Hainanese curry rice is a

Singaporean Singaporeans, or the Singaporean people, refers to citizens or people who identify with the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, India ...

dish consisting of steamed white rice smothered in a mess of curries and gravy, characteristically accompanied by

curry chicken Chicken curry is a dish originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is common in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Great Britain, Caribbean, and Japan. A typical curry from the Indian subcontinent consists of chicken stewed in an onion- a ...

pork chop A pork chop, like other meat chops, is a loin cut taken perpendicular to the spine of the pig and is usually a rib or part of a vertebra. Pork chops are unprocessed and leaner than other cuts. Chops are commonly served as an individual portio ...

, chap chye (braised cabbage) and kong bak (braised pork). It originates in

Singaporean cuisine Singaporean cuisine is derived from several ethnic groups in Singapore and has developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes in the cosmopolitan city-state. Influences include the cuisines of the Malays, the Chinese an ...

and is not thought of as part of the cuisine of Hainan, China.

History

Hainanese curry rice developed during British colonial rule in Singapore. It was started by

Hainanese Hainanese (Hainan Romanised: ', Hainanese Pinyin: ',), also known as Qióngwén, Heng2 vun2 () or Qióngyǔ, Heng2 yi2 (), is a group of Min Chinese varieties spoken in the southern Chinese island province of Hainan and Overseas Chinese su ...

living in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, who were often employed by the British as well as the wealthy

Peranakan The Peranakans () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (), namely the British Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, th ...

s (Straits-Chinese) as chefs in their homes. Pork chop was adapted from

British cuisine British cuisine is the specific set of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom. Historically, British cuisine meant "unfussy dishes made with quality local ingredients, matched with simple sauces to accentuate flavou ...

and the rest of the ingredients, such as curry chicken, babi pongteh and chap chye, were from

Peranakan cuisine Peranakan cuisine or Nyonya cuisine comes from the Peranakans, descendants of early Chinese migrants who settled in Penang, Malacca, Singapore and Indonesia, inter-marrying with local Malays. In Baba Malay, a female Peranakan is known as a ...

. These were adapted for Hainanese curry rice. Loo's, one of the most well-known and popular Hainanese curry rice vendors in

, started operations in 1946 and is situated opposite Tiong Bahru Market.

Description

Rice

Traditionally, steamed white rice forms the base of this dish. In recent years, some outlets, for example Jin Soon Fa Curry Rice, offer brown rice as an option.

Curry

The curry is milder and gloopier than its South Asian variant.

References

{{Singaporean cuisine, state=collapsed Singaporean cuisine Chinese-Singaporean culture Rice dishes Southeast Asian curries Curry dishes Chinese cuisine outside China

History

Description

Rice

Curry

See also

References