A Bo Po Salt Roasted Chicken

Top choice in Hainan


Ā bo pó (阿卜婆) means ‘grandma’ in Hainanese, though we’d also translate it as ‘best chicken ever'. Indeed made by a 70-something grandma, the chicken here is buried in sea salt and baked for four hours, then sealed in plastic to pull in all the juices. Just tear into it with your hands (plastic gloves are provided).

Choose between spicy and non-spicy chicken, which comes with head and feet still attached. Served with a bowl of brown rice congee and pickled radish flavoured with prawn. The restaurant is in an area of shops and other eateries on Haidian Island in the north of Haikou.


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