TacoCat's TrEats #30: Belle of the Chicken Rice Ball 🍚

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Cover image: 360 Happy Kitchen

Hey Steemit!

Apologies for the inconsistent update; I had some login problems with steemconnect and I didn't want to break the streak of 3s I got going on my page.

Anyway, technical difficulties aside, in the previous post I mentioned that my family took a road trip to Malacca for the weekend so this post will be a continuation of food from that trip!

Our first meal was actually pretty special; we had one of Melaka's signature dishes - chicken rice balls - at a restaurant called Famosa Chicken Rice Ball!

chicken rice bol.PNG
Photo courtesy of Google Streetview
(Sidenote: I know the rules say that we have to have a photograph of the restaurant that we took ourself but for the life of me I can't find a single photo I took of the restaurant! 😕 To be fair, I may have forgotten to take one on the day itself because it was sooo hot and sunny out that day I was burning in the hot sun. 😓 So, sorry about that! 😔)

Anyway, I've posted about chicken rice in Singapore before, but what's unique about Melaka's chicken rice is that the rice is actually "condensed" and rolled into a ball!

Source: maknyonya.com

On the outside, they look just like fishballs but they're actually made of rice! The grains are obviously not as distinct since they've been squished into a golf ball shape, but they're still as delicious! 🤤

Famosa Chicken Rice Ball is actually a pretty famous restaurant in Melaka, with 3 outlets; 2 along Jonker Street and 1 in Jalan Bendahara. We went to one of the Jonker outlets which wasn't too far from our hotel - Ramada Plaza.

Source: booking.com

The hotel is pretty nice and comfy, and convenient too!

We were pretty hungry when we finally arrived in Malacca, so we hurried to the restaurant (as well as to hide from the intense heat.

We ended up ordering kailan, 1 whole chicken, roast pork, boiled eggs, and about 20 chicken rice balls (I think 2-3 balls is 1 bowl of rice)!

We also ordered a dessert and some drinks, while I had a root beer float.

The whole meal was delicious! And I couldn't get enough of the chicken rice balls! 🤤
I wish I had taken some pictures of the restaurant; the interior is pretty rustic and homely, and I'd definitely recommend it if you're in the area.

Source: SGMYTRIPS.com

So I did some research to find out the history behind the creation of chicken rice balls, and it seems like there's no definite answer (or Wiki page), and there are a few theories about its inception.

One speculation is that the rice is shaped into balls to keep it warm from the time it's cooked (probably early in the day) until the time that it's consumed. In the olden days, chefs used to store their rice in wooden containers and rolling it into balls helps in sealing the warmth and flavour!
Another conjecture is that the rice balls made it easier for travelling peddlers and labourers to sell and buy rice respectively while they went about their business.

these-are-the-3-alleged-origin-theories-you-didnt-know-about-melakas-chicken-rice-balls-world-of-buzz-1024x683.jpg
Source: malaysiabest.my

Either way, I'm glad this tradition still lives on and many restaurants have built themselves on this delicious dish for generations.
We do have chicken rice balls in Singapore as well; I should definitely give it a try some day! If you've tried it before, let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!