Saturday, November 25, 2023

Hainan's four famous dishes

The four famous dishes in Hainan Island are Wenchang Chicken, Dongshan Goat, Jiaji Duck and Hele Crab.
These four famous dishes had been historically accumulating word of mouth. Wenchang Chicken originated from Wenchang, DongShan Goat, Hele Crab were from Wanning, and Jiaji Duck were from Qionghai. The three cities are on the east coast of Hainan Island. The north one is Wenchang, the city where the Dongjiao Coconut Grove and the Wenchang Satellite Launching Base are located. The south is Qionghai, which is the city where Boao Asian Forum is held , and further south is Wanning and Dongshan Hill.

Wenchang chicken

Hainan Wenchang Chicken

The origin of Wenchang Chicken is Tianci Village in Tanniu Town, Wenchang City. According to the legend, the earliest chickens were reared with seeds of Banyan trees. During the Ming Dynasty, they were famous for their tribute to the court. In modern times, it was claimed that Soong Ching Ling's younger brother, Song Tzu-wen, had returned to Wenchang and had brought Wenchang chicken to Guangzhou. This made it famous.
Wenchang chicken is small and has delicious meat. The traditional method of feeding makes it have a certain amount of fat, which makes the meat slightly slippery. The cooking method is mainly boiled with white cuts and eaten with special spices. There must be no shortage of green mandarin oranges in Wenchang. The locals use boiled chicken soup for cooking. This is the famous chicken rice.
After Wenchang Chicken's cooking method was passed to Southeast Asia a hundred years ago, it gradually formed a famous Hainan chicken rice internationally. Traceability, the two are connected tightly, but the styles have been very different. You can taste each other and compare.

Dongshan Goat

Hainan Dongshan Goat

Dongshan goats are said to need to live on the Dongshan Hill for three generations and eat grasses on the mountains. Then they are qualified Dongshan Goats. Dongshan Hill is only a hill over 180 meters high in the eastern part of Hainan Island, but it has always  the title of Hainan's First Mountain. This hill, geologically formed by the erosion of the sea, has so many wonders. And the mountain is like a pen holder, also known as Beacon Hill. This may be the reason, so it is quite popular with literary men of all ages. With the legends, the reputation of the hill had grown.
As the saying goes, mountains are not high, but there are fairies in them. The Dongshan goat may be considered one fairy. There are many rocks on Dongshan Hill. Goats have herbivorous hooves and are not as good clawed as monkeys, but they can walk on the rocky cliffs as if they were flat and the balance is amazing. It is also a mystery of nature!
If the chef dare to use  Dong Shan Goat as white cut ingredients, it must be a good food. Therefore, the Dongshan goat also has a white-cut approach. The skin and flesh are tender and there is no smell. Of course, if using the methods of the Hainanese local people to make a pot of lamb ,  it would be very delicious.

Jiaji Duck

Hainan Jiaji Duck

Jiajia duck is known to Hainanese as “Wan Duck”. Wan is in the mouth of Hainanese and mostly refers to Southeast Asia. The Going to Nanyang says in Hainan dialect that it is Hu-Wan. Therefore, the accumulation of ducks is actually a species of ducks that overseas Chinese have introduced back to Hainan from Southeast Asia. It is not the same as local ducks. Associating the relationship between Wenchang Chicken and Hainan Chicken and the origins of these ducks, we know that the influence of overseas Chinese culture in Hainan Island is relatively large.
The increase in the number of ducks and crowns was due to the earliest breeding of the town of Jiaji, the county seat of Qionghai. Now the accumulative product may not be famous enough. It was covered by another name in the world. It is Boao, where the Asian Forum is located, and it is also in  Qionghai.
Authentic plus ducks also dare to do white cuts, good ingredients, that is, dare to streaking, do not rely on accessories. Of course, good condiments are indispensable. Traditionally, duck soup is used as a base to add flavour to duck meat. This has played an important role.

Hele Crab

Hainan Hele Crab

Hele Crab, and Dongshan Goat are all from Wanning, and the crab is the only seafood in the four famous dishes. After all, Hainan Island is surrounded by the sea, with lots of seafood, and with the sudden emergence of HeLe Crab, it must have its own uniqueness.
What is unique about Hele Crab is that it does not live in the sea but is a small sea. In the vicinity of Wanning and Lezhen, the work of good fortune, Hainan Island stretched out a little finger, circled a small piece of sea from the sea to become a small sea, specifically for Hele Crab to live.
This unique habitat also contributes to the unique flavor of Hele Crab. One side of the land to raise one crab, this and Hele crab can only live in this place, leave here, it can not be called Hele crab. This is not just nonsense. This is the official provision of latitude and longitude in the document, leaving the scope of raising, it is not Hele crab.
Like the first three famous dishes, Hele Crab also dares to steam and does not rely on seasoning. Good ingredients! What's the taste, meat, ointment? Say no good, only direct departure to taste! Not to mention that the other three can still be found outside the island. It is really rare to see this crab  ouside the island.

The above is a brief introduction to the four famous dishes in Hainan Island. Wenchang chicken, Dongshan Goat, Jiaji Duck, and HeLe Crab.

Chinese Version:http://hncx.anhees.com/HainanFood/hnsdmc
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Facebook Page about Hainan Food: https://zh-hk.facebook.com/hkhainanese/

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