Ingredient Name: Chicken (whole), fowl, hen
Traditional Chinese Name: 雞 (jī)
What is this?
- Literally, the WHOLE chicken
- Which means, it may potentially come with a head, feet, and internal organs
How do I prepare it?
- You will need to clean and then cut the chicken into pieces (quarters will suffice)
- Some people prefer to skin the chicken and make the soup without the skin and reduce the amount of fat by trimming any fat off the chicken first
- The Chinese will use the ENTIRE chicken (except the head), including the feet for their soup
- Put the chicken into boiling water first, drain and then put the cooked chicken into the boiling soup base
Where can I buy this?
- In any supermarket, you can purchase them fresh or frozen
What is the cost?
- Depending on size and quality, you can purchase a frozen whole chicken for around $7 – $15 CAD / chicken
- Fresh can vary as well ranging from $7 – $20 CAD / chicken
- In Hong Kong wet marts, vendors are being phased out from carrying live chickens to date, but they range from $78 – $120 HKD / chicken (this applies to frozen chickens in wet mart as well)
Any benefits?
- Boiled white meat is healthier to consume than red meats
- Using the whole chicken (bones and all) helps with providing collagen
- Skinless and boiled chicken is a great low-fat protein. It is lower in calories, fats and saturated fats than most other meats
- Chicken is extremely dense in nutrients, including protein, zinc, iron, phosphorous, riboflavin, thiamin and niacin
Any precautions?
- Wash your hands and cutting utensils thoroughly after handling raw poultry to avoid cross-contamination like salmonella
I am a big fan of using the whole chicken. It always seems to taste better with the whole chicken and I highly enjoy eating the meat with the soup – it makes for a hearty meal.
How long do we need to pre-boil the chicken before draining?
Hi Faye,
You should pre-boil or blanch for about 5 minutes. Make sure you put the raw chicken into boiling water (not cold water). The oil, dirt + extras all come out to give you a cleaner soup base. Hope this helps.
Lisa
What kind of chicken should we use?
Dear Lam, to be fair, any type of chicken actually. White, black are both OK. Hope this helps, Lisa