Foreground: fresh cucumbers and boiled Hainanese chicken in a light soy-based sauce; background, Melaka’s famous chicken rice balls

With our visiting friends in tow, the hubby and I took a quick day trip to Melaka, an old colonial port city once occupied by the Portuguese and the British.  It’s only a two-hour drive from Kuala Lumpur, and we’ve heard lots of charming stories about the quaint but crumbling colonial buildings.

Due to some minor car issues and our general laziness to get out the door at a reasonably early hour, we didn’t arrive in Melaka until the afternoon, and thus the most pressing order of business was to find some good eats.  We’d heard good things about the chicken rice in Melaka, which is known for making the rice stickier and shaping it into balls the size of an Italian meatball.  I wasn’t sure if the shape of the rice was just a gimmick, but we went to check out the most famous chicken rice balls in town anyway.

Above: the assam fish head came with braised Chinese okra in a light sweet and sour soup flavored with tamarind and chilies

I’m so glad we did, because it turns out that not only are rice balls flavored with chicken stock incredibly fun to eat, it’s really good as well.  With more stickiness to the rice than normal steamed rice, the rice balls are able to absorb more light soy sauce goodness emanating from the chicken.

Since there was a long line when we arrived even at 2:30 in the afternoon, we had to place our order before taking a seat.  Our order-taker suggested that since we ordered one of everything on the 3-item menu (chicken and rice balls, assam fish head and sauteed cabbage), we only order 2 orders of chicken rice.  Clearly this order-taker man did not know who he was dealing with, because as soon as we took one bite of that incredibly light but flavorful rice, we immediately ordered two more.  It took a Herculean resolve not to do the same with the assam fish head, which was surprisingly subtle in its tamarind sourness and had just the right amount of heat.

The seating area of the restaurant is pretty cool, too; it’s centered around a traditional Chinese courtyard and one of the traditional rowhouses located on the corner at the end of the very touristy Jonker Street.  We were slightly worried when we first arrived and saw all the tourists milling around outside, but once we entered, the hubby and I breathed an audible sigh of relief; he, along with our visitors, were the only non-Asians in the place.  And, here in Asia, when it comes to eating establishments, that’s a good sign, anywhere.

Hoe Kee Famous Chicken Rice Balls | 4 Jalan Hang Jebat | Melaka | Malaysia