So, if Hainan chicken didn’t come from Hainan, where is it from?
Singapore and Malaysia both lay claim to creating the smooth-skinned, sweet, firm fleshed dish served with broth-boiled rice… but only one can be the victor
We all know that French fries is an American term for chips, or frites.
While the French and Belgians dispute who was the first to fry long strips of potatoes, it should not be any surprise to learn that Hainan chicken did not originate from Hainan either.
There is a consensus that the deliciously silky chicken dish with delectable sauces did get its inspiration from what is commonly known just as “chicken rice” in the southern Chinese province, or “wen chang” chicken by those referring to the dish outside Hainan.
Wen chang refers specifically to a breed of chicken used to make chicken rice in Hainan: this type of free-range chicken roams around the islanders’ homes pecking at fallen coconuts as its main diet.
However, according to food critic and Hainan native Isaac Lau, this type of free-range chicken is hard to come by nowadays.
“There’s been a lot of development in Hainan and there just aren’t enough farmers to keep up with the demand.” he says.
Lau describes wen chang chicken as having an incredibly smooth, almost translucent skin with firm flesh that is sweet on the palate.
Bones and other odds and ends are cooked to make a broth that is used to make the accompanying rice, but that is where the similarities end.
