Hainanese Curry Rice
Steamed rice drenched in curry and braising gravy, served with sides like crisp pork chop, braised pork belly and soft cabbage.
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 1 h
- total
- 1 h 30 min
- serves
- 4
- level
- medium
This is a different stall from the Hainanese chicken rice one, even though both trace back to the same Hainanese immigrant cooks. Here the rice gets doused in two sauces at once, a curry and a dark pork braising gravy, with a choice of fried and braised sides piled on top.
The sides are where you build your own plate: a crisp pork chop, soft braised pork belly, sweet cooked cabbage. Make a couple of them well rather than trying to replicate the whole display case your first time.
Part of our 20 best Singapore recipes list.
method
Braise the pork belly: brown it in a little oil, then add the dark soy, garlic, star anise and water. Simmer, partly covered, for 45 minutes, until tender and the sauce has reduced into a dark gravy. Keep this gravy; it is one of the two sauces for the rice.
For the curry, fry the curry powder in a little oil for 1 minute until fragrant, then add the coconut milk and a splash of water. Simmer for 10 minutes, season with salt, and keep warm.
Simmer the cabbage wedges in a little water or the braising liquid for 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and sweet.
For the pork chop, pound it thin, season, then coat in flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs. Shallow-fry in hot oil for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until deep golden and crisp.
Plate a mound of rice. Spoon over both the curry and the dark braising gravy, ideally on different sides of the rice rather than fully mixed.
Arrange the sliced pork chop, braised pork belly and cabbage around the rice and serve hot.
chef's tips
- This is a different dish from the Indian or Malay curry rice stalls you will also find in Singapore. The Hainanese version leans on both a curry sauce and a dark braising gravy together, not curry alone.
- Keep the braising liquid from the pork belly. It is just as important to the final plate as the curry itself.
- A hot, not-too-crowded pan keeps the pork chop coating crisp. Fry it in two batches if your pan is small.
- Most stalls let you choose your own sides from a display case. At home, pick two or three rather than trying to make everything at once the first time.