Surely everyone has a moment of confusion when chopping chicken for the first time, how to chop the chicken beautifully without it falling apart? Today, TasteVN with some kitchen tips will show you how to chop the chicken whole and arrange it for the ancestor altar during the festival in the most beautiful and easy way!
1 How to chop a chicken and arrange it whole
Chopping a chicken may seem simple, but not everyone among us can do it skillfully and neatly.
Especially, for the ancestral offering trays of Vietnamese people during Tet holidays, the tradition of offering boiled chicken to the ancestors is indispensable.
So how do you chop the chicken? What do you need to prepare? What are the steps to chop the chicken and arrange it whole beautifully? Follow the article below and you will easily pocket the formula for chopping chicken and arranging it whole.
Chop the chicken’s neck
First, you need to prepare a really sharp knife to chop the chicken’s neck and the body separately. Next, chop the chicken’s neck into pieces about 2 finger joints long, and use the knife to cut the chicken’s head lengthwise and decisively so that it does not get crushed or broken.
Chop the chicken’s wings
Next, you chop the wings off the chicken’s body. Chop the chicken wings into bite-sized pieces. Perform the same steps with the remaining wing and then neatly arrange the wings and the chicken’s head on a plate first.
Separate and chop the thighs
Use the knife to separate the chicken thighs from the body, then chop them into bite-sized pieces. At this step, the thigh bones are quite hard, so you need to do it decisively and neatly.
Chop the body
Next, chop the chicken’s body lengthwise into long pieces and set them aside.
Chop the breast – fillet
After chopping the chicken’s body, chop the chicken breast and fillet into bite-sized pieces.
Arranging the chicken on the plate
Place the chicken’s head upright at one corner of the plate, and arrange the two wings spread out behind the head. Next, sequentially arrange the neck, chest, and breast behind the wings to form the chicken’s body. Finally, place the two chicken thighs on top of the chicken body to complete.
2 Suggestions for chicken offerings
Heavenly wings chicken
First, select a chicken for the offering that weighs between 1.5 – 1.6 kg, avoiding chickens that are too small or too large as they will not look good.
Next, after cleaning the chicken, use your hands to fold the chicken’s legs and tuck them into the belly. Press the wings tightly and tie them close to the chicken’s neck. You should use a thin string to secure the wings so they spread out evenly and attractively.
After securing the wings, separate the chicken’s beak and hook it onto the tied string. The shaping of the heavenly wings chicken is now complete. You just need to place the chicken into a pot to boil or steam until cooked, and it can be served on the ancestor offering tray right away.
Flying chicken
After cleaning the chicken, use a chopstick to insert horizontally through the body and wings of the chicken. Use a long thin string to tie the wings to the chopstick so that they spread evenly. Do the same on both sides of the chicken’s wings.
Next, fold the chicken legs, using the remaining piece of string to secure the chicken legs to the chopstick. Do the same on both sides of the chicken legs so that when placed down, they can stand upright.
The final step, use the string to thread through the beak of the chicken, securing the head by threading the string through the chopstick. The chicken looks like it is about to take off, which is a success.
Praying Chicken
For the final pose for the chicken that this article suggests, you need to use a knife to cut along the belly of the prepared chicken. Gently score the tendons on both sides of the legs so that the chicken legs do not detach from the body, then fold them back and secure the two chicken legs with string.
Continue to use the string to tie and secure the neck and two wings of the chicken.
Finally, you take the chicken to boil. When boiling, make sure to use a pot that is nearly the size of the chicken to maintain its shape. After boiling, the chicken should curve up like a kneeling position, with its wings closed and head held straight, indicating success.
You can refer to the method of boiling chicken using a rice cooker below
See more:
Hope this article provides you with useful information about how to cut a whole chicken and shape it for the ancestral altar during the Tet holiday. Wishing you success and don’t forget to leave your comments in the section below!
*Refer to images and recipes from the YouTube channel Hướng Nghiệp Á Âu and Very Interesting
