Sichuan Boiled Chicken

Chuanshi Zhu de Ji (川式煮的鸡)

Delicious tender chicken with supple skin and simple flavor from ginger, scallion, and Shaoxing Rice Wine is perfect for a variety of famous Cold Chicken Dishes.

Sichuan Boiled Chicken is a simple but vital ingredient in numerous cold chicken dishes. These include Mouthwatering Chicken (口水鸡), Red Oil Chicken Bites (红油鸡块), and Leshan style Bang Bang Chicken (乐山式棒棒鸡).

The most famous of the previous dishes is definitely Mouthwatering Chicken (口水鸡). Within China, this chicken dish can be found in most restaurants, even those with no connection to Sichuan. The sauce is spicy, numbing, and usually tangy with a good mix of vinegar and aromatics like ginger, garlic, and scallion.

Red Oil Chicken Bites (红油鸡块) is another common dish that can be prepared with Sichuan Boiled Chicken. Though I recommend using Sichuan Boiled Chicken Breasts in my recipe, it is traditionally made with skin-on, bone-in chicken. If wanting to prepare Red Oil Chicken Bites in this manner, simply follow the recipe below, but when cutting the chicken, cut the strips rather thick before cutting each strip into 1.5-inch cubes. Likewise, Sizzling Spicy Chicken Slices (麻辣鸡片) can also be made using the following recipe. However, instead of thinly slicing the chicken, simply cut the chicken into 1-inch-thick strips and add the sauce.

One of the more unique methods for Sichuan Boiled Chicken is with Leshan style Bang Bang Chicken (棒棒鸡). In the Sichuan city of Leshan, Bang Bang Chicken is made with boiled chicken that has been cut in a rather unique way. The word Bang means a club or stick, so a small wooden dowel or cudgel is used when preparing the chicken. The edge of the cleaver is placed against the chicken and the club is used to hammer the back of the blade, cutting through skin, meat, and bone with ease. One advantage of cutting the chicken in this manner is that it's easy to cut uniform strips of chicken. I've even seen a chef use the palm of his hand to hammer the back of the cleaver, but I would recommend using an old rolling pin or mallet.

While the following recipe is for half of a chicken, a whole chicken could also be cooked in a similar fashion – simply double the amount of Ginger, Scallion, Salt, and Cooking Wine. The way in which a whole chicken is arranged on the serving platter will vary considerably from that of half a chicken. Since the plating of even half of a Boiled Chicken can vary per recipe, the actual specifics of plating along with more detailed instructions on cutting the chicken will be given with each Cold Chicken Dish recipe.

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 1 hr 15 min

Total Time: 1 hr 25 min

Serving: 4 people

Ingredients

1/2 of a Chicken (Preferably a Young Rooster)

Aromatics
1 4-inch blocks of Ginger
1 8-inch-long white stalks of Big Scallion (大葱)

1/2 Tbsp Salt
1/4 cup Shaoxing Rice Wine
1 Cape Jasmine Bulb (Gardenia jasminoides 黄栀子, Traditional; OR 1/4 tsp. Turmeric, Non-Traditional; Both Are Optional)

Spices
1/2 Tbsp. Green Sichuan Peppercorns
3 Star Anise (Optional but Recommended))
1 large stick of Cassia Bark (Optional but Recommended)

Directions

1.) Wash the Chicken and cut off the claws on the feet.

(The Chicken feet and head can also be removed, but traditionally, these are cooked and served with the main dish. The feet are also useful when dunking the Chicken in boiling water because they act as the perfect handle).

2.) Smash the Ginger with the side of a heavy cleaver and cut the Scallion into 4-inch-long pieces.

3.) Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the Ginger and Scallion. Season the boiling water with heaping tablespoon of Salt and the Shaoxing Rice Wine.

(The Cape Jasmine Bulb is rather optional, but it does brighten both the color and flavor of the Chicken. Along with the Shaoxing Rice Wine, it will help give the Chicken’s skin a more appealing yellow hue. Though non-traditional, dash of Turmeric could be added for this same purpose. A lot of recipes will use the hot flavorful soup from cooking the Chicken to create the sauces, so do not discard the water).

4.) Holding the Chicken by either the head, neck, or foot, dunk the Chicken into the boiling water, submerging it for about 10 seconds and then lifting it out of the water. Repeat about 3 to 5 times to give the skin a good texture.

5.) Submerge the Chicken fully and add the Green Sichuan Pepper - along with any other optional Spices. Cut off the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and allow to soak for about 50 minutes.

(It’s also possible to shorten this cooking time by cooking the Chicken for 40 minutes at a low heat. For a rather small Chicken, you only need to cook it for about 20 minutes at medium-low heat. To test the Chicken using the traditional method, insert a chopstick into the thickest part of the thigh until it touches the bone. When the chopstick is pulled out, there should be no blood and the liquid should be clear. Later, when the Chicken is cut, the marrow inside the Chicken bones should be reddish and not brown. BUT there should still be no blood or pinkish meat).

6.) When the Chicken is fully cooked, immediately plunge the Chicken into a large bowl of ice water to cool. Once the Chicken is cool to the touch, remove it from the water and allow it to cool uncovered in a fridge for at least 25 minutes. Allow the Chicken to cool completely before cutting it, and while the Chicken is cooling, prepare any sauces that will be added to the Chicken later.

(It is extremely important that the Chicken is completely cool before cutting it. I’ve made this mistake more than once when learning to cook this dish, so I cannot stress this enough. Many chefs will simply use an ice bath or allow the Chicken to cool hanging on a hook. My suggestion is to first use an ice bath until the Chicken is cool to the touch. Then, place the Chicken uncovered in a fridge to cool completely. This usually takes about 25 – 35 minutes. Allowing the Chicken to cool fully, especially with this method, will tighten the skin and firm the meat so that the Chicken can be cut easily. If the Chicken is cut too soon, the skin will slide off the meat, the meat will be smashed, and the juices will run everywhere).

7.) Once the Chicken has completely cooled, it’s time to cut it:

• Start by running the knife around the upper thigh around the joint. Position the Chicken on its back and gently pull the leg down away from the body to expose the joint. Separate the leg and set it aside.
• Similar to the leg, run the knife around the wing joint at the shoulder, pull it away from the body to expose the joint, and separate the wing from the body. Set it aside with the body.
• • Place the leg back on the cutting board and repeatedly chop down across the thigh, cutting it into thin strips. As the knife reaches the knee, rotate the leg and continuing to cut across the lower leg and stopping just above the foot. Place the leg slices into the serving dish with the foot on one side and the head on the other side.
• Place the body on the cutting board and, starting at the breast, chop across the body, cutting it into 1-inch-thick slices. Place the body slices on top of the thigh meat in the serving dish. (For the body, you can first cut down the length of the chicken, dividing it in half and separating the lower breast and belly from the upper breast and back).
• The wing can be prepared many different ways, but generally the upper arm is separated at the elbow joint and placed on one side of the dish. The rest of the wing can be placed near the foot or opposite the upper arm. Optionally, the middle wing section can be separated from the wing tip.

(The thickness of the Chicken strips will largely be determined by the dish being prepared. For most dishes, the Chicken will ideally be cut as thin as possible. For Mouthwatering Chicken this is usually about 1/2-inch to 1-inch thick, whereas for Bang Bang Chicken this can be as thin as 1/4-inch thick).

8.) With the Chicken cut, the final step is adding the sauce and serving.

 

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