The new legend of Hainanese cuisine

Cook fish gelatin with broccoli flowers. Photo by Hainan Daily reporter Qiu Xiaoshuai.

Wanning's Hele crab. Photo by Hainan Daily reporter Qiu Xiaoshuai.

Speaking of the ingredients of Hainan cuisine, people will inevitably think of seafood, because Hainan is surrounded by the sea, and the sea's gifts are never stingy. Speaking of the taste of Hainan cuisine, the deepest impression left to people is "sweet", which is not unrelated to the simplicity and simplicity of Hainan people. Nowadays, the tide of The Times is rolling forward, and Hainan cuisine is also constantly innovating in the inheritance, just like the temperament of this island.

Keep the taste, we can't lose the "fresh" sign

The Soft-Boiled Chicken, Scalded Prawns, Steamed Lamb without Sauce.Which Hainanese dining table has not had such a dish made with the most primitive cooking methods? A pot of water cooks the taste of the ingredients themselves, which is summarized by the Hainan people as a "sweet" word. This "sweet" is "fresh", which is the highest praise for dishes, but also the tireless pursuit of ingredients.

Hainan people like "fresh", which is inseparable from the local natural endowment. As the saying goes, "The unique features of a local environment always give special characteristics to its inhabitants". Isolated overseas, Hainan Island is rich in natural resources such as mountains, rivers, lakes and seas, and its food presents a vertical structure -- a large number of seafood, which is constantly available all year round. Numerous land production, four seasons fragrance; Many rare foods made of mountain ingredients are increasingly delicious.

In terms of cooking methods, Hainanese always practice the popular saying - "high-end ingredients often only need the simplest cooking methods". Hainan cuisine is mainly steamed, and the cooking process insists on less oil, less sauce and less ingredients. It does not advocate excessive processing in various forms and processes, and tries to keep the original form, original nature and original quality of food as far as possible, so it can keep the original flavor, fresh and refreshing of ingredients.

As the description of Hainan cuisine in the Encyclopedia of Chinese Cuisine says: "The ingredients are based on Hainan specialties and are mainly fresh; The taste is light and fresh first, paying attention to the original flavor, sweet, sour, hot and salty; The taste is light and the dishes are varied."

The cuisine and cooking techniques of Hainan cuisine have been adjusting and evolving with the development and progress of society. In the past, Wenchang chicken was cooked slowly with water, and the food was original. Now, all kinds of new cooking methods of Wenchang chicken emerge in an endless stream, eating creative flavor. But whether it is crispy Wenchang chicken, abalone Wenchang chicken, or coconut baked Wenchang chicken, Wenchang chicken "changes" behind, always "fresh" flavor base.

No matter how Hainan cuisine changes, it can not lose the "fresh" sign. The key to Hainan cuisine to go out of the island is to insist on obtaining the original taste from high-quality ingredients. This is the consensus of people in the industry, the pursuit of "fresh", on the one hand, is the pursuit and return of modern healthy diet, on the other hand, it is also the affirmation of the quality of Hainan cuisine ingredients.

Lamb stew from Dongfang City. Photo by Hainan Daily reporter Qiu Xiaoshuai.

Innovation with "fruit" into the dish full of new ideas

Speaking of the new Hainan cuisine, the "fruit" into the dish should be one of the most distinctive characteristics. The four seasons of Hainan floating fruit fragrance, is the national people's "fruit basket". In Hainan, making fruits into sweet and sour dishes is one of the islanders' secret kitchen recipes, which not only makes Hainan cuisine more delicious, but also more nutritious.

Litchi cod roll is crisp and delicious, litchi cuttlefish is sour and sweet and refreshing, litchi fish gum is sweet and chewy, litchi osmanthus cake is fragrant. Huang Chuanjian, a Hainan chef who has been deeply cultivating Hainan cuisine for more than 20 years, has developed 40 or 50 kinds of litchi Qiong dishes in recent years, which has opened people's eyes.

"Litchi into the dish, other ingredients can fully absorb the sweet and sour taste of litchi, taste clear but not light, fresh and unusual." For example, litchi old duck soup, fruit with fresh sweet, fill but not dry, can quench thirst, has a strong heart refreshing, nourishing the body effect." Huang Chuanjian said.

The passion crisp fruit Yudaihuang looks and tastes great, developed by Chen Jiasheng, executive chef of Tianfu Chinese Restaurant, Tianfang Intercontinental Haitang Bay Resort, Sanya. He said that to make this dish, the passion fruit is first removed and made into a sweet and sour sauce, then the straps are washed and steamed, placed on potato chips, drizzled with the good sauce, and sprinkled with cashews.

Coincidentally, the crispy durian Jiaji duck developed by Chen Jiasheng is also popular with diners. He cooked Jiaji duck marinated, boned and minced, added fresh durian pulp, stirred well and wrapped in dough, then fried over low heat until browned and crisp. "The dish is crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, and the fruit and duck flavors complement each other." 'he said.

How popular is "fruit" in dishes? Not only have hotels and restaurants made it into a "household" banquet dish, but it is also highly respected in some food stalls and stalls.

In some street shops in Sanya, there is a special dish called peach fresh fish soup. The chef modulated peach fish soup generally choose sour star fruit, select the skin smooth meat tender sea fish into boiling water, then add acid beans, pepper, fish soup before adding peach slices, finally put oil, salt seasoning, a pot of peach fish soup is done.

"The aroma of peach dispels the smell of sea fish, and the natural fruit acid makes the fish soup more delicious. A mouthful of hot soup makes me feel fresh and refreshing." Diner Li Yazhi said.

Pan-fried mackerel. Photo by Hainan Daily reporter Qiu Xiaoshuai.

Explore the integration of culture and tourism, and cook new flavors

The origins of Hainan cuisine can be traced back to the 1920s. At that time, Haikou appeared a number of larger teahouses, restaurants, followed by the introduction of Cantonese cooking skills. Some chefs of restaurants study and improve their cooking skills on the basis of Hainan real estate ingredients, and make a batch of Hainan cuisine.

Now, Hainan cuisine has gone through a hundred years in the diet lake. As time goes by, the relevant government departments and businesses have always been committed to digging deep into the cultural connotation of Hainan cuisine. By creating Hainan cuisine brand food IP, holding various food exchange and promotion activities, they make Hainan cuisine more and more powerful vitality.

China (Haikou) Hainan Food Festival, Haikou International Food Consumption Season, Hainan Chicken rice Innovation and Development Forum. In recent years, Haikou has carried out a series of food and beverage activities to promote consumption in order to build Hainan cuisine brand, which makes the development of Hainan cuisine maintain a high growth momentum.

Throughout the Hainan catering lake, Hainan cuisine as always occupies the main position. In the market, Longquan people, kitchen good taste, Hainan food memory, Xinhaifu porridge hotel, Shiwei restaurant, Qiongzhou past restaurant and other main Hainan food chain restaurants have outstanding characteristics. They start from the details to let consumers get immersive experience and so on, so that consumers know more about the Hainan food culture.

In September this year, the Hainan Provincial Hotel and Catering Industry Association officially released a list of "100 Hainan dishes", covering many classic Hainan dishes, such as the soft boiled Wenchang chicken, dregs vinegar hot pot, and dry-fried pig feet. The whole selection process took several months, and the online voting process has accumulated more than 500,000 people, setting off a wave of taste and comment on Hainan cuisine in the province.

The government builds platforms, enterprises do activities, and consumers benefit. "Whenever friends from other places come to visit, I will take them to eat a special and delicious Hainan food, and the friends who have eaten it say yes." Haikou citizen Li Mingli said.

"More and more frequent food exchange activities have made Hainan cuisine more diversified and diversified with the essence of different regions." Hainan Hotel and catering industry Association secretary General Chen Gang said. (Reporter Qiu Jianghua)

　　Hainan Famous dishes (part) :

　　◉ Soft boiled Wenchang chicken

　　◉ Soft boiled Jiaji duck

　　◉ Dry-fried mangrove salted duck

　　◉ Zuixiang hot spring goose

　　◉ Cook white lotus goose over low heat

　　◉ Horseshoe Dongshan sheep

　　◉ Braised small scalper with skin in brown sauce

　　◉ Ding'an Xiangou beef hot pot

　　◉ Lingao Roast Suckling pig

　　◉ Dongfang Sigeng Roast Suckling Pig

　　◉ Stewed pig stomach with Hainan pepper

　　◉ Dry-fried pork feet

　　◉ Braised black pork belly

　　◉ Boiled Hainan red horn prawn

　　◉ Pan-fried Puqian mackerel

　　◉ Danzhou Red fish brisket Pork Pot

　　◉ Steamed Wanning Hele crab

　　◉ Salt-baked snail

　　◉ Qukou Steamed oysters with garlic

　　◉ Steamed epinephelus drummondhayi with yellow pepper

　　◉ Sanya sour fish soup

　　◉ Steamed Guangcun sand worms with garlic sauce