4. BBQ Pork Chicken On Rice - Strange Bedfellows

BBQ Pork Chicken on Rice, or, "Meatlover's Plate." Meat with a side of meat. A great dish to order if you are on a date with a vegetarian that you dislike. This is the dish I ordered when I had three bites of my companion's Nasi Goring (see entry 3). Just as well I was hungry because damn that is a whole lotta meat! The chicken is steamed, tender and juicy and comes with the dipping sauce that the regular Steamed Chicken dish comes with. It's piquant hit of ginger and spring onion cuts through the unctuous richness of the chicken thigh. I have had the steamed chicken as a standalone dish before. One early afternoon I came right on opening time, requested my favourite Soya Chicken on Rice, only to be told it wasn't ready yet. I was devastated but they suggested instead the Steamed Chicken. I was starving and in the mood for chicken, feeling uncharacteristically adventurous so I gave it a shot. Great decision. The sauce is the sauce that dreams are made of. I would love to know what is in it so I could make a great big batch of it. The recipes I find in a quick online search are different, perhaps it is a secret recipe unique to KC.

I am not the biggest fan of pork. I tend to find it bland, too fatty, and, hideously hypocritically, feel a little guilty about eating something so smart. I expressed this sentiment to a tutor from cooking school once. He replied "so if they're so smart how the hell did they end up on your plate then?" This assuaged my guilt somewhat the next time I tucked into a bacon sandwich. The BBQ pork at KC is not bland in the slightest. It is a cheery shock of crimson on the plate. There is a lot of it, and (my one slight criticism) while slightly dry, comes with a dark dipping sauce very similar to the dumpling dipping sauce. Like the chicken and sauce combination it is a harmonious match - moistening the meat and cutting through the richness with its salty tang. The ubiquitous mountain of rice is nice to dip into the remaining sauce. For $13.50 it is a lot of food. Perhaps not the most balanced meal out there, and I do note the absence of the steamed bok choy that accompanies my trusty Soya Chicken (I am eagerly anticipating that post...).

Happy New Year dear readers. What are your resolutions? As you know, mine is to eat more KC!