White Cut Chicken – Chinese Poached Chicken

Hello everyone, I'm Elaine. The dish I bring to you today is easy Chinese poached chicken, also known as white cut chicken. Choose a 2 pound chicken, remove the feet and wash it. Remove the chicken butt part. Bring a large pot of water to a boiling and then add scallion, ginger and Sichuan peppercorn. Hold the chicken and then dip the whole chicken into the boiling water 3 times. Make sure each inch of the skin is covered. Poaching is a very popular cooking method in Chinese cuisine. The key tip here is to control the temperature of the water. We will add the ingredient after the water boils and then turn off the fire or keep a very small fire to keep the temperature and let the chicken sit in the batches of hot water. This will allow a slow cooking process that can make the chicken super tender and juicy. After the final dip, place chicken immediately into an ice water bath. This will tighten skin perfectly. Then return the chicken back covered and use slow fire to heat for another 5 minutes. Turn off the fire and set aside for 20 minutes. Prepare ginger and scallion. Peel the ginger and then smash with the back of your cutting knife. You can also use a grater to finish this process. Finely chop the ginger after smashing. Then mince scallion too. Mix in all ginger and half of the scallion. Add a small pinch of salt. Mix well. Heat your oil until slightly smoky. Then add the remaining chopped scallion. Pour the hot oil directly over the ginger and scallion. You'll hear that satisfying sizzle as the hot oil releases all those aromatics. You can optionally add some light soy sauce. Once done, transfer the chicken out and set aside until completely cooled. Then cut into pieces. I highly recommend cool down the chicken for better cutting. First, remove the wings and drumsticks at the joints. Then cut the breast meat into even slices and chop the remaining body parts into bite-sized pieces if you can. I'm not good at cutting, so I just cut them in larger pieces. If you want a prettier presentation, place the less attractive pieces and chopped body parts on the bottom layer of your serving plate. Arrange the beautiful wing and drumstick pieces on top to create an appealing presentation. As long as you take your first bite, you will understand why it's so popular in Chinese restaurants. The chicken is impossibly tender, almost silky. The sharp, aromatic bite of fresh ginger mixed with the subtle sweetness of the scallions created the perfect contrast to the gentle chicken. You can feel the real essence of Cantonese cuisine. Let the natural flavors shine. This white cut chicken is simple and delicious. Do you like it? Try it at home. See you next time. Bye!