Hainanese Chicken Chop at Home

Photo by Phyllis Wong : Hua Mui Hainan Chicken Chop, Johor Bahru

My mother was educated in Chinese and attended the then Kai Nang Middle School before the Second World War broke out . She became a primary school teacher after the war for about three years before she married my father. As my father did not want her to work, she stopped teaching. And they also lived in Kerto Island, which had a very small population, without a school.

She was mentored by my father who taught her how to cook several western dishes like pork chops, steaks and roasted chicken, although she has brought from her Lau family some of the best recipes from Fujian.

My father liked making friends with people as he enjoyed good conversation and Kopi o. One of his favourite places in town was Lok Huong, owned by a Hainanese. Sometimes when our relatives came from Singapore my father would organize a good dinner at Lok Huong which could cater up to four tables in the evenings.

One of the dishes he would order would be a special platter of Hainanese chicken Chops with brown sauce and peas. Each of the guests would get one piece of chicken chop,fried so crispily. The chicken chops came with peas and onions and a good sauce.

Today the trends have changed, and at the present moment, most people like special roasted chicken, or Two Styles chicken.

I remember my mother preparing good chicken chops for the family at home. And I was just so proud of her ability.

When my aunts, after graduating from the US came for short stays, they helped mum make roasted Chicken. It was a good experience for all of us watching the adults having fun in the kitchen.

But I have always liked my mother's chicken chops long before KFC came to Malaysia. We thank the Hainanese cooks for teaching my father how to do nice chicken chops. Many years later in life, i learned that Hainanese chicken chops did not originate from any western cuisine.

Was Colonel Saunders inspired by Hainanese Cooks?