Hainan chicken rice is not only a signature dish in Nanyang, but in recent years it has become a pilgrimage delicacy for visiting Xingma because of the Michelin report. The rice with full chicken sauce is served with chicken, paired with black soy sauce , ginger paste, and chili sauce. The dish is simple but has endless aftertaste. However, it would be a big mistake to think that Hainan chicken rice is just a simple chicken rice! This article will introduce you to the origin and how to eat Hainan chicken rice, as well as the "chicken rice grains" that are well-known to , Malaysia, and are rarely known overseas.
Hainan chicken rice comes from Singapore or Malaysia ?
When it comes to Hainan chicken rice, many people will definitely think of Singapore because it is Singapore that promotes Hainan chicken rice to an internationally renowned delicacy. In 1936, Wang Yiyuan from Hainan came to Singapore and set up a stall to sell chicken rice that he often ate in his hometown, which is recognized as the origin of Singapore's Hainan chicken rice. Wang Yiyuan asked his friend Mo Lurui to help, and Mo Lurui later founded "Ruiji", which became popular under the promotion of the media, and even entered the rich list because of its big sale. It was often mistaken for the founder of Hainan Chicken Rice. To this day, there are still many stores that open their business with the "Riji" sign, but it has nothing to do with Singapore's Riji.
Just as many people think that Hainan chicken rice originated from Singapore, diet writer Lin Jincheng jumped out and said that Hainan chicken rice actually originated from Malaysia. It can be traced back to the 1920s. Liang Juqing started selling chicken rice in Selangor , earlier than Wang Yiyuan. Furthermore, Singapore did not become independent until 1965. Previously, both Liang Juqing and Wang Yiyuan were Malaysians. Therefore, the name of "Hainan Chicken Rice" should be from Malaysia.
As for why people think of Hainan chicken rice when it comes to Singapore? The most common saying is that Malaysia is mostly Muslims, and even if you want to promote tourism, you will not specifically promote the Chinese diet that mainly eats pork. On the contrary, Singapore's population is mainly composed of Chinese people and is a world-renowned international city, so it has enough resources to gain popularity for its own food. Hainan chicken rice became well-known in Singapore.
(Photo source: Flickr)
grains are all hard-working - the chicken rice grains that were once on the verge of losing
In Malaysia, you can not only choose the chicken species and parts when eating Hainan chicken rice, but also have two choices for rice as a staple food: "scattered rice" and "chicken rice grains".
"Scale Rice" As the name suggests, it is rice spread flat on a plate. Then what is "chicken rice grains"?
In Hainan, people would roll rice into small balls, called "fried treasures" for sacrifices. Later, after Hainanese moved to Malaysia, they promoted the Wenchang chickens in their hometown and carried loads to sell them on the streets. Add chicken while serving rice. In order to facilitate customers to eat while standing, they pinch the chicken and rice into meatballs that are steamed smaller than the rice, put them in the rolled banana leaves and can be eaten. Later, I saved too much money and opened a shop, so I could sit and eat, so I used loose rice instead of chicken rice. (Photo source: Flickr)
Chicken rice grains are rarely heard of overseas, so many foreign tourists make a lot of jokes when ordering Hainan chicken rice in Malaysia. For example, when the store asks the tourists, "How many grains do (chicken rice grains) need?", the tourists are still puzzled, don't they just have to eat a lot of grains of rice? So he replied: "I want a lot of rice!" But in fact, it would be enough to eat five or six servings per person. Also, some tourists saw Hainan chicken rice served on the table, but they still didn't move after sitting a lot. The locals urged him to eat, but he said with grievance that the meal had not arrived yet.It turns out that chicken rice is regarded as fish balls! Otherwise, some people have never heard of chicken rice grains. The first thing they do when served chicken rice is to make the dumplings into loose rice. What should people do if they work hard to make rice?
(Photo source: Flickr)
Maybe when you see this, you will want to say, "Just just pinch rice, will it be hard?" In fact, chicken rice grains have faced the crisis of technology loss because of the hard work! The rice of
chicken rice is cooked with chicken soup. The rice is not the glutinous rice or stem rice used in other Asian countries to pinch rice balls, but relatively dry and fluffy indica rice. Because indica rice balls are prone to collapse, pure chicken oil needs to be mixed to help shape (and due to the long working hours of chicken oil refining and excessive cost, most of them are now used). It’s hard to pinch the rice, and it’s very difficult to pinch the rice after it cools down, so you can only pinch it into chicken rice grains when it’s just cooked. The freshly cooked rice is extremely hot and it will always be until it is blistered. It will take three or four hours to squeeze it, and no one can stand it. Therefore, the Hainan chicken rice restaurant was once facing a crisis of shortage of work, so it stopped selling chicken rice grains. It was not until 2008 that after Malacca was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO, this ancient way of eating once again came to the forefront for tourism needs. The way to eat chicken rice grains today can be regarded as the dietary characteristics of Malacca and Muar.
In addition to the chicken fragrance, there is also the fragrance of rice!
If you have the chance to eat chicken rice grains one day, it is recommended to cut them in half first, pour them with black soy sauce or chili sauce before tasting them. In addition to the tender and juicy chicken and diverse sauces, Hainan chicken rice is also a part of enjoyment. After putting it in your mouth, enjoy the slick texture of the rice ball and the spreading aroma of the chicken juice! Have you ever eaten such delicious Hainan chicken rice? Welcome to share your food and travel notes with everyone.
