海南之行4 - 四大名菜 (Food in Hainan)

On food, Hainan Island is well known for its Four Famous Dishes:

1. Wenchang Chicken （文昌鸡）
2. Jiaji Duck （加积鸭）
3. Dongshan Mutton （东山羊）
4. Hele Crab （合乐蟹）

In my six days in Hainan, I had the opportunity to try the first two dishes. As for the mutton and crab, although I did try mutton and crab, but they were not the actual famous ones.

First meal in Hainan Island - Wenchang Chicken

After arriving in Haikou International Airport, we met Auntie Yung, a local which my mum got to know during her last trip, who brought us promptly for my first taste of Wenchang Chicken at a eatery that is popular with locals. Unlike in Singapore, the chickens there are sold based on weight, unlike per bird in Singapore.
As can be expected, the meat of the chicken is much tougher than that those we have in Singapore. I had to use my hand to pull off the meat when eating parts which are more muscular like the thigh and drumstick. For the dip, the sauce is a mixture of chicken broth, diced ginger, garlic and spring onions. Over the next few days, I had more opportunities to eat Wenchang Chicken and gradually grew to appreciate the firmer texture of the meat.
The photo below shows the ingredients for the dip that most restaurants give customers at the start of the meal for the customers to mix their own sauce. Empowerment!
At our home village at Fu-Mian village, my uncles also treated us to a home made meal which includes Wenchang Chicken. See how nice the dishes look. I enjoyed the meal very much despite the presence of some very persistent flies.
Jiaji Duck

I tried this only once during my journey from Sanya back to Wenchang. It is cooked like Wenchang Chicken and did not leave a favourable impresson with me. The photo below describes in detail the history of the dish and the recipe. Apparently, the species of the duck originated from Malaysia.

Crab

Although I did not manage to try Hele Crab, I tried another speciality of Hainan, which is the "Three Dot Crab". It is quite obvious how the crab got its name.
Steamboat Mutton

We had steamboat mutton at a local restaurant "Fisherman's Restaurant" where incidentally auntie Yung's nephew was working. More about that in a later post.
Kopitiam

Hainan is famous for its local coffee. We visited this authentic local kopitiam in the afternoon. We can only see men slowly sipping away the afternoon. It is said that the womenfolk are probably working in the fields but the men get to enjoy life. haha



Eating out in Hainan Island, especially the smaller towns is very affordable. A typical meal with 3 dishes that can feed 4-5 pax will cost only around S$20. A point to note is to visit places where locals frequent. The taste will also be better.