Concubine Chicken
By: Kavin Du
Published: Monday, January 23, 2012 - 9:13am

Ingredients




4 qt Basic Chinese Stock
1 Nankin breed (brown feather) free range chicken
4 qt ice
1 thermometer

Preparation

1 Dilute Basic Chinese Stock to 10 qt 2 Bring diluted broth to a boil 3 Let cool to 200 degree 4 Place chicken in broth, broth should cool down to 170 5 Keep chicken broth at 165 degree. 6 Cooking time is approximately 40 min per lb 7 Shock skin with ice bath 8 Center of the bone should be bright red but not runny.  Flesh around the thigh should be slightly pink but should come off the bone. This is completely normal.

About

Concubine Chicken is a popular Cantonese dish and is a derivative of White Cut Chicken.  White Cut Chicken is a dish served commonly at restaurant frequented by merchants and their caravans.   It is usually prepared ahead of time and served at room temperature for efficiency.  The story goes when one of the concubine asked for this peasant dish in the palace, the palace kitchen modified the recipe and used a broth instead of plain old water to cook the chicken.  
I have modified the recipe based on modern techniques.  The chicken is prized for its bouncy skin, moist meat and bright red bone marrow.