Tips

Boiling or Chilling: Avoid these 3 Mistakes that can Make your Boiled Chicken Tasteless and Fall Apart

The following mistakes when boiling chicken make it tasteless, and when cut, it becomes a messy and unattractive dish.

6 January, 2024

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Boil Frozen Chicken

One of the serious mistakes when boiling chicken is putting the chicken meat into the pot when the chicken is still partially frozen, meaning it has not completely thawed. This will cause the chicken to easily break and have a bland taste with less meat flavor. Many people boil chicken due to lack of time and think that “just put it in boiling water and it will be cooked”, so many people put the chicken in while it is still frozen or not completely thawed.

Chicken meat has a long and tough protein fiber structure, so even though it may feel soft on the outside, the inside of the chicken is still hard and has ice if not checked carefully. If boiled, it will take longer and it will be “partially cooked on the outside but not fully cooked inside”, which does not ensure food safety. Therefore, when boiling chicken, make sure to completely thaw the chicken before boiling. It will be much better.

Bring Water to a Rolling Boil before Adding Chicken

The habit of many housewives is to boil water first and then add the chicken to the boiling water to make the chicken cook faster. This can cause the chicken to rapidly contract when exposed to high heat (thermal shock), resulting in skin cracks, skin breaks, and “partially cooked on the outside but not fully cooked inside”.

There are two ways to boil chicken depending on the purpose: If you want sweet meat, put the chicken into warm (60 degrees) boiling water because the nutrients inside will remain and not be destroyed when boiled for a long time. But if you want to use the chicken broth to make soup, noodle soup, or pho, put it in cold water. However, using this method, the sweet and fatty substances in the chicken will dissolve into the broth, making the chicken taste less flavorful.

Boil with High Heat and for Too Long

Boiling chicken with high heat is a common mistake that can cause the chicken skin to crack, break, and give the appearance of being cooked on the outside but with pink bones that are not fully cooked on the inside. Moreover, boiling with high heat can also make the chicken broth cloudy and less sweet.

Some people boil chicken for too long to ensure that there are no pink bones or raw meat inside, sometimes even boiling the chicken for half an hour. This unintentionally causes the nutrients to escape, resulting in dry, grainy, and tasteless chicken.

The correct way to boil chicken is to put it into warm (60 degrees) boiling water, add some dried shallots and crushed ginger, then simmer on medium heat until boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes with the lid on. During this process, flip the chicken to ensure even cooking, and remove any scum if any. Then, turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let it rest for about 20-25 minutes depending on the size, the chicken will be evenly cooked, juicy, flavorful, without pink bones or cracked skin. If the chicken is old or large, the boiling and resting time will be longer, depending on the size of each chicken.

According to Giaitri.thoibaovhnt