Figured out why the chicken is so tender and tasty in chinese takeout

[berettafan]

Never could get a satisfying imitation of Chinese takeout at home no matter what I did to the chicken breast.


A client told me why.





Boneless chicken thighs.


WOW. All of a sudden I make some damn fine chicken dishes.

[Jim Bremner]

It's the best cut that most people turn their noise up at.

[berettafan]

yep. I think that is the case.


looks ugly for sure but my gosh does it taste fantastic. grilling some up tonight!

[javadog]

As Mario Battali would say, chicken breasts are the part of the chicken you feed to your dogs.

The Chinese use both breast meat and thigh meat (and legs, wings, necks, feet and the rest of it) but they also know how to cook each type and the recipes and methods differ from one to the other.

My suggestion would be to buy a Chinese cookbook (the ones intended for Chinese culinary students, not the ones at the local bookstore written for round eyes) and learn how to prepare, season and cook various chicken dishes. There's more to it than meets the eye.

I cook a lot of Asian food (along with French and Italian) and probably 80% of my meals feature chicken in one form or another. Two tips. It's hard to use too much salt on chicken and very easy to overcook it.

JR

[fastfredracing]

meee owwww

[craigster59]

I make this recipe with chicken thighs, no breast. Thighs are super cheap, recipe can be cooked on a weeknight and friends and family will think they are eating a gourmet meal from a 5 star restaurant.
Giada De Laurentiis Chicken Recipe | Weeknights with Giada Cookbook - Recipes, Kitchen Gadgets, Gluten Free Food Reviews

[widebody911]

[look 171]

Chinese do not eat chicken breast, its too course.

[ckelly78z]

I always prefer the dark meat over the chicken breast, my favorite cut being the thighs...ain't nothing like my wife's grandma's recipe for chicken and rice using the thighs, on a bed of long grain rice with a cream of chicken sauce and several spices.....baked for about an hour in the oven.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by look 171

Chinese do not eat chicken breast, its too coarse.

Nonsense. There are dozens of common recipes using chicken breasts.

JR

[javadog]

Some basic books on Asian cooking that should be easy to find on the left coast:

Books by Wei-Chuan Publishing (Author of Chinese Cuisine)

Another thing they do to make chicken dishes taste good is to cook things in chicken fat. Make stock, save the fat, use it for cooking. Die happy.

JR

[look 171]

I agree, My wife, myself, and my older boy only eat breast. My little one is spoiled, and only eat dark meat. Next time when you go out for Chinese food, check out their chicken. A "real" Chinese restaurant do no use much breast meat in their chicken dishes. There might be a little piece here and there.

[aschen]

You know why?




















Chicken Thigh?

Ironnically, I learned that I prefer chicken thigh to breast from chipolte A decade or so ago. Not like you can taste much through the 10 molar NaCl however.

[javadog]

I grew up in Singapore, so I got familiar with Chinese cooking at an early age. I've studied it now for about 35 years.

Breast meat is used in many dishes. There are a number of appetizers that use it. It's often used in Cantonese main dishes, with some of the milder sauces. Think moo goo gai pan, lemon chicken, etc. The problem with Chinese food in the US is that most of it is the same 50 or 100 dishes that you see everywhere. That's not what the Chinese eat on a daily basis, nor is it representative of their cuisine.

The Chinese had to use it. All chickens come with breasts and the Chinese throw nothing away. You can say that about all the other cultures out there, as well. Only in the USA, it seems, do we have "preferences" where we only eat one or the other. Kind of like egg yolks and whites. In America, some people eat one or the other. In the rest of the world, they just eat eggs.

I normally eat thigh meat (and wings!) I usually reserve chicken breasts for French dishes, like what you might find in Provence.

JR

[Charles Freeborn]

Thighs are great. This is a go-to recipe for us using boneless thighs. I can do it in a small cast iron skillet and the toaster oven. I de-glaze with wine or dark beer rather than water and sometimes thicken the sauce with a little butter and flour.


As for a moist whole roasted chicken - that happens in the Big Green Egg.....


Spiced Chicken

Serves 4
Active Time: 10 Minutes
Start to Finish: 45 Minutes
Fragrant and deeply savory, this spice rub balances the heat of chili powder and black pepper with the more floral notes of coriander and cinnamon. It jazzes up bland chicken breasts nicely, and legs give even juicier results. The quick pan sauce adds an extra shot of flavor.
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 chicken breast halves (with skin and bones) or 4 whole chicken legs, thighs and drumsticks separated if desired, rinsed and patted dry
1/2 cup water
Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 450F.
Stir together spices, salt, and 1 tablespoon oil. Rub evenly all over chicken.
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch ovenproof heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Brown chicken, turning once, 6 to 8 minutes.
Turn chicken skin side up, transfer skillet to oven, and roast until just cooked through, 16 to 18 minutes for breasts, about 25 minutes for legs. Transfer to a platter.
Add water to pan and deglaze by boiling over high heat, scraping up brown bits, for 1 minute. Transfer sauce to a bowl and skim off fat.
Serve chicken with sauce on the side.

[aschen]

When I visited Vietnam, every time we ordered chicken you ordered a dish with the whole bird for family style eating.


Note I do not think china and Vietnam are the same place nor do I think all Asians are the same, I am just sharing an aside , and now im Hungry

[jyl]

I use chicken breast for dishes where it is braised or sliced thin. It is very lean, easily overcooked, and fairly tasteless compared to thigh. The latter may not matter if it is sauced.

I also never cook my chicken to 160F or whatever the official recommendation is. 140F is my target temp. Admittedly, I don't serve food to the public so I have leeway to do what I want.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Why no pigeons near restaurant? Hmmmm.

[dafischer]

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Chicken at Chinese restaurants is tender because it's been frozen, chipped, thawed, bleached and half-digested with enzymes to hell and back again, frozen again in 10 lb bags and shipped to your local restaurant.

I typically roast my chickens to medium rare, so there's still blood at the thigh joint. Even the breasts are juicy and tasty but you have to get Whole Foods chickens. Perdue chickens taste rancid by comparison.

Thighs are the best part of the chicken, no argument there. Mix hoisin, orange marmalade, brown sugar, ginger, soy, garlic and some chili peppers, marinate thighs, bake for 22 minutes at 375, covered in foil, broil to caramelize the sugar.