Fried Rice Boy: “International” fried rice hawker stall with 5 different flavours in Hougang
Fried rice is a staple in Singapore’s hawker scene, but have you ever tried fried rice in international flavours? Fried Rice Boy is a coffeeshop stall in Hougang that offers just that.
Fried Rice Boy serves up fried rice in five different flavours, each inspired by five countries in Asia: Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan. Each plate is affordably priced from S$4 to S$7.50, and customers are given the option to choose a pork cutlet, chicken cutlet or shrimp as their protein source. You can even get the fried rice on its own!
I visited Fried Rice Boy on a Thursday afternoon and managed to get my plates of fried rice quite quickly as there was no queue. Each plate came with a little flag to represent each country.
What I tried at Fried Rice Boy
I started off with Fried Rice Boy’s Singapore Fried Rice with Chicken Cutlet (S$6.50), a classic plate of local fried rice topped with a crispy fried chicken cutlet.
Based on its visual appearance, I had expected it to taste like Din Tai Fung’s fried rice, but it tasted a lot more like your regular zi char fried rice. It had a light, aromatic wok hei taste and wasn’t overly oily, though I did find that it was slightly blander than I would have liked.
The chicken cutlet was tender on the inside and crispy on the outside, which I really enjoyed. It was well-fried and delightful to eat along with the fried rice.
Overall, the Singapore Fried Rice with Chicken Cutlet was a standard yet tasty dish that I found to be very satisfying.
Next up, I got the HK Style XO Fried Rice with Pork Cutlet (S$7.50). Compared to the Singapore Fried Rice with Chicken Cutlet, the HK Style XO Fried Rice donned a darker appearance.
I had expected the XO fried rice to be noticeably more flavourful than the previous dish, but in all honesty, it tasted almost identical to the Singapore Fried Rice dish. It was ever so slightly saltier, but I could not taste the XO elements in the fried rice. Despite that, it still tasted good.
The pork chop was a let down for me, as I found it to be rather tough and overcooked. The pork chop skin was not crispy like its chicken counterpart, and the toughness of the pork meat was upsetting in comparison to the tender chicken.
However, the pork chop had a strong taste of spices, and despite its texture, I loved the strength of flavours.
Finally, I ended off with Fried Rice Boy’s Chinese Mala Fried Rice with Chicken Cutlet (S$7.50). There were small pieces of dried chilli and mala peppercorns within the rice.
Compared to the previous two dishes, the Chinese Mala Fried Rice had the most flavour. It had a light mala taste and was salty enough to bring out the elements of the fried rice. Out of the three dishes I tried, it certainly stood out the most.
I do think the mala aspect could be stronger, as the mala taste was quite faint. I would personally like if the dish could have been spicier as a whole too.
Like the chicken cutlet I had with the Singapore Fried Rice, the chicken cutlet on the Chinese Mala Fried Rice was similarly juicy and crispy, making for a fantastic dish.
Of the three fried rice dishes I tried at Fried Rice Boy, the Chinese Mala Fried Rice with Chicken Cutlet was definitely my favourite.
Final thoughts
Despite boasting a unique and interesting concept, I found that Fried Rice Boy’s “international” fried rice dishes tasted more or less the same, save for minute elements, like the kind of sauce or seasoning used in the rice. It did feel like I was eating the same dish three times.
Fried Rice Boy offers solid and affordable plates of fried rice, though the “international” aspect of the dishes felt more like a gimmick than anything. Perhaps if the “international” elements of each dish were intensified and made stronger, I would travel back to Hougang to try them again.
Expected damage: S$4 – S$7.50 per pax
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