Malaysians, when it comes to a lot of things – we really like to fight and complain many many. But there’s one thing you don’t mess with us about, and that is food.
With a rich history, Malaysia is a multi-racial and multi-cultural nation. With influences from native ethnic groups, Malays, Chinese, Indian, Islamic, and our fellow Southeast Asian neighbours such as Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore – Malaysia has a dietary culture that is arguably unparalleled by any other cuisine in the world.
Malaysian cuisine is an eclectic blend of history, influences, flavours and a melting pot of cultures. Thus, in order to understand how these cuisines came to be, I begin my series ‘Malaysian’s Original Food Fusions’ where I will look into different kinds of foods and cuisines that may have foreign origins, but have been adapted, localised, or hybridised to become uniquely Malaysian. In this post, we take a closer look at Hainanese cuisine.
Origins & Characteristics
In the mid-19th century, Hainanese migrants came over to the Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and southern Thailand, bringing along with them the first generation of Hainanese cooking, including chicken rice, chicken chop, mee hailam and even chicken pot pie. Creating and adapting dishes to suit local palates was a very distinctive feature of localised Malaysian Hainanese cuisine. This was because Hainanese people had been said to be among the last groups to migrate from China, much later than those from Fujian, Canton and Amoy. With most of the other more lucrative industries filled up, many Hainanese resorted to work as domestic helpers or sell food by the streets.
With a tough to please crowd, Hainanese chefs had to be creative and innovative with their cooking in order to stand out. They distinguished themselves by being able to successfully fuse the tastes of the locals and colonisers (“Westerners”) together with cooking methods and flavours of their native Hainanese cuisine – thus giving birth to Malaysian Hainanese cuisine.
Now, Malaysian Hainanese cuisine is distinguished by its unique fusion of Western style cooking methods and flavours from Chinese and other Asian spice influences. Today, Hainanese foods some of Malaysians’ absolute favourites, among which, the following dishes top the list.
Hainanese Chicken Rice
You can’t talk about Hainanese food in Malaysia without mentioning the ever famous, classic Hainanese Chicken Rice. It is essentially a plate of poached chicken and fragrant rice served with sliced cucumbers and a trio of dressings – smashed ginger, garlic chili sauce and dark soy sauce. This dish’s popularity might put it as the best candidate to represent Malaysian Hainanese cuisine. I’ve even mentioned this dish more elaboratedly in my previous post regarding the varieties of chicken rice that can be found in Malaysia. Check out that post here if you’re interested: Chicken Rice: It’s More Complicated Than You Think.
But modern day Hainanese chicken rice in Malaysia is very different from the original Wenchang chicken, having been adapted to suit local tastes. Wenchang chicken was traditionally simply boiled in hot water and eaten dipped in a mixture of spices including ginger and salt, but Hainanese chicken is poached in hot water with ginger slices and eaten together with garlic chili, mashed ginger and dark soy sauces – spicy, sour, sweet, fragrant flavours favoured by Malaysians.
Hainanese Chicken Chop
Many Hainanese chefs back then worked for high ranking army officers. As such, they were asked to prepare more ‘Western’ style food that would better suit their tastes. During which, the Hainanese Chicken Chop was invented. But at many times, the exact ingredients or condiments were not easily available. So the chefs had to be smart lah.
Canned peas replaced fresh peas, demi-glace for steaks were replaced with a mixture of ketchup, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, chicken stock, ketchup and sugar. Because the canned peas were hard, they were softened into mush and buttered before serving along sliced potatoes and onions. The result? A delicious plate of deep fried breaded de-boned chicken cutlet with a rich, mildly sweet brown sauce, soft mashed peas and crispy potatoes.
This was how Hainanese chicken chop was originally served. Though nowadays, mix veggies (mostly frozen ones) replaced mushy peas, and fries replaced the thick sliced potatoes.
Mee Hailam aka Hainanese Noodles
Mee Hailam simply means Hainanese noodles. However, the exact origins and changes of this dish is unclear, though the dish is generally understood to have been influenced by Hainanese Chinese cooking methods. It is an ubiquitous menu item in Hainanese-run eateries and restaurants, and said to be similar to the stir-fried Hokkien Mee. It is essentially stir-fried egg noodles with chicken, pork, or seafood and copious amounts of vegetables, bathed in a gravy seasoned with dark soy sauce and served with a calamansi lime.
Hainanese Chicken Pot Pie
Finally we come to perhaps the least well-known original Malaysian Hainanese dish of them all, Chicken Pot Pie. The dish features flaky puff pastry with a filling of stewed chicken chunks, mix veggies and sometimes sliced hard boiled eggs. Inspired by the traditional English meat pie, the Hainanese chicken pot pie was created by local Hainanese chefs during the colonial era. This was a great British favourite in the past, as Hainanese chefs gave the recipe their own touch by using more Asian ingredients such as soy sauce, chinese five spice, cinnamon sticks and other local spices. This eventually evolved into the version most know today.
Ultimately, Malaysian Hainanese cuisine represents the wittiness and craftiness of early Chinese migrants in order to seek a living during tough times. And they had succeeded in not only adapting, but also through fusion foods, create an entirely new cuisine altogether that is uniquely Malaysian. Food is also an important integral factor in bringin Malaysians together, and food is the best gateway in allowing Malaysians to learn about each others’ cultures, history and traditions.
Sources: hungrygowhere.com, thefooddetective, asianinspirations.com, thestar.com
Feature Image Source: foodmsia.com, hungrygowhere.com
Jiak Pa Bui 
The duck ate the moon and the fish danced to the wave
Chicken was drunk and the lion was jumping to the laze
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