Boiled chicken is a traditional and popular dish in Vietnamese cuisine. It is often served in family meals, festivals, or special occasions and is a must-have in the list of dishes. Although it seems simple, boiling chicken perfectly, making it delicious and meeting the standards is not always easy. Many people often have difficulties when making boiled chicken, causing problems such as bland meat, cracked skin, or not achieving the desired flavor.
To avoid these issues, the process of boiling chicken requires attention and adherence to the following four important steps. If you follow these steps correctly, you will enjoy a delicious boiled chicken, with fresh and tender meat, not too tough or dry, and especially ensure an excellent flavor for your dish.
Why should you boil chicken in boiling water?
To boil chicken well, first, you need to clean the chicken by plucking the feathers and washing the inside. Then, bring water to a boil in a pot and add some chopped scallions and minced ginger. Ginger and scallions will help eliminate the gamey smell of chicken.
Once the water is boiling, place the chicken into the pot. At this point, the boiled chicken water will have the aroma of ginger and scallions, completely removing the gamey smell. Many people often put the chicken in cold water or wait until the water boils before boiling the chicken. However, both of these methods are incorrect. Placing the chicken in cold water will make the chicken skin become tough. Putting the chicken in boiling water can cause the chicken skin to suddenly contract and crack, making the boiled chicken look unappetizing.
Repeat the process of dipping the chicken 3 times
After placing the chicken into boiling water, dip the chicken out for a few seconds, then put it back into the hot water. Repeat this process two more times. This helps the chicken to adapt to the hot water and avoid breaking the chicken skin, while making the chicken meat more flavorful.
Afterward, cover the pot and continue cooking for 20 minutes. When the chicken is cooked, place it into a bowl of cold water. This will make the chicken skin crispy and give it a brighter color, making your boiled chicken dish more attractive.
Do not use too many spices when boiling chicken
Many people think that when boiling chicken, they need to add many spices to eliminate the gamey smell. However, this is a misconception. Chicken already has its own natural aroma and sweet taste.
Using too many spices can make the natural sweetness and aroma of the chicken disappear. When boiling chicken, you just need to add a few slices of ginger and a stalk of scallion to eliminate the gamey smell, and a little salt if necessary.
Note about boiling time for chicken
To have tender and delicious chicken, make sure you do not cook it for too long as the chicken will become tough and dry. The pot used for boiling needs to have sufficient height and width to ensure the chicken is evenly cooked. For a chicken weighing from 1.5 to 2 kg, a pot with a diameter of 28 cm is the most suitable.
If you use a pot that is too large, the chicken may contract and not look attractive. If the pot is too small, the chicken may not be evenly cooked. To boil the chicken, bring the water to a boiling point, then reduce the heat. Do not use too high heat, as this can cause the chicken skin to contract and crack, while overcooking will make the chicken skin soft and the meat not tasty. The appropriate boiling time for the chicken is from 20 to 30 minutes.
Tips for chicken to have a golden yellow color
Before boiling the chicken, you can create a shiny yellow skin for the chicken by taking about 20-30 ml of chicken fat from the pan and combining it with turmeric. Then, spread this mixture on the surface of the chicken. If you use fresh turmeric, after removing the fat, scoop out the chicken fat water and mix it well with turmeric before spreading it on the chicken for a short period, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Turn off the heat after that and use this fat to spread on the surface of the chicken.
If you use turmeric powder, pour the turmeric powder into a small bowl or a small dish, then pour hot chicken fat water from the pan and mix well. Let the fat water settle down, then use this mixture of fat water and turmeric to spread on the surface of the chicken. This will make the yellow color of the chicken look very attractive without making the taste of turmeric too strong (this can happen if you put turmeric directly into the pot for boiling chicken). After finishing boiling the chicken and removing it from the boiling water, let it drain and then spread this fat turmeric layer on the surface of the chicken. When you cut a piece, the chicken dish will look very eye-catching and truly appealing.
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