Chinese New Year has always been one of my favourite festive seasons that I look forward to.
Not because of the ang pows (of course this one is also my favourite, lah) , but the NOT-TO-BE-MISSED flavourful food and snacks.
Think egg rolls, shrimps, keropok, tapioca chips, pineapple tarts…. and the list goes on.
And this year was a different twist. My favourite CNY snacks have transformed into fast food version!
When I received the invite to go for media tasting at Texas Chicken, I was pleasantly surprised to know that there is actually a hae bee hiam version of fried chicken. Like seriously??
As described by Texas Chicken,
“The 100% fresh fried chicken is generously coated with dried shrimp spicy sambal and crispy golden breadcrumbs to give it a fragrant and umami flavour with an addictive crunch.“
Honestly, I would never have imagined both of the tastes to blend together but the description sounds promising.
And as if this isn’t awesome enough already, the hae bee hiam chicken comes in an exclusive set together with pineapple butter biscuit, mashed potato and a regular Sjora Mango Peach drink!
Now, let’s quickly get down to the tasting. I was really feeling quite excited about tasting them!
Ta-da! Here’s the close-up of our main lead – The Hae Bee Hiam chicken!
The 2-Piece Hae Bee Hiam Chicken Set, priced from $10.60, which comes with two pieces of chicken, one small mashed potato, one pineapple butter biscuit, and one regular Sjora Mango Peach.
Coated with a special Hae Bee Hiam recipe made with dried shrimps ,complete with belacan, shallots and other spices, and orange breadcrumbs.
When the set first arrived, I could smell the familiar whiff of hae bee hiam even with my mask on.
And it tasted almost like what I visualised, just that it was even better! I am someone who love to eat fried chicken skin, and I have to say this one is really addictive as it tasted ultra fragrant!
The overall taste reminded me of the typical CNY snacks that we are all familiar of – hae bee hiam rolls, only that it has now taken the form of a fried chicken that surprised my taste buds to a large extent. Texas Chicken was generous with their crumbs and they were sprinkled all over, even with a lot of excess!
And there is an interesting theory behind it!
According to Texas Chicken, the crumbs represent “gold” and having them fall all over the plate as customer takes each bite is a symbolism of the Chinese phrase 遍地黄金 (bian di huang jin), which translates to bountiful wealth and good fortune everywhere.
I love that.
I felt each bite was extra crunchy and bursting with heavy shrimp flavour.
As for spiciness, I do not feel that it is very spicy. In fact, I believe it is at an acceptable range even for those who do not take spicy. That small tinge of spiciness actually added an extra boost to its overall taste which I do appreciate.
For me, I still coated it with chilli sauce. (Hahaha)
Along with the set comes with their famous butter biscuit- In pineapple tarts flavour form! Texas Chicken’s butter biscuits has always been one of my all-time favourites, and I will NEVER fail to order them each time I visit the restaurant. It was certainly a treat that I got to taste the new CNY version and THEY DID NOT DISAPPOINT.
Glazed with pineapple jam to give a sweet and tangy taste, the soft and fluffy biscuits are baked daily to ensure their freshness, and they make the perfect appetisers before/after every meal. I enjoyed the sweetness with a brief tinge of sourness derived from the pineapple jam so much that I felt I could eat plenty of them!
Pardon the unglam background, but I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the insides of the biscuit. They are just so fluffy!
And the set comes with one small sized mashed potato as well, a warm and soothing delicacy that I always finish within 1 minute. Yum. How can one ever get tired of mashed potato??
And here’s the final finishing touch – A Sjora Mango Peach drink! (I don’t like gaseous drinks personally, so this is a perfect combination for me)
So will I recommend this hae bee hiam set? I will give it a two thumbs up!
But bear in mind that this is only for a limited period, so do catch the opportunity if you can as they are only here for a short period from 28 January 2021 to 3 March 2021 at ALL Texas Chicken outlets.
There are many other exclusive deals as well, depending on your number of pax:-
For couples or those with bigger appetites, try the 5-Piece Hae Bee Hiam Chicken Combo, priced from $29.90. The combo includes five pieces of chicken, four pieces of chicken tenders, one large mashed potato, two pineapple butter biscuits, and two regular Sjora Mango Peach.
Bigger groups can opt for the delivery-exclusive 8-Piece Hae Bee Hiam Chicken Bundle, starting at $49.90. The bundle comes with eight pieces of chicken, six pieces of chicken tenders, two large mashed potatoes, four pineapple butter biscuits and four regular Sjora Mango Peach.
Thinking of a unique CNY gift pack for your relatives or friends? Go for the delivery-exclusive 16-piece Hae BeeHiam Treasure Box ($98.80), which will make for a delicious bountiful surprise! The treasure bundle includes 16 pieces of chicken, two serves of popcorn chicken, eight pieces of tenders, four large mashed potatoes, eight pineapple butter biscuits and two bottles of 1.5litres coke.
Herding in the New Year From 28th Jan 2021 to 3rd Mar 2021, all in-store dine-in and takeaway orders with a minimum spend of $10.00 in a single receipt, get $1.00 off when payment is made with OCBC PayAnyoneTM. T&Cs apply.
Delivery orders with a minimum spend of $20.00 will get 10% off using the promo code HAEPIC10 when you check out.Delivery option is available via Foodpanda, Grabfood, Deliveroo and Texas Chicken’s islandwide delivery platform on https://sg.texaschicken.com.
Love this article and need more CNY ideas? Read our Ultimate CNY guide here:
The Ultimate CNY Guide to Celebrating Chinese New Year in Singapore this 2021
More importantly – stay safe and don’t say we NEVER share!