Cantonese Cuisine: Start with a Chicken

Learn Gastronomy from Cantonese Cuisine

Lin Weihui

Guangdong Travel amp; Tourism Press

February 2022

68.00 （CNY）

Lin Weihui

Lin Weihui is a food columnist， who graduated from Sun Yat-sen University School of Law. He is the manager of the WeChat official account “Hui Chang Hao Chi （Hui’s Taste of Food）”， a food consultant for the documentary Once Upon a Bite， and author of The Amazing Food.

You’ll never name the top three Cantonese delicacies without White Cut Chicken （marinated steamed chicken）. Although the flavor may differ between different restaurants， every Cantonese restaurant would definitely serve this dish， and every siu laap shop would definitely hang up some chicken. The only differences between them are the popularity and names of this cuisine. Some call it “White Cut Chicken，” some “White Sliced Chicken.” But no matter if it is gently “cut” or quickly “sliced”， it is all basically the same dish. Let us now discover how to make the miraculous White Cut Chicken.

First， the quality of the chicken.

There are many high-quality chickens in Guangdong， including Ma Chicken in Qingyuan， Bearded Chicken in Huiyang， Apricot Flower Chicken in Zhaoqing， and Three Yellow Chicken in Xinyi， Maoming City. They are all good choices for White Cut Chicken. In Zhanjiang City， the White Cut Chicken also uses Three Yellow Chicken from Xinyi. Xinyi is a county-level city once under the jurisdiction of Zhanjiang City but now belongs to Maoming City. For this reason， Zhanjiang could not call its White Cut Chicken Xinyi Chicken anymore， so it has changed the name to “Zhanjiang Chicken”， but in fact， it still uses chicken from Xinyi. A perfect White Cut Chicken should boast smooth texture， tender meat， and sweet bones. Old chickens are not recommended， as the meat would taste tough. In the past， chickens were free-range chickens raised by farmers. They grow slowly but offer rich flavor. Usually， we choose four-month old hens that have not laid eggs. It makes sense. Roosters take 110 days to reach maturity， hens 120 days. Four months is the time for chickens to have all kinds of flavors， along with firm texture and tender taste. Once a hen lays eggs， its meat would be more elastic and less tasty.

Free-range chickens are less seen nowadays. More chickens are factory-farmed animals that could go to market in just over one month. This kind of chicken is less flavorful. Although its meat is tender， it doesn’t taste good. Better ones are those raised first in farms but later as free-range. If they could be raised to six months old， their flavor would also be good. Why does free-range chicken taste better？ Because for chickens that do more exercise， they have more lipid particles in their tissue and more compound lipids on the cell membrane， which bring about the chicken’s flavor. Apart from how long it is raised， what the chicken eats also has an impact on the flavor. Chickens that eat coarse cereals and worms provide a richer flavor. Those that eat mixed feed blending soy pulp， fish powder， and other meat mash grow faster but have less flavor. It is difficult to find delicious White Cut Chicken today， mainly because there are less high-quality chickens. I once found Beard Chicken in Conghua District which were totally free-range. For a friend， they are sold at RMB 150 per chicken. When it’s made into the White Cut Chicken， it would be no less than RMB 250， and when it’s served in notable restaurants， it would be more than RMB 300， which is too expensive for average consumers.

Of course， chicken owners couldn’t make money on this. The farms finally went out of business. The free-range chickens in Sunflower Garden in Panyu District are said to be fed with sunflower seeds， but are so expensive that they can only be sold at White Swan Hotel and the Ritz-Carlton. But it’s said that the garden farm is also going to shut down. Now that free-range chicken is rare to see today， we have to compromise with other choices. One choice is chickens that are first raised on farms and later as free-range. They are sold at six to eight months， a little old， but have good flavor. The other choice is Zhanjiang Chicken， the neutered roosters which are raised long enough so as to have richer flavor but tougher meat. When I can’t have both the rich flavor and tender meat， I value flavor more.

Second， the culinary techniques. When cooking the White Cut Chicken， the water temperature should always be kept at about 90℃. Water at this temperature is commonly known as shrimp eye water or crab eye water. Submerge and lift out the chicken three times， so that the chicken skin has a difference in temperature. The skin itself becomes a protective coat to prevent juices from coming out. Submerge the chicken in hot water for about 20 minutes. Adjust the time according to the size of the chicken. This step is to keep the temperature inside the chicken at 65℃. If the temperature is higher， the muscle tissue will contract， the juices are squeezed out， and the meat becomes tough.

Restaurant chefs combine these two steps together. Put the chicken in slightly boiled white brine. Pour the brine into and out of the chicken so that the blood is cleared out as the temperature inside the chicken climbs. Then， plunge the chicken in the white brine， lift it up after a while， pour out the brine inside， and submerge it in the white brine again. The whole process is carried out on a simmer. Plunge， lift， and take out. Repeat these three movements three times and submerge the chicken until it is about to be well-cooked so that the chicken has brisk skin and tender meat， and its flesh is slightly separated from the bone. The chicken should then be submerged in icy water after it is removed from the pot to cool down immediately. It should be noted that the residual temperature will continue the cooking process. The sudden temperature drop can tighten the skin and squeeze out part of the fat and moisture， making the texture smooth and crispy. The layer of collagen and fat between its skin and meat forms a layer of gelatin. This molecular net structure firmly locks in the juice of the chicken， retaining its original taste so the texture is tender. The last step is to brush the chicken with a layer of peanut oil to keep the moisture inside. The chicken bones of standard White Cut Chicken are still tinged pink， but it’s hemoglobin， not blood. The blood had been released as the chicken was killed， and the small amount of blood left will have already coagulated. The coagulated blood can not be turned into liquid by heating. If the hemoglobin in the bones solidifies， the temperature of the chicken must have exceeded 70℃， and the chicken would become tough. If you don’t like this bloody scene， then don’t eat the bones.

Finally， a dish of ginger and scallion dipping sauce or soy sauce cooked with shrimp is the soul of White Cut Chicken.

If I say that the White Cut Chicken is the symbol of Guangzhou delicacies， I suppose no one would oppose it. But it is a pity that among all historical documents， the earliest record of the White Cut Chicken is in Suiyuan Food List written by Yuan Mei. When it comes to a dozen cooking methods about chicken， Yuan Mei listed “White Sliced Chicken” as third place， “cut the fat chicken into slices， retaining its original flavor， which is especially suitable to be served in either countryside feasts or inns. If cooking time is limited， White Sliced Chicken is the most convenient dish to be made. There shouldn’t be too much water when the chicken is boiled.” Most of the dishes Yuan Mei recorded belong to Huaiyang Cuisine （one of the four traditional Chinese cuisines， originating from Yangzhou and Huai’an in Jiangsu Province）. In all fairness， Cantonese Cuisine was almost negligible at that time， and the term “Cantonese Cuisine” did not make a difference until the end of the Qing Dynasty. In those days， decent restaurants even in Guangzhou were all serving Huaiyang dishes， and even Yangzhou Fried Rice， an authentic Cantonese dish， was also branded with the city name “Yangzhou” to establish its prestige. I’m not talking nonsense. Aren’t the roast duck skin and roast duck meat which are indispensable ingredients for Yangzhou Fried Rice unique to Cantonese Cuisine？ Therefore， I confidently infer that the White Cut Chicken is an upgraded version of the Fat White Chicken Slices in Huaiyang Cuisine. Cantonese Cuisine chefs improved the dish on this basis， substituting water with brine， using plunged chicken instead of boiled chicken， then submerging the chicken into ice water， finally there comes the special Guangzhou dish-- White Cut Chicken. Those are all my personal conclusions， and you are welcome to use literature to overturn my claim.

Qingping Chicken in Qingping Restaurant and Roadside Chicken in Jiuji Restaurant are the peaks of White Cut Chicken in Guangzhou. Unfortunately， these two restaurants have disappeared for the sake of the city’s renovation. Moreover， the main ingredient， high-quality chicken， is now hard to find， and so is the taste of this dish. Therefore， let the past go， both physically and mentally. Free-range chickens raised naturally are difficult to find， which has already determined that we can’t get White Cut Chicken back to its original flavor. Now， the glistening yellow White Cut Chicken seems to be made of a perfect chicken， for the yellow chicken skin is a sign of the chicken’s good nutrition. It is only when the chicken has enough lutein， that its skin may become yellow. But people now are smart; they use curcumin to color chickens， so they look surprisingly yellow， and the color won’t fade. Although curcumin is harmless， we still need to keep an eye on this and learn how to judge the age of chickens ourselves. Mr. Cai Hao told me： Look at the chicken skin！ The thicker the skin is， the older the chicken is. We should look forward and choose restaurants which cook White Cut Chicken similar to the flavors in the past.