Salt-Baked Apricot Blossom Chicken

Salt-Baked Apricot Blossom Chicken

　　Salt-baked chicken is one of the most distinctive cooking techniques in China’s major regional cuisines. Its development is closely tied to the migratory lifestyle of the Hakka people. During their southern migration, the Hakka often faced harassment from other ethnic groups, making it difficult to settle in one place 1 before moving on to another. Throughout this process, every household raised poultry and livestock. During their “fleeing” and migration, live poultry was inconvenient to carry, so they would slaughter it and preserve it in salt packages for storage and transport. Upon arriving at their new settlement, these preserved ingredients helped alleviate food shortages and also nourished the body. Salt-baked chicken is a dish created through the wisdom of the Hakka during their migration and has since gained worldwide fame. Initially, the Hakka would season a whole cleaned chicken with salt, pile it up, and store it. When ready to eat, they would simply steam it—this is what is now known as “Hakka Salted Chicken.”

　　Legend has it that there was a Hakka woman with many children, one of whom was often weak and sickly. At the time, due to a lack of various nutritious foods, she wrapped a salt-cured chicken in paper and slow-cooked it in hot salt using an earthenware pot. After eating it, the child gradually recovered, grew stronger, and even passed the imperial examinations to become a top scholar. Later, this dish became widely known and turned into a signature dish that every Hakka woman could cook. To make it easier to prepare and suitable for mass production, chefs continuously improved and innovated, eventually creating another flavor of chicken—salt-baked chicken.

　　The Fengkai Apricot Blossom Chicken Salt-Baked Chicken is made using traditional methods from 180-day-old Apricot Blossom Chickens. The Guangyuan Company Food Factory in Fengkai County is the first in Zhaoqing City to obtain QS certification for poultry meat products. By processing Apricot Blossom Chicken further, the factory extends the industrial chain and increases product value-added, which helps accelerate the development of the Apricot Blossom Chicken industry.