Chicken Chop – the quintessential Malaysian-Western dish

Despite my (not too) far-fetched claims of extraordinariness, I’m actually a rather typical Malaysian. So if you are anything like me, it is most likely that your first encounter with Western food is the chicken chop.

Chicken what? Chicken chop… as unique to Malaysians (okay fine, Singaporeans also and they are to be included every time I mention Malaysia or Malaysians here) as the usage of lah, sure or not, eh hello, how can like that and various other delightful Manglish expressions.

Chicken chop - Damansara Perdana
The chicken chop that got me thinking about writing this post

I grew up automagically linking Western cuisine with chicken chop, then fish and chips, then steak, then lamb, then pasta. It wasn’t till I was much older when I realised that hey, no one outside of Malaysia or Singapore knows what the heck a chicken chop is! It is not even to be found on Wikipedia!!!

Then I was duly informed that the chicken chop is a local creation: I’m not able to provide a history of how it came about, but it may have something to do with the Hainanese in Malaysia. I suppose it’s the evolution of pork chops to lamb chops to hey, let’s grill this chicken too and call it chicken chop.

Chicken chop with black pepper sauce - Hailam Kopitiam
Breaded chicken chop with black pepper sauce at Hailam Kopitiam

I even conducted a survey to find out if I was indeed correct. Below is my finding, garnered from my sample size of one.

Me: Do you know what is a chicken chop?
MrSixPackAbs: Yes. It’s a karate blow used when scared shitless. Why?

Yeap.

Chicken chop with spicy sauce - Old Town White Coffee
Chicken chop with sweet and spicy sauce at Old Town White Coffee

A chicken chop as I know it is a piece of de-boned chicken thigh, breaded and deep-fried or just plain grilled or pan-fried. Its accompanying sauces are usually black pepper or mushroom which you pour all over the chicken. In KL there’s the Hailam sauce which I don’t quite fancy because of its slight sweetness.

The usual side dishes that come with the chicken chop are the coleslaw and French fries. Variations? Assorted vegetables, mashed potatoes or rice, whatever suits your fancy. Thus fulfilling the requirement of meat + carbs + greens. Very Western, or at least it seems so in our Asian minds!

Chicken chop - Souled Out, Desa Sri Hartamas
Chicken chop from Souled Out! at Desa Sri Hartamas

What’s my point? Nothing, really. I just thought it was amusing. I was at the restaurant near where I live and wanted something for dinner. I asked the proprietor…

“Got what ar?”
“Malay, Chinese, Western…”
“What Western food do you have?”
“Chicken chop…”

And so in order to write this post, I began my chicken chop phase. What is a chicken chop phase? Just a long stretch of time where I could eat the same type of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner for days. Then I realised that…

I ACTUALLY REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LOVE CHICKEN CHOP! πŸ˜€

Chicken chop with mushroom sauce - Freddy, Millenium 86, Tmn Paramount
Chicken chop with mushroom sauce at Freddy, Millennium 86 at Taman Paramount

So if you know where I can get awesome chicken chops in KL or PJ, let me know. Better still, TAKE ME WITH YOU! Heh, thanks.

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Comments

  1. man, that’s a lot of chicken chop right there suan!

  2. ShaolinTiger says

    I love chicken chop too yay.

  3. slurps!
    making me hungry b4 dinner time. πŸ™ bad suanie

  4. Y no pic of hailam sauce chicken chop? :p

  5. i like the one at yut kee. loads of sauce, loads of onions. yummeh!

  6. KY: Yes. All chicken chops were harmed in the making of this blog post.

    ST: We are friends, yay!

    Mike: Hahaha not only you, dude. I’m hungry after seeing my photos too πŸ˜›

    Horng: Cos I didn’t eat it! Don’t quite like the sweet sauce.

    lishun: I’ve ALWAYS heard about Yut Kee, am I the only person left who has not tried it??

  7. Ya I also never heard of it before I came here. It may have some relation to the schnitzel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schnitzel), which is typically deboned meat covered in breadcrumbs or something.

  8. i love Chicken Chop!

  9. julian: oOoo looks like it! if i’m making up things here, let me go all the way. maybe malaysians couldn’t pronounce schnitzel so it became a chop for short πŸ˜€

    faizal: i love chicken chop three and four and five and infinity!!!

  10. You can never go wrong with chicken chop! And yea man, how can you be a chicken chop fan and not try Yut Kee’s?? D:

    There’s this western food place in PJ which has the best chicken chop – crispy skin and slathered in awesome bright orange sauce (i think it’s tomato-based)! I cant remember the area though. Fail.

  11. kimberlycun says

    i love this chicken chop post hahaha

  12. Ihatechu. Now i gotta learn how to make this pulak. Dammit.

  13. Jen: But not all chicken chops are awesome πŸ™ Hit or Miss at a lot of places! And I’m WAITING for you to bring me to Yut Kee and the PJ place πŸ˜€

    Kim: hahaha we love Freddy’s!

    whimsicaljottings: woman, your prawn mee took 1/2 year to materialise. after reading your blog post about it, i think you can pretty much do anything πŸ˜›

  14. Oh that is so cool Suanie… Hahaha.. Never knew Chicken Chop was local too..lol!

  15. My personal favourite is the Hainanese style of traditional chicken chop. Sloppily presented with plentiful of gravy, and peas. Then some potatoes on the side.

  16. If you find a place that serves good pork chop, please let me know. I haven’t had one for at least 10 years. Sigh…

  17. Sean: now you do! Heh πŸ˜› GCB is local also πŸ˜‰

    J2Kfm: I’ve never really had a proper one. Actually I never had proper Hainanese style before. Am waiting for my 1st time at one of the famous establishments!

    Peter: Then that place must really be good since your taste buds are hard to please, hah! Actually I don’t have anything to compare with, I didn’t grow up eating pork chops. The one at Freddy’s not bad

  18. So which chicken chop got the awesomesauce one ar? πŸ˜›

  19. hey Suanie, i’ve been a silent reader of your blog, and i must say, I NEVER KNEW CHICKEN CHOP IS NOT A WESTERN FOOD! :((((((

  20. Lulu Cattywampus says

    love me some chicken chop too!!!

    Jen: is the shop in PJ called Strawberry Fields? their chicken chop is pretty great πŸ™‚

  21. i no eatinged yukkee also let’s go

  22. Tan Yee Hou says

    Yut kee’s chicken chop = win.

    Yut kee’s pork chop = Chicken chop + RM1 + win = winnerer!

  23. sotong: if you pour black pepper sauce on anything, it tastes good πŸ˜›

    iswari: hah now you learn something new!!! πŸ˜€

    lulu: oOoOo i’ve heard of the shop. i shall get myself some strawberry fields chicken chop soon!

    LT: let’s goooooooooo!

    yeehou: there’s no arguing with your equation, it wins in life!

  24. The only famous and quite decent one I can think of is at Johor Bahru. I think many know it, at Jalan Dobi itu. In front of this old bakery place that still make bread from these old stone stove.

    I am off topic here, but damn, I love those bread.

  25. Buffalo Steakhouse at Mentari Business Court, Bandar Sunway –> awesome “Western” food for dirt cheap. Damn nice too. The place has freaking escargot la. That’s class. HAHA

    @tashny

  26. Try Piccadilly’s near Millenium Square. I love the chicken chop there! πŸ˜€

  27. A simple dish but written creatively. Love it.

  28. dils: you know what, i’m in for a good warm loaf of bread myself! it’s a nice cosy feeling to eat it !

    tash: is it a proper restaurant? Hahah can’t imagine escargot at a food court πŸ˜›

    Rebecca: ooO taking note , thanks!

    Simon: Why, thank you! πŸ˜€

  29. mushroom sauce….!!!!!

  30. chicken chop in the corner coffee shop at jones road in pg is awesome! try it if u make a trip up north

  31. Denise: Sometimes I prefer to slather everything in black pepper sauce though, for the kick!

    joce: taking note, thanks! πŸ˜€

  32. yut kee.

    and if u have not been to yut kee … try their roti babi as well.

  33. undergraduate says

    I like chicken chop too!!!

  34. pocoyo: i’ve ALWAYS heard about roti babi, i have NO idea what it is. Need to go try it out!

    undergrad: it can’t go wrong!

  35. yes it’s a proper restaurant πŸ™‚

  36. Why not try at MOJO’s Upstairs at SS2. It is pan fried with authentic mushroom sauce. Delicious! Must try!

  37. they use to have it with brown sauce….now hardly any place serves with brown sauce…i miss that….i guess the black pepper gives the spiciness asians like….

  38. chickenchop the best

  39. I have to recommend Hakka Republic at Menara Hap Seng – “Colonial Chicken Chop” (reasonable price RM19 and very good tasting). Make sure you ask them for ‘extra’ sauce, cuase its never enough. Yummy!!. Also try the ‘Sang Har Mee’ there, value for money. BTW. this place is a western restaurant with a Chinese name for some strange reason. Good luck. Got website some more: hakkarepublic.com

  40. Just thought I’d share this great new restaurant with you. Sugar Melon on the 2nd floor of the newly opened ONE CITY MALL at the entrance to Putra Heights or from puchong toll towards subang turn into SHELL station (mall is just next to it). Chicken chop is superb and value for money. Other food on menu includes variety of other chicken dishes, lamb shank, steak, curry laksa, fried koey etc. Good ambience and clean. Lunch and dinner are usually packed with diners. Owner is Hainanese man who happens to also run a very established catering business besides operating a couple of establishments in Putra Jaya well. Give it a try if you are really into such foods.

Trackbacks

  1. […] 28, 2010 by whimsicaljottings No thanks to my old friend Suanie’s postΒ on the Malaysian-Western chicken chop, I just HAD to make this dish. Heck, I ran out to the […]

  2. Famous Yut Kee @ Dang Wangi – Hainanese-style Malaysian-Western food says:

    […] my blog post on Chicken Chop – the quintessential Malaysian-Western dish, assorted people said that I should go try out Yut Kee’s. I’d always wanted to but […]

  3. […] Still more tasty foods: on the left, from Limbang, Sarawak, Malaysia, is a “chicken chop.” […]

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