Hainanese Chicken Rice
When Hainanese chefs immigrated to Singapore in the late-19th century, they brought with them a dish called Wenchang chicken rice (文昌鸡饭). Wenchang chicken rice remained as a dish for special occasions in Hainanese homes here until around the 1940s.
After World War II ended in 1945, economic hardship forced many to become street hawkers. Over time, they became influenced by the Cantonese cooking style, where chicken is blanched till it is fully cooked, before it is soaked in cold water to ensure the meat remains tender. The Cantonese influences also inspired today’s tangy red chilli sauce dip by having lime added to the chili. In a local twist, pandan leaves are used when cooking the rice, and the chicken can also be roasted or braised in soy sauce for a different taste.
Around Asia, many Asian countries have their own version of chicken rice. For example, Hainanese chicken rice may be served with hand-moulded rice balls in Malaysia. There is the Khao Man Gai in Thailand, which has a dipping sauce that contains fresh chilli, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and vinegar; and in Vietnam, the Com Ga Hai Nam, which is dressed with ginger fish sauce.
The different versions reflect the evolution of the dish as Hainanese immigrants settled in Nanyang or Southeast Asia over a hundred years ago. Singapore’s own version – slices of poached chicken served atop flavourful rice, accompanied by specialty chilli sauce or dark soy sauce – has since become a must-try dish for our tourists, and a much-loved food for our nation #FoodForThought