Brought by immigrants from Hainan in southern China, it was first sold in Singapore restaurants in the early 1940s. The chicken is poached below the boil and plunged into ice water to keep it tender; the rice is cooked in chicken stock with ginger, garlic and pandan leaves; and the plate comes with chilli sauce, pounded ginger and dark soy. It is often said that the most important part is the rice, not the chicken. We point you to halal-certified stalls and restaurants.