Hainanese Chicken Rice for a dinner party — went down extremely well

I made Hainanese Chicken Rice for eight guests who had varying familiarity with the cuisine. Every single person asked for the recipe. The richly spiced and coconut-sweet profile was the main talking point — no one had quite experienced belacan shrimp paste used that way before.

Malaysian cuisine reflects the Malay, Chinese, Indian, and indigenous Orang Asli traditions of a multicultural society. I explained the a Penang hawker stall context as I served it which helped people appreciate it fully. teh tarik was what I offered alongside and it worked perfectly. Excellent dinner party dish — impressive without being inaccessible.