What it is
White-cut chicken (白斬雞, also 白切雞) is a whole bird poached until just done, cooled and chopped into pieces with skin and bone on. The skin stays pale, hence "white", and 斬 means to chop. In Taiwan it is a signature dish of local cooking, served at native-chicken restaurants (土雞城), seafood restaurants, Taiwanese restaurants and noodle shops.
Where it came from
The dish is shared across southern China, including Guangdong, Hong Kong and Fujian. Cantonese cooking files it with siu mei, the roast meats, even though it is poached. In Taiwan the quality of the bird matters most. Restaurants favour native chickens (土雞), some Taipei chefs buy free-range capons from Taitung, and fresh birds killed that morning are valued above thawed ones.
How it is made
Taiwanese cooks sum up the method in four words: 滾、燜、吊、斬, boil, steep, hang and chop. The bird may be salted first, then cooked whole in water or stock, sometimes with ginger and spring onion. Cooks keep the water below a rolling boil so the skin does not split, or turn off the heat once it boils and let the chicken finish in the residual heat. It is then cooled, sometimes in cold brine to firm the skin, and hung or rested before chopping.
How to eat it
A plate goes alongside rice or noodles. Taiwanese dips lean on soy: thick soy paste (醬油膏) with minced garlic, or soy sauce with sliced red chilli. Hakka cooks serve a sour citrus sauce (桔醬) instead. Diners judge the bird by its breast, which should stay moist. Noodle shops sell it sliced as a side.
Around Taiwan
- Kaohsiung
- Cheng's Noodles (鄭家切仔麵) in Yancheng, run by its third generation, starts its stock early in the morning. Pig heart, liver and tongue are cooked first, then whole chickens are steeped in the same pot, which becomes the noodle broth. The chicken is sold sliced as a side.
- North
- Michelin-listed Taipei restaurants such as Mipon (米香) and My Zao (My 灶) make white-cut chicken from Taitung capons. One keeps the water at 80 to 85°C; the other cooks in pork-bone and vegetable stock.
- Hakka
- Hakka cooks dip white-cut chicken in 桔醬, a paste of sour citrus cooked with salt and sugar. In Hsinchu a flat, sour variety (酸橘) is preferred. Mud Brick House (泥磚屋) in Beipu serves free-range chicken with a kumquat version.
