Page "Hainanese chicken rice" Paragraph 3

The Hainanese prefer using older, plumper birds to maximise the amount of oil extracted, thus creating a more flavourful dish.

Over time, however, the dish began adopting elements of Cantonese cooking styles, such as using younger birds to produce more tender meats.

In another variation, the bird is dipped in ice after cooking to produce a jelly-like skin finishing, commonly referred to as Báijī ( 白雞 ) for " white chicken ", in contrast to the more traditional Lǔjī ( 滷雞, stock chicken ) or Shāojī ( 燒雞, roasted chicken ).

In Singapore, where modernity has made the maintenance and long-term storage of master stocks unfeasible, the meat is cooked by boiling in water flavoured with garlic and ginger instead, with the resulting stock used in the preparation of the rice and also in the accompanying soup.