Hainan Cuisine

Hainan Cuisine or Qiong Cuisine originated from the ancient central plains of the middle and lower reaches of the Huanghe River and has a history of more than two thousand years. It absorbs the dietary customs of Miao and Li ethnic minority groups and combines the cooking techniques of Fujian and Guangdong Cuisine introducing cooking styles from Southeast Asian countries. Now, it has already evolved into a young, unique and promising local cuisine. Hainan Cuisine is based on Guangdong Cuisine and combines special local characteristics with the application of well known raw materials. For instance, sea food and game are frequently used whereas the selection of poultry and livestock is very strict. In most cases, the addition of local Hainan fruit is always considered.

Main Dishes 

Steamed Crabs, Hele Style (Hele Xie, 和乐蟹)

This dish, as one of the “Four Most Famous Hainan Traditional Dishes”, uses the Hele crabs living in the sea near the Wanning district and Lezhen County as its raw materials. Such crabs are rich in nutrition and very rare, having aromatic meat and golden yellow crab yolk, similar with salted egg yolk. There are various cooking skills to make this dish. The most commonly used is steaming. Guests are encouraged to eat the steamed crabs with the mixed flavourings of ginger, garlic and vinegar to enjoy the original crab taste. The flavour is marvellous!

Compared with inland freshwater-born crabs, Hele crabs have two features. First, the texture of the crab yolk is quite solid and almost covers the entire back of the crabs shell. In contrast, the crab yolk of inland freshwater-born crabs is soft, diluted and lumpy and the quantity of yolk is less than that of Hele crabs. Second, the meat quality and mass of Hele crabs is higher and greater than that of inland crabs. Moreover, Qukou mud crab (Qvkou Qingxie, 曲口青蟹), flower crab (Hua Xie, 花蟹), Lingshui spanner crab (Lingshui Pipa Xie, 陵水琵琶蟹) are also very famous. The cooking skills required to make this dish are diverse and include steaming, boiling, stir-frying and baking to mention a few. Steamed Hele crabs are most popular due to their original taste, colour and freshness.

Braised Dongshan Lamb (Dongshan Yang, 东山羊)

As one of the “Four Most Famous Hainan Traditional Dishes”, Braised Dongshan Lamb is very unique. Compared with sheep from the north of China, Dongshan sheep is quite different for its meat isn’t odorous. This breed of sheep is strong and adept at running and jumping due to its mountainous habitat thus providing an invaluable resource of nutritional meat. Normally, the sheep weighs around 35 to 40 kilograms and are fairly stout. Dongshanling mountainous area is rich in ganoderma (Lingzhi, 灵芝), Zhegu Tea (鹧鸪茶, Zhegu Cha) and other rare plants and herbs with which the sheep feed upon. This causes the soup to be strong, oily but not odorous. Since the Song Dynasty, this dish has been very famous and was even listed as one of the royal gifts. The lamb could be cooked in many ways, such as braising, boiling or stewing with coconut juice to name a few.

Boiled Duck with Flavoured Sauce, Jiaji Style (Jiaji Ya, 加积鸭)

Nicknamed as “Fan Duck” (Fan Ya, 番鸭), this is one of the “Four Most Famous Hainan Traditional Dishes”. Originally, the overseas Hainan Chinese introduced such ducks from other countries and cultured in Jiaji district of Qionghai City, Hainan. A person surnamed Ding from this area was well-known for raising Jiaji ducks and his breeding method became very unique. First, the ducklings are fed with earthworms and black beetles. When their feathers grow, they are fed in a pen with little food pellets made from rice and acorns (the seed from oak tree, Mi Xiang, 米橡) where their movement is restricted. After twenty days, the ducks mature. Their skin is white and smooth producing a tasty thin layer of fat between the skin and the flesh. The cooking techniques are diverse. In particular, the most well-known chopping and boiling method (The duck is boiled and simmered, chopped and formed into its original shape when being served. The method is called “Bai Qie” (白切) in Chinese) best represents the original taste of the cooked duck.

Boiled Chicken with Flavoured Sauce (Wenchang Ji, 文昌鸡)

This dish is one of the “Four Most Famous Hainan Traditional Dishes”, utilising one of China's best chickens, Wenchang chicken (the chicken originated from Tianci Village, Wenchang County, Hainan). In Hainan, people always say that a feast without Wenchang Chicken can’t be called a real feast. These chickens are fed on Chinese Banyan seeds and quickly gain weight. After eight to nine months, the chickens are gathered into a quiet and shadowy pen and fed with peanut cake, coconut, Fanci leaves and hot rice to accelerate their weight. Boiled Chicken with Flavoured Sauce is the most popular way to cook this Wenchang Chicken and people also make Stewed Chicken with Coconut Juice (Yezhi Ruji, 椰汁郛鸡) or Deep Fried Chicken (Suji Zha Ziji, 酥鸡炸子鸡) which culminates in the creation of very unique flavours. The finished dish is golden and crispy, tender and tasty and the bones are deliciously soft.

Hainan Sautéed Chicken with Rice (Hainan Jifan, 海南鸡饭)

The major raw materials of this dish are rice and chicken. Wenchang chicken is the best choice but due to the limited supply, ordinary Hainan Sautéed Chicken Rice uses locally raised chicken. The weight of the selected chicken is about 1 to 1.5 kilograms and uses fresh top quality rice. The chicken is chopped into pieces and boiled producing a golden skin and a savoury tender meat. It is truly a delicious dish.

Fried Rice Wrapped with Vegetables (Cai Bao Fan, 菜包饭)

This dish comprises meat, vegetables and rice wrapped together and eaten by hand. This is very popular with the local people of Dingcheng district of Ding’an County and the neighbouring villages. The dish tastes unique and still retains the original flavour and distinctive taste.

It is quite time-consuming to cook this dish. First, the steamed rice is cooled until the rice becomes separated. Next, pak choi is washed and cleaned then used to wrap the rice. Then garlic, celery, leek, onion, mange tout, pepper and pickled vegetables along with meat, chicken or sausage and other strong aromatic vegetables are prepared. After the three types of raw materials are ready, the meat, vegetables and rice are stir-fried with garlic, prawns and dried squid and mixed together. Shrimp sauce or chilli sauce is coated onto the pak choi according to individual preferences. When eating, it is suggested that you quickly put the wrapped hot rice into the mouth by hand. Such eating method is very impressive.

Steamed Pumpkin Filled with Sautéed Rice (Nangua Fan, 南瓜饭)

This is the most common daily food of the Li ethnic minority and is always used to entertain guests. There is a local Li ethnic ballad which says that when the host is cooking Steamed Pumpkin Filled with Sautéed Rice, rich aromatic flavourings fill the air enticing customers to visit and sample the dish. Such rice is rich in nutrition and could clear away body heat and to some extent may serve as a cure for diabetes and hepatitis.

Deep Fried Spare Ribs (Tengqiao Paigu, 藤桥排骨)

This dish is deep red in appearance and slightly yellow. The skin is crisp and the meat deliciously tender and widely popular among both the old and the young.

Snacks

Drinks

Sanya Coconut Juice (三亚耶汁)

Sanya Coconut Juice is a popular refreshment and its reputation travels across the whole nation. Sanya is so rich in coconuts that its delicious coconut juice is very affordable. The fresh coconuts deliver a sour flavour, whereas the ripe ones make the juice sweeter.