Hainan, 海南 (hǎi nán) is China's tropical island province in the south opposite?the coasts of Guangxi and Guangdong. This is where much of my fruit is grown but is also a major tourist destination for its beaches, especially those in Sanya, a city on its southern tip.
But it is to the east of S: 海南岛; T: 海南島 (hǎi nán dǎo), Hainan Island and the city of 文昌 (wén chāng) that we are looking at here.
Wenchang is home to what Saveur called the world's best chicken.
These birds are raised on a diet of banyan seeds for nine months, before being held away from light and fattened on cakes made from peanut bran, shredded coconut meat, caltrops, cooked rice etc.
The skin of the Wenchang chicken is thin and yellow, whereas the meat is white and tender.
It was these chickens, taken to Singapore by Hainan merchants in the early 1900s, which inspired the Singaporean dish, Hainanese Chicken Rice, although Wenchang birds are rarely actually used there now - too expensive.
A Wenchang chicken costs me over 100元 / $14, which is more than double the cost of a regular organic chicken.
In Hainan itself, they are used in chicken dishes of all sorts, but are almost always poached.
A favourite dish is Wenchang Coconut Chicken in which the birds are poached with coconut, garlic, sand ginger, green loquat and 'facing heaven' chillies and served with rice. My food delivery people will send me half a chicken and all the ingredients required in this dish for around 60元 / $8.36.
Also, broth made from the chicken bones and scraps is mixed with coconut water to form the base of Hainan coconut hotpot, enjoyed all year round.
Images from Meituan food delivery app listings.
