Hainan is a group of tropical islands and China’s southernmost province. The largest island by far is the eponymous Hainan Island. It is a favourite tourist resort, especially the city of Sanya on its southern tip with its white beaches. Seafood is a speciality here, but not its only one: much of the fruit we get here is from the island.
Hainan's location in China.
The Singaporean / Malaysian favourite, Hainan chicken rice (HCR) isn’t generally found in Hainan. The dish was invented in Singapore by a Hainanese immigrant but using local ingredients. Wenchang chicken from Hainan on the other hand is a much prized breed and may have been used in HCR, but rarely is now.
Yesterday, this caught my attention on my delivery app.
Most people will know red snapper, but it doesn’t end there. Snappers are members of 笛鲷属 (dí diāo shǔ), Lutjanus, a genus in the Lutjanidae family. There are 73 known species within the Lutjanus genus and innumerable colours. Some are striped; others are spotted. They like to live in mangroves and both tropical and subtropical coral reefs, which Hainan has aplenty.
What was being sold to me was a mixed selection from 19 types they list. I don’t get to choose – they do, supposedly at random. However the minimum I can order is 3kg. If I want the larger samples, I have to buy 10kg. Pass. I’m just lil’ ole’ me; not a restaurant.
Precise species are not usually identified. In the image they describe two only by colour: ‘white’ (left) and ‘green’ (centre). The red one the right is the only one of the 19 I have managed to track down. It is Lutjanus sanguineus, humphead snapper or scarlet snapper.
Prices range wildly, but none are cheap.
