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SubscribeThursday, August 20, 2009
Hainanese Chicken Rice
Hi there! Please welcome guest writer (and Steamy Kitchen intern) Jess from Jess’s Many Mini Adventures in Food and Farming. She’s an amazing, passionate gal who loves food as much as I do. She’s here to share her family recipe for Hainanese Chicken Rice.
-Jaden
Hey all,
Jess here, Steamy Kitchen’s new intern. That’s me chewing on a mango in my tiny kitchen preparing for a meal at Synergy Farm (a farm on an island!) where I intern at. I’m actually in my kitchen right now on my lunch break, looking out at the barn and the carrots in the north garden,
munching on a quesadilla with beet greens and feeling amazed all over again at how I ended up here, on a farm, writing to all of you wonderful readers!
I’ve been here since late March, just after my 24th birthday. Before that, I was living in Cambodia helping girls get an education; before Cambodia, I was working at Google, and waaaaaay back before then (well not so long ago, actually) I ran an afterschool program in the bay area. I love adventure, and I love to consider the small ways I can change the world for the better, and over the past few years, I’ve become convinced that my way of making my world better is through food.
Growing up in Orange County, California, I never thought much about where my In-N-Out Burger or spicy tuna roll came from. Every since I was 4 years old perched on a kitchen stool, stirring up Betty Crocker, I’ve always been in love with food: cooking it, eating it, playing with it. I love cooking with friends; chopping veggies gives me a high like no other; but it was only recently that I’ve become fascinated with how our food is grown, processed and distributed to us and also how it affects our health, our environment and our communities. I figured it made sense to get down in the dirt and learn more about these issues firsthand, so I became an apprentice on a small organic farm in the beautiful San Juan Islands.
So what’s all this got to do with blogging? The food blogging community has been a way for me to connect with other people who think and care about food as much as I do. I’m completely inspired by all the amazing folks out there sharing their recipes and opinions and lives. Jaden’s agreed to transmit some of her samurai skills in cooking and food writing to me so I can join in the fun.
All this food love had to come from somewhere, and I tend to attribute a lot of it to good genes. My mum’s side of the family is Singaporean and I grew up in a whirlwind of popiah, freshly baked curry puffs, and beef rendang. Though I’m open to all kinds of cuisines, I hold a special place in my heart for a good plate of chili crab or chicken satay.
When I was small my family made many trips to my grandparents’ house back in Singapore. Early in the mornings, before it got unbearably hot, my grandpa would head down to the local hawker center (a food court with lots of different stalls) to pick up breakfast. He would come back to the house with a bag full of packets wrapped in banana leaves, still hot, shiny with oil, and intensely fragrant. We’d each carefully unwrap our packet, uncover the pieces of tender, perfectly steamed chicken on top of savory rice. We’d tuck in to the fragrant ginger-garlic-chickeny heaven, topped in our favorite combinations of magical sauces and eat till we were ready to face the sticky tropical day.
These days you can still find Hainanese chicken rice in hawker centers across the island for a couple of dollars a plate, and also in high-end restaurants serving up authentic cuisine. This is what a hawker center looks like — like a mall food court, only with mee goreng and peanut soup instead of Sbarro!
It’s often called Singapore’s national dish. When I was a kid and my family would go back to visit Singapore, I had three loves: fried bananas, paratha, and chicken rice. When I was visiting family last November, it was one of the first things they took me to eat — the carcasses in the stall beckoned to me with the promise of super-fresh tender chicken — some things just don’t change.
Though it gets its name from its origins in Hainan, China, it was really when overseas Chinese brought the dish to Singapore that it got a new personality and became famous.
According to my mom, this recipe is really only authentic when made with a “kampong” chicken, which means basically, a chicken from the village: the kind that roam around in the sun and eat whatever grubs and grass and scraps of rice are available. These kinds of chickens look pretty skinny by our standards, but they have an amazing flavor that I can only describe as “extremely chickeny.”
Here on the farm, we raise the closest equivalent to a “kampong” chicken that you’ll likely find in the US — not as scrawny, but pretty much as delicious. Our chickens are organically fed and pasture-raised, which means they get to spend their days outside, hanging out in the sun, roam in the grass, pecking at greens and grubs. We raise about 120 in each batch and they take about 8 weeks to go from chick to chicken rice. As my mentor, Farmer Susan likes to say, these chickens live a really really good life and then have one really bad day. They are ridiculously good just boiled plain in a pot of water and salted slightly.
All that good care makes these chickens more pricey than your average bird and on a farmer’s salary, it’s tough to afford them, but thankfully in our chicken processing just a couple weeks ago, I was able to snag a couple of tiny 2-pounders that we wouldn’t be able to sell, that were just perfect for chicken rice.
Hello guys and gals, it’s Jaden back again – Jess gave me her recipe for Hainanese Chicken Rice and I made it to show you step by step instructions! It’s a multi-step recipe, with 4 components:
1) Chicken
2) Rice
3) Chili Dipping Sauce
oh yes, the soup too, but you don’t really have to do much other ladle into the bowls.
So, let’s start with the CHICKEN.
Hainanese Chicken
This is an organic supermarket chicken (I wish we were all as lucky as Jess to be able to have fresh chicken!) Here’s the deal about the chicken. You gotta buy the best. Because this Hainanese Chicken Rice dish is all about the pure taste of the chicken, you really want to go with organic. It’s worth the money for your health, the environment and taste buds.
When you buy a whole chicken and are cooking it skin-on, and ESPECIALLY if you’re steaming or poaching the thing, you want to make sure you get the “nasties” off.
I’m sure by looking at this photo you know what I mean. What I’m after is smooth, unblemished skin.
So I give my guy a facial.
Yes, I’m totally serious!
I exfoliate my chicken.
Wow, I can’t believe I just confessed to you that I give my chickens a spa treatment. Please don’t think I’m strange! Please tell me that you do this too!??????
Start with a small handful of kosher salt. Regular table salt is too fine to use to exfoliate. Sea salt too expensive. Just use kosher salt. Oh and even if you don’t have that loose skin on your chicken, it doesn’t mean you don’t need to exfoliate — there’s still hidden guck and yuck that is trapped in that chicken skin. TRUST ME. Your chicken will look and taste better this way.
Now RUB RUB RUB!!
Be gone wrinkles!
Be gone trapped guck!
Be gone dead skin! <- yes, I know that sounded ridiculous on so many levels.
Work those pores!
Rinse, pat dry and ta-da!!!
Glistening.
Glowing.
Soft.
Smooth.
Taut.
Chicken.
Check those lovely pores.
Season the inside and outside the chicken with salt and stuff the bird with ginger and green onions. Remember, you are not only seasoning the chicken, but also the poaching water too, so be generous with the salt. I generally double the amount of salt that I would normally use on a chicken. I’ll show you how much water we’re adding in a sec.
Put it in a big pot and fill with water to just cover by 1 inch. Note that some of the stuffing might fall out. Which is totally okay. Don’t worry.
Bring that baby to a boil and then immediately turn the heat to low to keep a simmer. You’ll begin to see some of that scum. Now hey, if we didn’t exfoliate our chicken, I bet that scum would be a lot browner. I have a handy dandy scum skimmer. If you don’t have a scum skimmer, buy one, it’s only $2!
After simmering on the lowest heat (just enough for little tiny bubbles to break surface) and your chicken reaches the correct temp (take the chicken temperature at the thickest part of the thigh that’s not touching bone, it should read 170F). This is is done!
Prepare an ice bath and immediately lift the chicken out of the pot with 2 big slotted spoons or 2 big fat spatulas.
Here’s a tip. Don’t try to grab the chicken legs to pull the chicken out. You’ll end up tearing the skin and heh, maybe even tearing the drumsticks outta the chicken which results in you standing there holding two drumsticks and the rest of the chicken plopping back into the boiling hot broth which then splashes back on your arms and face. Speaking from experience, of course.
Oh, and don’t even THINK about pouring that clean, delicious broth down the sink! We’ll be using that to cook the rice, prepare the sauce and to drink as soup! So, remember, gently lift the chicken out from under and try not to disturb its delicate (and exfoliated!) skin.
My pot of ice water wasn’t big enough, but it worked, I just turned the chicken over a few times to make sure both sides were cooled. Why are we doing this, you ask!? Ha! I thought you’d never ask. Well let me tell ya. Plunging in an ice bath stops the cooking process immediately AND tightens the skin, making it springy and firm. The quality of the chicken skin is important in this dish! It’s all about the skin texture.
See here? That’s your soup! Season with salt if necessary.
Hainanese Rice
I use Jasmine rice, or long grained rice. Of course, feel free to sub with whatever rice you want, but I prefer Jasmine white rice. I’m using 2 cups of rice. Rinse the rice grains several times in water to get rid of excess starch and other rice cling-ons. Then let the rice soak in water for 10 minutes.
Drain the rice completely, as much as possible.
Grab a pot and saute the garlic and the ginger. Mmmm…can you smell that??
Add the drained rice to the pot.
Fry the rice grains for a couple of minutes…this gives the rice SO much flavor! I like to add a bit of salt to the rice if the broth isn’t already salted.
Remember that broth? Well, pour 2 cups of this into the pot. Normally when cooking rice, I’d go with a ratio of 1 cup rice : 1.25 cups water/broth. But since we’ve already soaked the rice and the rice has absorbed some of the water, I’m going with 1:1. Bring the rice to a boil, then immediately turn the heat to low, cover tightly and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest (still covered! no peeking!) for 5-10 more minutes. Done.
Oh, if you have a rice cooker, even better! After sauteing the garlic, ginger, rice – just add that into your rice cooker with the broth.
Perfect rice.
Chili Sauce for Hainanese Chicken Rice
If you’re a fan of sriracha chili sauce, this will knock your socks off. Jess puts sriracha, lime, sugar, salt, couple tablespoons of that lovely chicken broth, garlic and ginger into a blender and wheeeeeee:
Voila….Jess’s Hainanese Chicken Rice:
Enjoy!
Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe
While your chicken is cooking, it helps to prepare the ingredients for your chili sauce and rice. Both of these are usually assembled after the chicken is done because they require the chicken broth, but you can get started washing and soaking the rice, chopping the garlic and ginger before then. In this recipe, all of the poaching broth is reserved -- some is used in the rice, a small amount is used in the chili sauce, and the remainder is saved to be heated and served as a simple soup to accompany the chicken.
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (3.5 lbs, 1.8kg), preferably organic
kosher salt
4'' section of fresh ginger, in 1/4'' slices
2 stalks green onions, cut into 1" sections (both the green and white parts)
1 teaspoon sesame oilFOR THE RICE
2 tablespoon chicken fat or 2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1'' section of ginger, finely minced
2 cups long-grain uncooked rice, washed and soaked in cool water for 10 min or longer
2 cups reserved chicken poaching broth
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon kosher saltFOR THE CHILI SAUCE
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoon reserved chicken poaching broth
2 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoon sriracha chili sauce
4 cloves garlic
1'' ginger
a generous pinch of salt, to tasteFOR THE TABLE
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
Few sprigs cilantro
1 cucumber, thinly sliced or cut into bite-sized chunksDirections:
1. To clean the chicken, with a small handful of kosher salt, rub the chicken all over, getting rid of any loose skin and dirt. Rinse chicken well, inside and outside. Season generously with salt inside and outside. Stuff the chicken with the ginger slices and the green onion. Place the chicken in a large stockpot and fill with cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, then immediately turn the heat to low to keep a simmer. Cook for about 30 minutes more (less if you're using a smaller chicken). Check for doneness by sticking a chopstick into the flesh under the leg and see if the juices run clear or insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh not touching bone. It should read 170F.
2. When the chicken is cooked through, turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner. Immediately lift and transfer the chicken into a bath of ice water to cool and discard the ginger and green onion. Don't forget to reserve the poaching broth for your rice, your sauce, and the accompanying soup. The quick cooling will stop the cooking process, keeping the meat soft and tender, and giving the skin a lovely firm texture.
3. To cook the rice: Drain the rice. In a wok or sauce pan (use a medium sauce pan if you plan on cooking the rice on the stove top), heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the ginger and the garlic and fry until your kitchen smells like heaven. Be careful not to burn the aromatics! Add in your drained rice and stir to coat, cook for 2 minutes. Add the sesame oil, mix well.
To make the rice on the stove: In the same sauce pan, add 2 cups of your reserved poaching broth, add salt and bring to a boil. Immediately turn the heat down to low, cover the pot and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit (with lid still on) for 5-10 minutes more.
To cook rice in a rice cooker: Pour aromatics and rice (after frying) into your rice cooker, add 2 1/2 cups of your reserved poaching broth and salt. Follow the instructions for your model (usually this will just mean "turn it on!")
4. While your rice is cooking, remove the chicken from the ice bath and rub the outside of the chicken with the sesame oil. Carve the chicken for serving.
5. To make the chili sauce: Blend your chili sauce ingredients in a blender until smooth and bright red.
6. To make the soup: You should have six or seven cups of the reserved poaching broth left over to serve as soup. Just before serving, heat up the soup, taste and season with salt as necessary.
Serve the chicken rice with chili sauce, dark soy sauce, cucumber slices, and a bowl of hot broth garnished with cilantro or scallions
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174 Responses to “Hainanese Chicken Rice”
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from what I understand, the chicken rice found in Hainan island is called wen chang ji fan 文昌鸡饭, not hainanese chicken rice. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the recipe and cooking instruction.
This is a big help as I would be preparing this dish for our New Year meal with my family. Just to have a change from our usual dishes during New Year celebration. She-she (Thank you!). God bless.
what an amazing reciepe and way of displaying it! cant wait to try it!
i missed a good hainanese chicken rice. am anxious to try it out. i grew up on this stuff, but rather that my kids grew up in a democracy. Hence .. a small sacrifice. So, came here or ocllege and stayed – yes it was “New York or bust” since i was a 15 yo kid. Thanks Jess
Hey Jess,
That looks like a recipe I can follow!
In the ingredients for the chicken, you have written sesame oil, but I don’t find that in the instructions. What do I do with the sesame oil?
Thanks for a great recipe. Thats what I’m having for dinner tonight!
Greetings from Seattle,
Joanne
I really liked the sauce, will make it again with other dishes. But I loved the rice! I may never make plain old steamed rice again. The ginger, garlic, and sesame oil were subtle enough so this can be served anytime “steamed rice” is called for as an accompaniment. It was wonderful, and keeps well for reheating in the microwave. P.S. to Joanne: in step 4 your are instructed to rub the poached chicken skin with sesame oil before carving it. I think this would be good with a rotisserie chicken, too, if you were short on time, and just use a good quality broth where called for. I was wondering about the dark soy—is it for whatever strikes your fancy (dipping the chicken and drizzling on the rice?)
As a Singaporean I have my own recipe for the chicken rice but just wanted to share a tip on what you could with the broth – we add cabbage, boil it till it’s a little soft, and top it with a little pepper. Simple and lovely.
Wonderful! I’m going to make this for the Lunar New Year!
How much salt do you put in the chili sauce?
what can I replace the siracha chili sauce with if some in my family cannot eat spicy foods?
Looks delicious!Love your book + website.
SteamyKitchen replied: — March 1st, 2011 @ 3:59 pm
Salt to taste. Start with just a pinch, maybe 1/4 tsp
Just leave Sriracha chili sauce out.
Sorry in advance for the dumb question, but do you serve the chicken cold?
SteamyKitchen replied: — March 2nd, 2011 @ 11:27 am
It’s served warm. I’ve always had it warm, not hot. And the chicken can also be served cold as well, but I don’t like the texture of cold chicken.
I was just wondering…how do you cut the chicken?? I’ve never cut a whole chicken before. In chinese restaurants they always lay it out so neat..like in your pictures!!! I’m going to make this tomorrow!!
I tried this recipe a while back and it was good. The chili sauce was good too, but too spicy for me. Happy that nothing splattered when I pulled out the chicken out of the ice bath.
Hi, wondering why you dry the chicken inside and out and then put it in a pot full of cold water?
SteamyKitchen replied: — March 26th, 2011 @ 7:48 am
LOL well I guess it’s out of habit to dry before seasoning with salt – but you’re right! Doesn’t make much of a difference. I’ll edit that step out.
How long do you leave it seasoned with salt? Sometimes I leave meats seasoned too long and it gets too salty!
SteamyKitchen replied: — March 28th, 2011 @ 10:02 am
It really doesn’t take too long to salt and clean the skin. Just a few minutes.
I will definitely try to cook this! My wife and I Loves this food. We always have this every time we visit Singapore… We rarely miss this food now since Wee Nam Kee has opened here in the Phil. Anyways thanks for sharing this… Mabuhay!
LOVE THIS RECIPE. A bit time consuming but so worth it. Thank you.
Love it! Hoping to make this today
I am single, male, middle age, and make a trip to a trip aboard every Summer for the joy of it. Alien worlds and all. Singapore this August is where I am going. I watched Tony Bourdain’s episode on Singapore. Chicken rice is a big story. I want to try it when I get off the plane. I am a foody, and I love cooking myself.
Love this post! One problem. The myth of “organic.” Sure a free to run chicken left to eat grubs, wild seeds in the ground etc. will taste better than the Tyson mass produced chicken. Just like a truly wild caught out the Columbia River salmon will be more fatty and better tasting than all the dyed color and farmed salmon. What people should be aware of is that the USDA regulation of organic or “free range” chicken only requires a visible ambient light source to the chicken has to be within 10 feet. Tyson simply uses the same giant huts with windows. The same feed, the same dense packed chickens, same antibiotics to protect them from the disease being so dense packed.
Is organic foods better for your health? The scientific evidence shows no benefit to human health. TASTE yes. Another myth about “organic” is that it is not from a local small farm romanticized by Grant Wood’s American Gothic of the old man with his pitchfork and his wife. It is actually produced by the same Conagra, Monsanto companies. They are happy to take the cash from consumers. It an overcrowded ever hard to feed planet is “organic” what we can afford? When “organic” iceberg lattice takes 5X the water and 3X the land space to produce than the same amount of non-organic?! “Organic” is actually bad for the environment.
thanks for this. After living in kl for 3 yrs – i return home to australia tomorrow. Im making this!
…one of the best recipe illustrator and writer I have ever come across. Three thumbs up;)
One of my cousins recently moved to Singapore and she keeps posting these amazing pictures of Chicken Rice and she writes to us about how delicious this dish is. I have been so curious and now, voila! I stumble across this recipe. I will be trying it out immediately. Thanks for the great attention to detail that you use when writing, it will help me make the dish properly.
Great lookin’ recipe! But I wanted to know how you kept the chicken warm while you prepared everything else.
SteamyKitchen replied: — July 29th, 2011 @ 11:00 am
The chicken is generally served warm, not hot, so it’s perfect by the time I’m ready to serve
Wow! Your post inspired me to make my own hainanese chicken. I followed your recipe, making just a few minor changes. It was so good and my friends really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing!
This is great, I absolutely loved the details.
Thanks for sharing!!!!
I love ‘Chicken Rice’……When I lived in Singapore I used to have it every other day from the nearby ‘Hawker Centre Food Court’. It tastes heavenly with the chilli sauce. I missed it when moved to Ireland and now to the States. Your post brings fond memories of my years in Singapore. I’ll surely prepare this recipe and surprise my husband. He thinks Chinese food here in the states tastes best. He has to taste some real food from Singapore and Malaysia, especially from the hawker centres. Do you have the recipe for Kway teow without pork. Thanks a million…you made my day
thanks for ur awesome recipe! it’s really foolproof! one thing, i think the origins of this dish is not from hainan, but that the people who invented it are hainanese who started it in singapore when they moved over
I’m so glad that your recipe came as the first few on search engine when I searched for Hainamese chicken rice. The steps are so clear, and the best part it comes with pictures. Thank you very much.
I followed every single step carefully, including giving a spa for the chicken. and everything turn out well. yay!
it’s just that I don’t know how to dissect the chicken, so it doesn’t turn out to be as aesthetically pleasing as yours.
Love your blog, Jaden! you rock!! i’m definitely visiting this site regularly. x
Hello Jess, thankyou for sharing the hainanese chicken receipe.
It looks really yummy. I shall ,web site. You are quite
funny and entertainin with it.Love it Choy x
I shall try to cook it soon, Choy x
I just completed the chicken portion and WOW it came out soooo yummy. I was a bit skeptical that just scallions, salt and ginger could give it enough flavor but they brought out the natural chicken-y taste. This recipe is now in my permanent rotation.
thanks for sharing this awesome recipe.
)
Yeah i love chicken rice. anyways why is it called hainanese??
chicken rice is my most favourite quick food.
love it! this is my favorite chicken dish. will try to cook it. thanks for sharing.
)
HAINANESE CHICKEN IS GREAT! SO TASTY AND HEALTHY. IT CAN LIKEWISE BE SERVED WITH SOME DEEP-FRIED BREADED CHICKEN.
I really love the chickenrice. I live in Europe and I notice that the sauce they serve with the chickenrice in chinese restaurants is made of chopped ginger, green onions and lots of oil. Yours really looks different and I have never tasted before will try your recipe myself.
Rene Fong
I am visiting a Hamburg friend here and thought about making them a treat (after successfully terrorised them with my own concoction of Bak Kut Teh), i got some inspiration to try this recipe. So i googled for it and this is the first link i found. Now, i never heard of this approach to doing it. I thought it has always been just steaming the chicken with ginger and taking the fat to make the soup. Ah well, here goes another terror filled moment today in cold Hamburg. Will keep you posted on the hosts’ facial expression.
Danke schon, cheers!
SteamyKitchen replied: — October 31st, 2011 @ 9:42 am
Oh come back and let me know!
Ok.. i learnt alot from that maiden cooking experience (My wife never allowed me into the kitchen back home thats why). Anyway there was no Sesame oil, so i just use another vegetable oil. And no celery around. But the rice was fantastic and the sauce even better. I added real lemons during the marinating. Chicken tasted nearly original but my hosts prefer it to be cooked longer. For me i think its slightly too long in the boil, and i can’t seem to get the yellow oily skin that i see in restaurants. Also my hosts remarked that the soup tasted undramatic. I have to explain to them the three contrasting ethnic tastes from Malaysia.
My favorite is the frying the rice part.
Thanks a lot again. I will always say that i learnt this from here!
can i subtitute the sriracha chili sauce wth my dried chillies..as i doubt u can find that sauce in romania..so if i subtitute it to my grinded dried chillie paste..do i need to cook it?? n this a great site..n tqs again for sharing it
Hei,i was so absorbed with all this imformation.I thank you so much.May i ask about how much oil you use to fry the rice so to make the rice soft and moist? Yes,i can get
the correct tase but my rice texture is a bit dry.
Thank you in advance.GBU.
SteamyKitchen replied: — November 16th, 2011 @ 9:45 am
Not much oil at all. If your rice is dry, add more water, not oil!
I am making it just now. Wonderful, its going to be absolutely delicious. Took pics, wish I could post them for you. Mail me if you are interested. Thank you so much for this lovely recipe with the comments and pics. A pleasure cooking after it!
I am going to make this tomorrow night for a dinner for my boyfriend’s family. They don’t put salt on their food so I am really hoping this will work well even without the salt. (Planning to use salt to cleanse the chicken though) Well, wish me luck everyone, I so need it. Will update you as to how it turns out. Cheers!
Hi, as someone from the region, can i just add something…
the chicken is usually served on a plate with cucumber and a sauce whose recipe i’ve recently discovered.
here’s the recipe for the sauce:
5 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1.5 tablespoons plain oil (anything goes, olive oil, vegetable oil)
1.5 TEAspoons sesame oil
chicken stock to dilute to taste
add the first four ingredients together and heat in a sauce pan making sure not to boil them.
add chicken stock to dilute it to taste (usually around 8 tablespoons for me)
spoon sauce over finished chicken dish.
enjoy with chilli sauce.
Making this tonight. will post how i like it. looks great.
This recipe is a keeper! Chilli sauce is awesome, very impressed. Would like to get my flavor out of the rice though… Maybe will add more salt and use chicken fat instead of veg oil. Thank you so much!
I love your Hainanese chicken recipe. Thanks for sharing. Do you think this recipe can be adapted to turkey?
Thank you for this great article. I’ve made boiled chicken before but not the Hainanese rice. I’ll try it the next time I make rice.
I love your description about cleaning the chicken. My grandmother used salt, my mother uses salt an I use salt. My chickens (and Thanksgiving turkey) get cleaned inside and out.
If I talk about cleaning chicken with my caucasian friends they give me an odd look. No grody things on my chicken.
The salt isn’t for seasoning. It’s a vehicle to rub (clean) the yellow stuff off the skin or get the slimy stuff out from inside the chicken. It also gives you enough grip to pull fat off easier.
Thanks “SteamyChicken” for your excellent recipe, but tried mine with pig and found the kitchen too small to hang. The roof was too low and the snout was touching the floor. Please warn your readers not try pig for chicken dish, not same. Also, cannot find pot big enough, another problem. Hope the helps.
Kevin Dang.