In Singapore[edit]
In Singapore, the dish was born out of frugality, created by servant-class immigrants trying to stretch the flavour of the chicken.[9]
The first chicken rice restaurants opened in Singapore during Japanese occupation in World War II, when the British were forced out and their Hainanese servants lost their source of income. One of the first was Yet Con, which opened in the early 1940s.[9] The dish was popularised in Singapore in the 1950s by Moh Lee Twee, whose Swee Kee Chicken Rice Restaurant operated from 1947 to 1997.[10] Hong Kong food critic Chua Lam credits Moh with the creation of the dish.[1] Singapore's Channel News Asia's Annette Tan credits Wang Yiyuan for "bringing the dish" to Singapore in the 1920s.[11]
Hainanese chicken rice is considered one of Singapore's national dishes.[12][8][11][9][3][7][13][14] It is eaten "everywhere, every day" in Singapore[7] and is a "ubiquitous sight in hawker centres across the country".[3] The chicken is typically served with seasoned rice, with chilli sauce and usually with cucumber garnishes.[15]
Commonly associated with Singaporean cuisine, the dish is also seen throughout maritime Southeast Asia and in parts of the West, particularly in the United States.
Hainanese chicken rice is a dish adapted from early Chinese immigrants originally from Hainan province in southern China.[1] It is based on a well-known Hainanese dish called Wenchang chicken (文昌雞), which is one of four important Hainan dishes dating to the Qin dynasty.[2] The Hainanese in China traditionally used a specific breed, the Wenchang chicken, to make the dish.[1] The original dish was adapted by the Hainanese overseas Chinese population in the Nanyang area (present-day Southeast Asia).[3][4][5][6][7] Almost every country in Asia with a history of immigration from China has a version.[2] The San Francisco Chronicle says, "the dish maps 150 years’ immigration from China's Hainan Island...to Singapore and Malaysia, where the dish is often known as Hainan chicken rice; to Vietnam, where it is called "Hai Nam chicken"; and to Thailand, where it has been renamed "khao man gai" ("fatty rice chicken")."
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