Reinventing the Classic: Antoine Shapiro’s Hainanese Chicken Rice Adventure
The humble Hainanese chicken rice has long been a Singaporean staple—think of it as the city’s unofficial national dish, loved by locals and tourists alike. But when Berlin-born food vlogger Antoine Shapiro hit the kitchen back in January 2018, he was looking to give it a fresh spin.
From YouTube Beginner to Culinary Oracle
- Antoine’s very first cooking video was a hands‑on attempt at making chicken rice from scratch. It did the trick: within two years his channel, My Name Is Andong, racked up 120,000 subscribers.
- The fan‑favorite video sparked a desire in Shapiro—and his readers—to revisit the dish with a new level of authenticity.
“This time we’re gonna do it right”
With that line in mind, Antoine and a local friend jet to Singapore, grab a bowl of the city’s beloved rice dish, and then hop onto another flight heading to Haikou, Hainan. No itinerary, no plan: just pure curiosity and a mission to taste the original.
Wenchang Chicken: The Forgotten Royalty
It turns out that what most of us think of as Hainanese chicken rice is actually a regional specialty called Wenchang chicken. In Hainan, it’s one of the “Four Great Dishes,” yet nothing less than a trip to the South‑westerly town of Wenchang will do it justice.
From the Streets of Haikou to Wenchang’s Old‑World Flavour
- After a quick taste‑test in Haikou, the pair set off toward Wenchang, eager to check how the original dish stacks up.
- The experience proved that Wenchang chicken truly is the real deal, the flavor that inspired the beloved Singaporean version.
In the end, Antoine’s quest was more than just another cooking episode—it was a culinary pilgrimage that reconnected us with the roots of a beloved dish. And who knows? The next video might just bring us back to homemade comfort food we can all share (without the guilt of a burnt rice pot).
<img alt="" data-caption="Wenchang chicken. PHOTO: Screengrab from Youtube/My Name Is Andong” data-entity-type=”file” data-entity-uuid=”b1db1079-2ab7-4624-b704-98c7fe502759″ src=”/sites/default/files/inline-images/191128_Wenchang_Youtube.jpg”/>With such amazing flavours, Andong couldn’t help but claim that it was the best chicken he ever had in his life. “Is it the sauce or am I drooling, you’ll never know,” he exclaimed.
Andong went on to explain that Wenchang chicken does not necessarily refer to just one recipe, but refers to “good quality, mature chickens” that have lived in Hainan. It is all about “the pure chicken flavour”, he gushed.
Soon after, they caught yet another flight and had arrived in Singapore the very next day for an obligatory pitstop at Maxwell Food Centre’s famous Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice stall.
[[nid:468367]]
Trying Singapore’s version of the Hainan dish for the first time, he was pleasantly surprised that the rice was the star — not the chicken. “This rice is an umami explosion!” he enthused.
Shapiro’s epic chicken rice adventure has since been viewed over 26,000 times since it dropped on Nov 23. <img alt="" data-caption="PHOTO: Screengrab from Youtube/My Name Is Andong” data-entity-type=”file” data-entity-uuid=”aa8aab0b-52d3-48f9-badf-06efa3665393″ src=”/sites/default/files/inline-images/191128_andongchicken_youtube.jpg”/>Commenters expressed how they were impressed with his command of Chinese and his knowledge of China, while others have been thankful for the YouTuber sharing his experiences in his search for the roots of Hainanese chicken rice.
[email protected]
DigitalYoutubechicken ricechina
