The Chiayi City Service Station of the National Immigration Agency recently held a "Taste of Home - Handmade Hainanese Chicken Rice" event, inviting new immigrant Huang Caifei from Hainan, China, to share her hometown's culinary culture with the participants. Huang introduced the famous Wenchang Chicken Rice, a dish featuring poached chicken served with chicken oil-steamed rice and ginger-garlic sauce, which is highly popular among locals. She explained that this dish spread to Southeast Asia with the migration wave from the late 19th to early 20th century, giving rise to various regional versions of Hainanese Chicken Rice. Although Chiayi is renowned for its turkey rice, Huang has always had a special fondness for her hometown's "chicken rice," often making it at home to soothe her homesickness.
Lecturer Huang Cai-Fei cooking boneless chicken thigh (Photo / Sourced from the National Immigration Agency website)
During the event, Huang also guided participants in making Hainanese Chicken Rice, emphasizing that the key to its deliciousness lies in the sauce. She demonstrated how to mash ginger and garlic, then pour over hot chicken broth before adding a squeeze of lime to enhance the flavor, creating a perfect balance of sour and spicy that complements the tender chicken thigh meat. One of the participants, Winnie, a student from Eswatini at Nanhua University, shared, "I love cooking, and the Hainanese Chicken Rice we made today was fragrant and delicious!"
Winnie (left) and Director Huang Yanxun (right) happily holding the finished Hainanese chicken rice (Photo / Sourced from the National Immigration Agency website)
Huang Yanxun, the Director of the Chiayi City Service Station, expressed her hope that through such multicultural events, the public would gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of global cultures, broadening their horizons. She also mentioned that the National Immigration Agency's "Free Computer Courses and Tablet Rental Service for New Immigrants" has been available since July 1 this year. For inquiries about the computer courses, new immigrants can call the customer service hotline at 0800-005-788, and for tablet and laptop rental services, they can call 0800-030-068. New immigrants are encouraged to take advantage of these services.
