Chapter Five
Welcome to Hainan: a land of unique gourmet
Hainan Cuisine or Qiong Cuisine originated from the ancient central plains of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and has a history of more than two thousand years. It absorbs the dietary customs of Miao and Li ethnic minority groups and combines the cooking techniques of Fujian and Guangdong Cuisine introducing cooking styles form Southeast Asian countries.
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| Hainan Cuisine |
Now, it has already evolved into a young, unique and promising local cuisine. Hainan Cuisine is based on Guangdong Cuisine and combines special local characteristics with the application of well known raw materials. For example, sea food and game are frequently used whereas the selection of poultry and livestock is very strict. In most cases, the addition of local Hainan fruit is always considered.
Wenchang Chicken, Jiaji Duck, Dongshan Lamb and Hele Crab are the four great dishes of Hainan and are known throughout Southeast Asia. Naturally, the seafood on this tropical Island is superb with incredibly value for money. Various local snacks, full of unique Hainan flavors, including Hainan Noodles, Hainan Chicken Rice, and Dongshan Pancakes, etc.
Now, let’s begin our Hainan eating feast!
Wenchang chicken
This dish is the top one of the “Four Most Famous Hainan Traditional Dishes”, utilizing one of China’s best chickens, Wenchang chicken. In Hainan, People always say that a feast without Wenchang Chicken can’t be called a real feast.
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| Wenchang Chicken |
The key of this dish is the main material - the chicken. Different from the traditional chicken which is raised by rice, the chicken eats the banyan seed but is fatty, put to feed for 8 to 9 months, then put them in the pacific place of avoiding the light, feed them with the peanut cakes, coconut meat silk, Fanci, hot rice...etc. to become fatty. Thus when eating, you can find the chicken very delicious, crisp and fresh.
First a Wenchang Chicken is boiled then cut into pieces. The diced chicken is dipped in mixtures of chopped ginger, salt and other spices then eaten. Wenchang chickens are small, fed a diet of coconut and peanut bran, and raised in coops high above the ground. As a result the meat is tender and succulent with smooth skin. Plump but not greasy, Wenchang Chicken served with fragrant Hainan Chicken Rice is a tasty delicacy.
To boil in the water, then cut into pieces, and eat with the mixtures of sauce, salt, garlic and other spices. Boiled chicken with flavored sauce is the most popular way to cook this Wenchang chicken and people also make Stewed Chicken with Coconut Juice or Deep Fried Chicken which culminates in the creation of very unique flavors. The finished dish is golden and crispy, tender and tasty and the bones are deliciously soft, nobody could forget the daintiness of Wenchang Chicken.
Jiaji Duck
The nickname of Jiaji Duck is “Fan Duck”. This kind of duck contains rich protein, low fat, rich amino acid and vitamins as a healthy diet.
Jiaji Ducks are raised along the Wanquan River in Jiaji Town, Qionghai County. As they grow this special breed is kept in coops and fed with rice grain, sweet potato, and chaff. This means the duck develops thick meat, thin skin, soft bones and little fat.
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| Jiaji Duck |
The cooking way of Jiaji Duck is particular. The traditional way to prepare which it is to boil it in water, dice it, then eat with mixture of vinegar, chopped ginger and sesame oil. Stewed Jiaji Duck with Chinese caterpillar fungus is said to make one strong and healthy. What distinguishes this variety of duck from others is that the fat between the skin and flesh has a special fragrance.
The folks of Hainan take the Jiaji Duck to be as the medicine food of repairing falsely and tired, boil them with the insect grass that is in winter together, they can nourish the body. Boil the duck porridge with duck and the sticky rice together, it has the larger nourishing of effect; Such as the effect that have already kept the stomach and increase the blood, promote the body fluid.
Dongshan mutton
As one of the “Four Most Famous Hainan Traditional Dishes”, Braised Dongshan Lamb is very unique. It’s a black-wool mountain goat fed camellias and orchids on Dongshan Mountain, Wanning City, which is good at jumping and climbing hills: it drinks in springs; it sleeps in caves. Thus the lamb is famous for natural nutrition.
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| Dongshan Lamb |
The delicacy is known for its tender meat and savory soup. Various cooking methods are employed in making the dish including stewing, roasting or braising in coconut milk. The meat is cooked with individual seasoning and ingredients. The finished course is appealingly red in color and savory to taste.
Hele crab
Hele Crab is a traditional dish originating from Hele Town, Wanning County in Hainan. Autumn is the best season for eating crab. In this time, nobody can resist to eat the rich fat and loose meat of Hele Crab.
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| Hele Crab |
Hele Crab is famous for its hard shell, rich meat and full crab roe. There are various cooking skills to make this dish. The most commonly used is steaming. Guests are encouraged to eat the steamed crabs with the mixed flavorings of ginger, garlic and vinegar to enjoy the original crab taste whose flavor is marvelous.
Eating Hele Crab is considered to be beneficial to nourishing the bone marrow and liver, muscles and tendons, and promoting good blood circulation.
Hainan Native Snacks
A diversity of local snacks can be found in Haikou Tourism Belt, different cities and counties have different dainty snacks that are also very famous. There are the baked porker in Lingao, the water spinach in Duowen, the goose in Chengmai, the lamb in Shishan, the Honey Sliced Pogeon, the fish and ostrich in Nanli Lake of Dingan, the carp of Wanquan River in Qionghai, the deer in Fengmu of Tunchang, the glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves in Danzhou, the meat of dog in Nada, etc.
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| Wenchang Chicken Rice |
Tropical Fruits: there are 53 famous tropical fruits growing in Hainan Island in four different seasons. However, the coconut has the greatest reputation. Foodstuff made of coconuts, natural bananas, pineapples, mangoes and watermelons sell well throughout China and in Japan, South Korea, Russia and other countries and regions.
Haikou Aquatic Products: as a city surrounded by sea, Haikou benefits from extremely abundant marine resources with more than 800 precious fishes. Good fingerlings include Lutianus sanguineus, Spanish mackerel, abalone, hairtail, grouper, peneus, blue, crab, cockler, clam, oyster, etc. Abalone is the most precious seafood in China for it contains a variety of vitamins which have special effects in treating liver diseases. On any bazaar in Haikou Tourism Belt, fresh and dry seafood can be found to meet visitor's demands.
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| Baisha Green Tea |
Hainan Chicken Rice: it originated from wenchang, Hainan. The local people there will be white cut chicken practices and match with chicken oil and water extraction cooked chicken rice, so in Hainan Island called Wenchang Chicken Rice. The major raw materials of this dish are rice and chicken. The weight of the selected chicken is about 1 to 1.5 Kilograms and uses fresh top quality rice. The chicken is chopped into pieces and boiled producing a golden skin and a savory tender meat. It’s trulty a delicious dish.
Baisha Green Tea: Baisha Green Tea grows in a special environment with unique faint scent and moist green color. People favor it not only for the scent, but also for the effect in maintaining health such as resisting cancer.
--All in all, cuisine forms part of a culture, blending food and drink together through a mixture of science and art. Hainan cuisine reflects Hainan culture which in turn determines the characteristics of Hainan vegetable and meat dishes.
