It has been a couple of years since I returned to my home state of Malacca. A great homecoming it was indeed. And I have to admit that the nostalgia may have coloured my opinion on certain things, but one thing that is undisputed is that the food here is indeed pretty special. It is the food I grew up with and enjoyed during my formative years. Despite that, I still feel that what is in store is quite unique in terms of the culinary sphere that is Malaysian cuisine. One of which is chicken rice. 

Front of the house. 

Chicken rice is a common blue collar meal that is enjoyed by virtually almost everyone. You can even find vegetarian versions of that if you look hard enough. Everyone has their own take on it. But it is only in Malacca where you can find it in bite-sized delights. You may find different places outside of the state, but probably not something as good. One shop that is able to work its magic to perfection is Nanyang Chicken Rice Ball located in the heart of Malacca Raya. 

Simple and honest

The premise is pretty simple. As the sign says, it just serves chicken rice. But even with that you are allowed some form of customization. There are 3 types of chicken to choose from: roasted, steamed, or steamed kampung chicken. For the uninitiated, kampung chicken refers to free range chicken and they tend to be more pricey, but more succulent and flavourful. As I was with my parents and their childhood friends, we ordered one whole chicken and several plates worth of chicken rice balls. One joked that this is Chinese onigiri, which to be fair, is not wrong. One whole chicken stood at RM85 while one "onigiri" stood at RM0.50 each. There are also set meals that have various barriers of entry. They do have regular chicken rice too, but why would you want that though?

Holy cow! I mean... chicken!

It took awhile for our food to come over, which is actually alright, considering it was the weekend. But once that giant place of chicken landed on our table, we can see why. The whole thing was an absolute beast! The amount of chicken meat was quite generous, which makes that RM85 price tag pretty justified. The skin was golden and glossy, probably due to the chicken feed that most free range chickens have, compared to "regular" chicken. The meat was totally succulent and sweet. Glazed with the classic sweet soy sauce you get in chicken rice establishments, it is hard to find a more perfect display of fowl meal. I really can't. And I will take this over an oven-roasted turkey any time in terms of visual and taste. 

Sweet mother of balls!

That is just the chicken part. As for the rice balls, they are just as impressive. They are pretty huge and were probably 45% the size of my palm. The flavour was also spot on. Hints of garlic and ginger were present and the aroma from the chicken stock that was used to cook the rice was quite evident. Texture-wise, it was great too. Each ball was slightly pasty and sticky, which is actually what you want as it is the starch that helps keep its shape. However, it does not give a glue-like mouthfeel. Rather, each gran can be felt quite easily. Just too good. 

A bird's eye view of this glorious meal. 

In terms of companions, the classic free soup and chilli sauce added more dimensions to the meal. The chilli sauce was fresh, zesty and spicy all the way through. It gave that extra kick to an already tasty meal. The soup gave it extra moisture which helps everything go down. We also got some stir-fried veggies to round out the meal. It was ok but pretty forgettable. Well, my mom was there so we need to get some in still. 

Spicy liquid gold. 

Overall, this was an absolute feast which I totally enjoyed from beginning to end. This is an establishment that I cannot recommend enough. Everything was spot on and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Although do note that locals and tourists flock to this area, so if you are coming during the weekend lunch rush, get ready for a slight wait. But regardless, that wait will be worth it. So if you fancy a go, then the address for Nanyang Chicken Rice Ball is as follows:

289 & 290, Jalan Melaka Raya 2, Taman Melaka Raya, 75000 Melaka, Malaysia

Ps: do note that if you want to search on Google Maps you need to include every word in that name. As in "Nanyang Chicken Rice Ball" as a whole. If you miss one word, it is likely you will get something else entirely!