Hainanese Chicken Chop 海南雞扒

No you won't get this on Hainan Island, in fact you won't get it outside of Malaysia and Singapore as this is a British colonial legacy shared by both our countries. A dish created by the Hainanese who worked for English households using tomato ketchup, worcester sauce, potato chips and peas. It is still served at most remaining Hainanese owned coffee shops in Malaysia and Singapore these days. I got this recipe from a childhood friend's father who used to work for an English household; he still owns a coffee shop in Cameron Highlands and you bet this is on the menu. To read more about the Hainanese in my hometown, click on Hainanese beef balls in tomato sauce.

There are many versions of this wonderful dish but I am always partial to this one from my hometown. Do you have a different version to share?

Update 3/10/12 - to check out the equally if not more popular version with pork, click here.

serves 4 as part of a Malaysian or Chinese meal
you'll need;
2 chicken breasts, butterflied (pork is commonly used too)
3 potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
1 tomato, cut into wedges
1/2 cup of peas
1 onion, sliced
3 cm piece of ginger, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
breadcrumbs or biscuits crumbs
dash of light soy*
dash of white pepper*
dash of sesame oil*
1 egg, beaten*
marinate chicken with ingredients marked * for 15 minutes.

for the sauce mixture;
5 tbs of tomato ketchup
2 tbs of HP sauce
1 tbs of worcestershire sauce
2 tbs of oyster sauce
2 tbs of sugar
dash of white pepper
1/2 cup of water or stock
mix all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
corn flour solution

Butterfly chicken breast and flatten with a mallet to give it a uniform thickness. Marinate then coat with breadcrumbs or biscuit crumbs.

Fry crumbed chicken til golden. Drain, rest and cut into bite size pieces.

Fry potato wedges til golden. Drain and set aside.

Saute chopped garlic and ginger til fragrant then add in the onion. Fry for a minute to soften then add in the sauce mixture and cook for another minute.

Add pea and tomato wedges and cook for a further minute. Thicken with a little corn flour solution and check for seasonings.

Place chicken slices and fried potato chips in a shallow bowl.

Pour the sauce over and serve immediately as part of a Chinese meal.

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