White cut poached chicken is one of the healthiest and easiest meals. It’s a whole chicken which symbolizes family togetherness and is eaten as an everyday meal and during celebrations. Growing up, we would visit my grandparents in Chinatown and load the car up with groceries before driving home. My mom would buy fresh killed chickens from the market and cook them the day after we got back. It’s hard for me to get fresh filled chickens so I buy from the grocery store or frozen birds from the meat farmer.
Ingredients:
- Whole chicken between 4.5 – 5 lbs
- 2 tablespoons of salt
Method:
Start with a whole chicken between 4.5 – 5 lbs. Try to buy one that is free range, organic, or recently processed (butchered) for the best taste and most nutritious. Before you start cooking the chicken leave it on the counter until it is room temperature to help the meat stay tender.
Fill a pot of water enough to just cover the chicken completely. If you are unsure of just how much water, put the chicken into the pot and fill until the chicken is just covered and then take the chicken out. Bring the water to a boil.
Place the chicken into the water and bring the water to a boil again. Place the neck, liver, heart, or anything else that came with the chicken.
Once the water is boiling, use thongs to lift the chicken from the inside cavity.
Hold the chicken up and tilt slightly to drain the water from the inside cavity slowly. This is to ensure the water inside the raw cavity is drained and doesn’t get stuck inside uncooked.
Place the chicken back into the water, ensuring water has filled the inside cavity. Bring the water to a boil again.
Once the water has boiled, lower the heat to a slow simmer where one or two steams of bubbles are coming from the bottom of the pot.
Put a pair of chopsticks over the top of the pot and then place the lid of the pot on top of the chopsticks. This helps to circulate the heat and keep an eye on the simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes, use the thongs again to drain the water from the inside cavity.
Place the chicken back into the pot and bring the water to a boil.
Turn off the stove, take the chicken out of the water and onto a plate. Cover the top and bottom of the chicken with salt.
Let the chicken sit for 20 minutes before serving. You can carve or cut, this is where the name white cut chicken came from. Or peel the chicken off the bone also known as shredding.
A bonus is the nutritious broth from the boiled chicken. I usually boil 2 chickens (one after another) in the same broth which results in a delicious broth ready for drinking. If you only boil 1 chicken, you’ll need to add more bones to boil into a flavorful broth.
Enjoy,
The Dumpling Mama xo