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On a quest to find the best chicken rice in the land, a woman spent two months visiting and dining at 100 stalls in Singapore, racked up S$5,000 worth in expenses, and even ran into some gastrointestinal issues in the process.

More than just Tian Tian Chicken Rice

The brave woman in question is a Singaporean YouTuber named Angel Hsu.

Hsu made a spreadsheet of her findings and posted a video of her experience on Youtube.

Speaking to Mothership, Hsu explained that she wanted to make a video showcasing various chicken rice spots in Singapore.

Hsu, who is originally from Taiwan, said most tourists are "missing out a lot" as they only know of Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice.

She also remembered something from her university days, when her professor mentioned that steamed chicken is a good vehicle for bacteria growth due to its high moisture content.

Hsu, who has a degree in life sciences, a masters in public health and worked over 10 years in a laboratory studying microbiology and infectious diseases, said these factors kickstarted her video idea.

Shortlisted 100 stalls

She began by shortlisting 100 stalls across the island, all of which have at least 10 reviews on Google.

For brands with multiple outlets, Hsu went with the outlet with the highest review.

When asked why she settled on 100, Hsu said "because I don't want to miss out on hidden gems".

To ensure that the stalls are on a level playing field, Hsu only ordered chicken breast from the stalls.

"We only ordered breast meat because if a stall can do breast meat well, then everything else would be even better," she explained.

How the stalls are ranked

She also came up with a grading system to judge each component of the dish.

This includes the chicken's tenderness, the rice's fragrance, the chilli's and soup's taste, the dish's overall saltiness, and its affordability based on the amount of chicken in the dish.

The chicken rice soup is not tested as it is typically only available for customers dining in.

She also took into consideration the amount of E. coli bacteria that the food microbiology lab found in a stall's chicken rice dish before giving the stall a final rating of one to 10.

Lab results

The lab results of the chicken rice Hsu has tested range from 9 to 490,001 colony forming units per gram (CFU/g).

Hsu explained this, saying that the lab's lower and upper thresholds are 10 and 490,000.

She said a score below 10 would mean "no bacteria detected" while a score above 490,000 would surpass the level of bacteria that the machine can detect.

"I wouldn't recommend a stall with more than 100CFU/g as the best chicken rice in Singapore [because] my audience's health is more important," Hsu said.

This is also the maximum amount according to the Singapore Food Agency's (SFA) microbiological standards for ready-to-eat-food.

Hsu also did retests for some stalls with high E. coli bacteria.

What is E. coli

E. coli, which is the short form Escherichia coli, is a common bacteria found in animal and human intestines, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

It is transmitted to humans primarily through consumption of contaminated foods, such as raw or undercooked ground meat products, raw milk, and contaminated raw vegetables and sprouts.

Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some can cause severe foodborne diseases with symtoms ranging from abdominal cramps and diarrhoea to fever, vomiting and bloody diarrhoea.

In rare extreme cases, the disease can resulting in kidney failure and death, especially for young children, the immunocompromised and and the elderly.

WHO recommends maintaining good personal and food hygiene to prevent disease infection.

Can eat up to five chicken rice daily

With this, Hsu embarked on her quest in February 2023.

As the lab only operated during office hours, Hsu only ate chicken rice on weekdays.

Her days starts at 11am, when most stalls are open for businesses, and ends by 3pm, before the lab closes for the day.

Within that four-hour window, Hsu visits as many as five chicken rice stalls, and sometimes even more.

She dines at these stalls, weighs the amount of chicken, grades each component in the dish, and gets filmed eating.

She also buys a packet to take away. This would be sent to the lab to test the amount of E. coli bacteria present.

Wears PPE to ensure reliable lab results

To ensure the most reliable results, Hsu will put on safety goggles, a mask and a personal protective equipment (PPE) suit before carefully placing the takeaway chicken rice in a sterile food-grade zip-lock bag.

The zip-lock bag is then stored in an ice box filled with ice as the low temperature will limit bacteria growth.

Hsu then rushes the ice box filled with packets of chicken rice to a laboratory in the western region of Singapore.

Hsu's best four chicken rice

She will rinse and repeat this for two whole months, before finally emerging with the results.

According to her, these are the four best chicken rice stalls in Singapore, based on the criterion:

• Best soup: Ah Five Hainanese Chicken Rice / Fried Rice / Porridge (Blk 158 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4, Singapore 560158)
• Most tender kampong chicken: Kampong Chicken Eating House (247 Outram Rd, Singapore 169047)
• Best rice: Ah Boy Chicken Rice (Mentor Eric Teo) (678A Choa Chu Kang Cres, Singapore 681678)
• Best overall: Wee Kim Hainanese Chicken Rice (51 Yishun Ave 11, Singapore 760355)

Spent more than S$5,000

All in all, Hsu spent more than S$5,000, all of which she said came out of her own pocket.

She spent over S$1000 on chicken rice alone and the rest went toward lab tests, parking fees and petrol expenses.

Diarrhoea almost every day

It turns out that Hsu's journey was not only costly but bumpy.

Hsu said she had diarrhoea almost on a daily basis as a result of eating chicken rice every day, adding that this unfortunate outcome was not limited to stalls found with over 490,000 CFU/g of E. coli.

According to her, nearly half of the 100 stalls were found with more than 100 CFU/g of E. coli, which is above SFA's standards.

Despite being a self-professed steamed chicken rice lover, Hsu has cried uncle and has grown to be "so sick of chicken rice".

When asked if she plans to delve into roasted or soy sauce chicken rice in the future, Hsu said "I will keep my choices open, and may not restrict myself solely on (sic) chicken-related dishes."

In the meantime, you can check out Hsu's spreadsheet and watch her chicken rice endeavours below.

Someone else who ate chicken rice every day

Top image screenshot from @AN9ELHSU/YouTube