White Meat Chicken

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boomchakabowwow

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i grew up on the stuff. thinking back, it believe it was becasue i was trying to limit fat intake? i dont know. now? older and hopefully wiser, i think i like dark meat better. it is almost mandatory in my stir fries and stuff.

i simmered an entire chicken for some chinese chicken herb soup. i took the raw breast off for another future use. i made Teriyaki chicken. at the time it was good. it was fine. as a leftover, i had the "what was i thinking?" thought. it is way less yummy as a leftover. hahha..i kinda think if i used dark meat, it would have been better.

thoughts? uses for white meat chicken breast?
 
For white meat in stir fry, I usually slice it super thin then soak it in baking soda/water for 5-10 minutes, rinse off the baking soda, and cook. Its like velveting the chicken but much less a PITA. The baking soda changes the PH of the chicken and gives it a great texture and prevents it from being dry. I agree that dark meat is king, but when buying whole chickens you gotta use the breasts too and that's a great way to do it. That or katsu, can't go wrong with that.
 
Grill it, fry it, sear it in copious butter. Lots of good ways to eat the white meat. But I think grilled might be my favorite. On a stick.

Over charcoal...

Yakitori_breast-peppers.jpeg


... or gas.

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Quality of the chicken comes through much more in the breast than in the dark meat in my experience.
Pan roasted with butter and then sliced and seasoned with smoked salt is a regular protein as the wife loves it. I only ever get whole chickens, and the carcass makes a good stock that then gets frozen and defrosted to make a sauce for the next bird.

For anything with big flavours I always go thighs, I also prefer deboned thighs sliced into thirds to wings on the bbq.
 
Chicken breast takes flavors and seasoning well. Stir fry’s as said above. Thin sliced but I just do cornstarch with my marinade. Grilled breast is good as long as I make a pan sauce or apply some interesting flavors. Best tip for breast meat- don’t overcook. I pull them at 145-150 F and let rest.
 
Kenji did some side-by-side broth tests and found that breast meat yields the cleanest and most intense chicken flavor compared to bone, wing, thigh, and whole chicken stocks. It does lack body. My favorite is roasted wing stock, but I'm fortunate that breast goes on sale frequently where I live. Combine breast for clean flavor and feet or backs for body, and you're halfway to Flavortown.
 
Kenji did some side-by-side broth tests and found that breast meat yields the cleanest and most intense chicken flavor compared to bone, wing, thigh, and whole chicken stocks. It does lack body. My favorite is roasted wing stock, but I'm fortunate that breast goes on sale frequently where I live. Combine breast for clean flavor and feet or backs for body, and you're halfway to Flavortown.
I would have to disagree. Wing is the most favorable part of a chicken. Followed by back, leg, and thigh. Breast is at the bottom of my list.
 
Kenji did some side-by-side broth tests and found that breast meat yields the cleanest and most intense chicken flavor compared to bone, wing, thigh, and whole chicken stocks. It does lack body. My favorite is roasted wing stock, but I'm fortunate that breast goes on sale frequently where I live. Combine breast for clean flavor and feet or backs for body, and you're halfway to Flavortown.
060DB7EB-A251-4855-B7FC-780E5732ED7E.gif
 
i grew up on the stuff. thinking back, it believe it was becasue i was trying to limit fat intake? i dont know. now? older and hopefully wiser, i think i like dark meat better. it is almost mandatory in my stir fries and stuff.

i simmered an entire chicken for some chinese chicken herb soup. i took the raw breast off for another future use. i made Teriyaki chicken. at the time it was good. it was fine. as a leftover, i had the "what was i thinking?" thought. it is way less yummy as a leftover. hahha..i kinda think if i used dark meat, it would have been better.

thoughts? uses for white meat chicken breast?

I've no prejudices against different chicken parts—I embrace diversity in my kitchen and on the plate. Chicken breasts can be dry if not cooked properly; chicken's feet downright inedible if undercooked; etc. A good digital thermometer is a godsend for roasting whole chicken breasts. I love thigh meat, but there're some dishes where chicken breasts are the go-to—chicken katsu a good example; velveting chicken for stir fries works much better with breast meat than thigh IMO.

The breasts below were marinated overnight in a sweet tea brine, which kept the meat moist.
CFE87F25-FE5A-438C-814C-48C6D841737E.jpg

D6E69472-24A5-4ED2-9BB0-B958C3CEA187.jpg
 
Brine the breasts in 5% salt +2.5% sugar for one hour, then sous-vide for 60 minutes at 150°F. (If you don't have a pro vac / immersion circulator you can use the ziploc+hot water hack; it works just fine!) S/V is usually my way to go with chicken breast. Never dry, never overcooked. A whole 'nother thing! I use it in chicken salad constantly. For stir-fry, or in soups, if that's your thing, add it at the very last minute (it's already perfectly cooked!). Or just slice it like in the post above.

Speaking of slicing, anyone have a 270mm suji they want to move? (I know, I know; post the request in BST)
 
I've no prejudices against different chicken parts—I embrace diversity in my kitchen and on the plate. Chicken breasts can be dry if not cooked properly; chicken's feet downright inedible if undercooked; etc. A good digital thermometer is a godsend for roasting whole chicken breasts. I love thigh meat, but there're some dishes where chicken breasts are the go-to—chicken katsu a good example; velveting chicken for stir fries works much better with breast meat than thigh IMO.

The breasts below were marinated overnight in a sweet tea brine, which kept the meat moist.
View attachment 212685
View attachment 212686
Question, how do you cook chicken feet? The only time I eaten them was pickled from a Chinese restaurant in Ho Chi Minh, Viet Nam. Ok that way. The Chinese lady I was with thought they were out of this world though.
 
Chinese shredded chicken salad, basically soy sauce, black vinegar, little bit sesame oil, cilantro and lots of garlic, optionally chili flakes and pour hot oil on them.
 
Question, how do you cook chicken feet? The only time I eaten them was pickled from a Chinese restaurant in Ho Chi Minh, Viet Nam. Ok that way. The Chinese lady I was with thought they were out of this world though.
Popular menu item at dim sum joints—common method is to deep fry the feet, then steam them with seasonings black bean, wine, msg, etc). Important to clip their nails off.
 
Popular menu item at dim sum joints—common method is to deep fry the feet, then steam them with seasonings black bean, wine, msg, etc). Important to clip their nails off.
I guess I have missed that on the dim sum list but I will be looking for it next time I have a chance. As a side note, once in a market in Chengdu I watched a truck unloading a whole load of frozen chicken feet. The boxes were all marked "product of Arkansas"
 
I guess I have missed that on the dim sum list but I will be looking for it next time I have a chance. As a side note, once in a market in Chengdu I watched a truck unloading a whole load of frozen chicken feet. The boxes were all marked "product of Arkansas"
You'd be surprised how many unwanted animal parts in west were exported, they even have their own name in Russia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_legs
 
I guess I have missed that on the dim sum list but I will be looking for it next time I have a chance. As a side note, once in a market in Chengdu I watched a truck unloading a whole load of frozen chicken feet. The boxes were all marked "product of Arkansas"
The raw and the cooked. On your side note—yeah, China imports a lot of chicken's feet to keep up with demand. I crave the stuff!
EE1F1B74-6940-4926-A9C1-292815E39547.jpg

69A7B804-548E-4A5A-9441-A447350795FB.jpg
 
I like breast meat with spices. I made pan fried chicken breast. I sliced them in half to thin them, floured them and pan fried with lemon and cappers sauce.
 
hahha..chicken feet? i would catagorize that as dark meat. :D

and at Dim Sum houses, Pheonix claws are only half the options. there is a white chicken feet served with red vinegar. you eat pheonix claws to practice for the white ones. way more daunting.
 
I guess I have missed that on the dim sum list but I will be looking for it next time I have a chance. As a side note, once in a market in Chengdu I watched a truck unloading a whole load of frozen chicken feet. The boxes were all marked "product of Arkansas"
I know a guy who can’t get Global Entry because he was caught illegally bringing back cooked chicken feet from China.
 
I know a guy who can’t get Global Entry because he was caught illegally bringing back cooked chicken feet from China.
I didn't know cooked food would be a problem. Coming back from Thailand my first time I made a point of asking customs if the spices I had were OK. They said no problem with that.
 
I didn't know cooked food would be a problem. Coming back from Thailand my first time I made a point of asking customs if the spices I had were OK. They said no problem with that.
I think it was more like he told customs he had nothing then most of his suitcase was filled with Chinese chicken feet. Anyway, this was the least of his problems.
 
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