A simple dish of Hainanese chicken and rice is a staple on the dinner table for Chinese New Year.
My opponent and I are engaged in a staring contest.
Our eyes locked, steadfast, neither of us willing to blink first in this game of chicken.
Photo: Alex Loh
I slump down in my chair, defeated, but not surprised.
(In other versions of the dish, the dipping sauce is often chile-based.)
A heaping scoop of rice rests in the bowl, fragrant and inviting.
Alex Loh
The grains are sauteed with garlic before being cooked in salted chicken broth, yielding a deliciously savory rice.
The result is expertly cooked rice every time.
Simply resituating myself away from the platter is not an option.
The chicken is always placed in front of my grandmother, and I am always to her left.
While I can remember moments from these dinners, I can no longer share a meal with my grandmother.
I no longer look away.
