History of Chicken Rice Chicken rice can be said to be one of the most famous dishes in our country, especially among Chinese people. Chicken rice can be found everywhere and is very popular with Malaysians. In Malaysia, there are various types of chicken rice including barbecue chicken rice, Bebola Chicken Rice and grilled chicken rice. However, all of these chicken dishes evolved from Hainanese Chicken Rice. Actually, Hainanese Chicken Rice originates from a city called Wenchang which is located on Hainan Island, China. In fact, this chicken rice is called Wenchang Chicken Rice after the Wenchang chicken which is popular there. Wenchang chicken rice is also one of the four most popular dishes in Hainanese cuisine. The people there are very proud of this dish and their habit is to serve this food to guests at every event as a sign of respect. (Wahab 2018) This food was brought to Southeast Asia at the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, the Hainan people began to migrate to regions in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. In Malaysia, Hainanese Chicken Rice spread to Ipoh, Melaka, Kuala Lumpur and Pulau Pinang before spreading to other countries. Based on the information sought, Hainanese people sell this chicken rice on the side of the road. They will carry or carry two baskets. One of the baskets is filled with boiled chicken, while the second basket contains rice. In the beginning, Hainanese Chicken Rice was sold by a person from Hainan named Wang Yi Yuandi, Singapore. After that, he moved to Selangor and opened a shop there. At that time, Hainanese Chicken Rice was brought to our country and the cooking technique was inherited until now. Apart from Hainanese Chicken Rice, Bebola Chicken Rice also has an interesting story. Decades ago, a fisherman named Hoe Kee invaded Indonesia's oceans while fishing. This resulted in him being arrested and imprisoned in Indonesia, in addition his ship was also confiscated by the Indonesian side. At that time, his wife was forced to work to support the family. At first, he sold Hainanese Chicken Rice to workers on the Melaka jetty. However, he found that they were so busy that they didn't have time to finish a plate of chicken rice. So, he customized the rice.
