Hainanese chicken rice
Photo: Misaochan · CC BY 4.0

Hainanese chicken rice is a signature dish of Malaysia; we have verified places to eat it in Kuala Lumpur. Poached or roasted chicken over rice cooked in chicken stock with ginger and garlic, served with chilli sauce and a light soup. Start with where to eat Hainanese chicken rice in Kuala Lumpur.

Hainanese chicken rice · Kuala Lumpur

Poached or roasted chicken over rice cooked in chicken stock with ginger and garlic, served with chilli sauce and a light soup. Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown has served it since the 1930s.

Hainanese chicken rice came to the Malay Peninsula with migrants from Hainan Island, who found work as cooks in colonial households, coffee shops and ships and adapted the Wenchang chicken of home. The chicken is poached gently and plunged into cold water to set the skin, and the rice is fried in chicken fat with garlic and ginger before being cooked in the poaching stock. Kuala Lumpur serves it with a sharp chilli and ginger sauce and a bowl of soup, often with a choice of roasted chicken as well. Nam Heong on Jalan Sultan in Chinatown has sold it since 1938 and now holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

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