Guangzhou Wenchang Chicken

Guangzhou Wenchang Chicken

　　This dish is unique to Guangzhou Restaurant and is the sister dish of the traditional Cantonese classic “Golden Flower Jade Tree Chicken.” Originally, it used chickens from Wenchang County in Hainan Province, which were quite famous. It is said that back then, several renowned chefs from Guangzhou Restaurant were sent to the area for research. After tasting, they found the Wenchang chicken to be richly fleshed and well-marbled, living up to its reputation, though the downside was that the bones were too hard and made it inconvenient to eat. After some research and development, the bones were removed and the chicken was cut into pieces, then paired with Jinhua ham, chicken liver, and seasonal greens. The result is a dish with smooth skin and tender meat, offering a distinctive flavor. Because the chicken came from Wenchang County and Guangzhou Restaurant happened to be located on Wenchang Road, the dish was named “Guangzhou Wenchang Chicken.” Its selection as one of the top ten famous Cantonese dishes at the “First China Cantonese Cuisine Summit” was well-deserved.

　　[Flavor Characteristics]

　　　　1. The name “Wenchang” in Guangzhou Wenchang Chicken has two meanings: first, the original version used high-quality chickens from Wenchang County in Hainan as the main ingredient; second, the restaurant that created this dish, Guangzhou Restaurant, is located at the intersection of Wenchang Road in Guangzhou. Chickens from Wenchang County are large with thick flesh but relatively coarse and hard bones. Using conventional cooking methods makes it hard to bring out their full characteristics. In the 1930s, Liang Rui, a master chef at Guangzhou Restaurant, came up with an ingenious solution—removing the bones and slicing the meat, then arranging it together with sliced ham and chicken meat of equal size to enhance its strengths and downplay its weaknesses. This approach was perfectly balanced, and over the decades, Wenchang Chicken has spread both domestically and internationally. 　　2. This dish is beautifully presented, with a shiny sauce, and the three different components come in varying colors and flavors, making it one of the Eight Famous Chickens of Guangzhou.

　　[Cooking Method]

　　　　1. Clean the chicken, then blanch it gently in barely simmering second broth for about 15 minutes until just cooked. Remove, let cool, then debone and slice the meat diagonally into 24 pieces in the shape of long rectangles. 　　2. While blanching the chicken, clean the chicken liver, place it in a bowl, cover it with boiling water, add 3.5 grams of salt, and blanch until just cooked. Remove, slice into 24 pieces, and place in a bowl. Slice the ham into 24 thin slices of the same size as the chicken pieces. 　　3. Arrange the chicken slices, ham slices, and chicken liver slices alternately on an oval plate in a scale-like pattern, placing the chicken head, wings, and tail to replicate the shape of a whole chicken. Steam in a steamer over low heat until heated through, then remove and drain excess liquid. 　　4. Heat a wok over medium heat, add 20 grams of oil, pour in 5 grams of Shaoxing wine, add the broth and MSG, then thicken the sauce using 10 grams of diluted cornstarch. Finally, stir in 15 grams of sesame oil and lard until smooth, and pour the sauce over the chicken.

　　[Key Techniques]

　　　　1. When poaching the chicken, lift it out twice to pour out the cavity liquid to maintain consistent temperature inside and outside the chicken. 　　2. If the chicken liver is not fully cooked on the first attempt, poach it again in salted boiling water.