Boiled chicken is a popular and familiar dish in Vietnamese cuisine, often appearing in family meals, festivals, or special occasions. Although it seems simple, boiling chicken to have a perfect, delicious, and standard dish is not always easy. Many people often struggle when boiling chicken, causing issues such as bland meat, cracked skin, or not achieving the desired flavor.
To avoid these difficulties, the process of boiling chicken requires attention and following the four important steps below. Just follow these steps correctly, and you will have a delicious boiled chicken dish, with fresh and tender meat, not tough, not fishy, and especially bringing excellent flavor to your dish:
How to boil chicken with boiling water
To boil chicken deliciously, first, you need to perform the process of cleaning the chicken. Removing feathers and cleaning from the inside is necessary. Next, you will boil the water until it boils and add a few slices of ginger and a little chopped spring onion. This ginger and spring onion will help remove the gamey smell of the chicken.
When the water is boiling, you place the chicken into the pot. This will help the chicken skin retain the flavor of the ginger and spring onion, effectively removing the gamey smell. Many people often have the habit of placing the chicken in cold water or waiting until the water boils to start boiling the chicken. However, both of these methods are incorrect. Placing the chicken in cold water will make the chicken skin become tough. Placing the chicken in boiling water may cause the chicken skin to suddenly contract and crack, making the boiled chicken not beautiful.
Next, you should repeat the process of dipping the chicken out of the water for a few seconds, then putting the chicken back into the boiling water. Repeat this process two more times. This helps the chicken skin adapt to the water temperature and avoid skin cracking, while making the chicken meat more flavorful.
Next, you should cover the pot and continue boiling for about 20 minutes. When the chicken is cooked, place it in a bowl of cold water. This action will make the chicken skin become crunchier and help the chicken skin have a beautiful color, making the boiled chicken dish more attractive.
Limit the use of too many spices when boiling chicken. Many people often think that using many spices will help remove the gamey smell. However, this is a mistake. The chicken already has its own aroma and sweet taste.
Repeat the dipping process 3 times
After placing the chicken in 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 adapt to the hot water and avoid skin cracking, while making the chicken meat more flavorful.
Then, cover the pot and continue boiling for 20 minutes. When the chicken is cooked, place it in a bowl of cold water. This makes the chicken skin crunchier and helps the chicken skin have a bright and beautiful color, making your boiled chicken dish more attractive.
Do not use too many spices when boiling chicken
Many people think that when boiling chicken, it is necessary to add many spices to remove the gamey smell. However, this is a wrong way of doing it. The chicken already has its own aroma and sweet taste.
Using too many spices can make the natural sweet taste and aroma of the chicken disappear. When boiling chicken, you just need to add a few slices of ginger and a spring onion to remove the gamey smell, and a little salt if necessary.
Note about boiling time of chicken
To have tender and delicious chicken meat, make sure you do not cook it for too long, as the chicken will become tough and dry. The pot for boiling should have sufficient height and width to ensure that the chicken is cooked evenly. For chickens weighing from 1.5 to 2 kg, a pot with a diameter of 28 cm is most suitable.
If you use a pot that is too large, the chicken may contract and not look beautiful. If the pot is too small, the chicken may not be cooked evenly. To boil the chicken, boil the water until it begins to boil, then reduce the heat. Do not use too large a heat, as this can make the chicken skin contract and crack, while overcooking will make the chicken skin soft and the meat not delicious. The appropriate boiling time for chicken is from 20 to 30 minutes.
Tips for having yellow and shiny chicken
Before boiling the chicken, you can take about 20-30 ml of chicken fat from a pan-fried chicken and mix it with turmeric, then spread it on the surface of the chicken. This helps the chicken dish to have a shiny yellow skin color after boiling.
If you use fresh turmeric, after skimming off the fat, scoop out the turmeric pieces and lightly crush them before placing them in the pan and turning for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Then, turn off the heat and use this fat to spread on the chicken.
If using turmeric powder, pour the turmeric powder into a small bowl or a small cup, then pour the hot fat from the pan-fried chicken into it and stir well. Wait for the fat to settle down and then use this fat to spread on the chicken. This will make the yellow color of the chicken very beautiful without making the turmeric smell too strong (this can happen if you put turmeric directly into the boiling pot).
When the chicken is taken out of the boiling water, let the water drain and then spread the turmeric fat on the chicken. When cutting a piece, the chicken will look very eye-catching and attractive.
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