Longsheng Phoenix Chicken

Longsheng Phoenix Chicken

The Longsheng Phoenix Chicken is a product with geographical indication status for agricultural goods.

　　The Longsheng Phoenix Chicken is a breed developed and raised through long-term selective breeding by the Yao ethnic group in Longsheng County, Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Due to being raised in isolated mountainous areas with minimal contact with the outside world and rare crossbreeding with other varieties, it possesses unique advantages. The Longsheng Phoenix Chicken features a rich variety of colorful feathers, giving it an ornate and striking appearance, complete with shank feathers, a phoenix-like crest, whiskers, and laced plumage. It has a delicate, bright and beautiful exterior; its meat is tender, fragrant, and flavorful; it is highly adaptable and disease-resistant, cold-hardy, and capable of thriving on coarse feed, making it suitable for free-range farming in ecologically favorable orchards and woodlands in mountainous rural areas. By the end of 2008, the county had over 8,000 purebred Phoenix Chicken breeding hens, producing more than 600,000 chicks annually and slaughtering around 450,000 chickens per year.

　　Recommended Pairings

　　Chestnut Mountain Chicken

　　Ingredients:

　　Pheasant, 500g; fresh chestnuts, 200g; broad bean starch, 8g; ginger, 30g; star anise, 5g; cooking wine, 10g; white sugar, 30g; soy sauce, 20g; salt, 6g; peanut oil, 50g; scallions, 30g; Sichuan peppercorn, 5g; monosodium glutamate, 2g; adjust quantities as needed.

　　Cooking Method

　　1. Slaughter the pheasant, pluck the feathers, remove the internal organs, rinse clean, and chop into 2.5 cm cubes;

　　2. Wash the chestnuts, score a cross on each with a knife, boil in boiling water until the cuts open, then remove, peel off shells and fuzz;

　　3. Cut scallions into sections, slice ginger;

　　4. Place the pheasant meat in a bowl and marinate slightly with soy sauce;

　　5. Heat the wok with oil until 70% hot, add the pheasant cubes, fry until golden brown, then remove;

　　6. Then add the chestnuts and fry until light yellow, then remove;

　　7. Add 25g oil to the wok, stir-fry the sugar until it turns a date-red color, then add 250ml clear broth, scallions, ginger, pheasant, chestnuts, Sichuan peppercorn, star anise, salt, and cooking wine. Bring to a boil, skim off foam;

　　8. Then reduce heat to low and simmer slowly. When the liquid reduces to one-third, add monosodium glutamate, thicken with a cornstarch slurry, and drizzle

　　Tips

　　1. Do not caramelize the sugar too much or it will become bitter, affecting the dish’s quality;

　　2. When braising, add enough liquid at once, do not use too high heat, and ensure the chicken pieces and chestnuts are fully cooked, tender and well-shaped;

　　3. This dish can also be steamed, then plated and topped with a starch-thickened sauce, but the flavor won’t be as rich as when braised;

　　4. As this recipe involves deep-frying, prepare 750g of peanut oil.

　　Efficacy

　　Chicken liver has a sweet and slightly warm nature, nourishing blood and liver. It is beneficial for those with blood deficiency, dim vision, night blindness, or eye opacity, and can be consumed frequently. Chicken liver, with its sweet and neutral properties, also calms the mind, nourishes the heart, and moisturizes the skin.

　　Features of Chestnut Mountain Chicken:

　　The chestnuts are sweet, tender and soft; the mountain chicken is tender, juicy, and flavorful, with excellent color and taste that whet the appetite.

　　Food Incompatibilities:

　　Broad bean starch: fava beans should not be eaten with snails.

　　Longsheng Phoenix Chicken

　　Geographic Scope

　　The product comes from 119 villages across 10 townships in Longsheng County, including Longsheng Town, Heping Township, Sishui Township, Jiangdi Township, Madizhen Township, Weijiang Township, Pingdeng Township, Lejiang Township, Piaoli Town, and Sanmen Town. Its geographic coordinates are: 109°43′28″ to 110°21′41″ east longitude, and 25°29′21″ to 26°12′10″ north latitude. The protected area spans 2,370.8 square kilometers, with an annual production of over one million birds.

　　Product Quality Characteristics

　　(1) External Sensory Features: Longsheng Phoenix Chicken has a relatively short body and compact structure. It displays a variety of feather colors (mainly light mottled and dark mottled, with a minority being black, yellow, or white feathers). The chickens have bluish-gray legs, and most have leg feathers, with some exhibiting features such as a phoenix crown or whiskers. Adult roosters have tightly packed feathers, with neck and saddle feathers in black edged with white or yellow, and primary, secondary wing feathers, and tail feathers mostly black with a shiny green metallic luster. Hens mainly have light mottled, dark mottled, or yellow mottled feathers, with neck feathers edged in black and white or black and yellow. After slaughter, the meat is mostly white, with a small amount being light grayish-black. The muscle cross-section is glossy, exhibiting the inherent color and aroma of chicken meat, with no off-odors, thin skin, and low fat content. (2) Internal Quality Indicators: Testing shows that the total fat content in the fresh meat of Longsheng Phoenix Chicken is significantly lower than that of other breeds. Key nutritional components include: protein at 22.2–23.9%; total fat at 0.04–1.6%; and ash at 1.01–1.09%. (3) Safety Requirements: Strict compliance with the standards for pollution-free broiler chicken, including "NY5034-2005 Pollution-Free Food Poultry Meat and By-products," "NY5030-2006 Pollution-Free Food Guidelines for Veterinary Drug Use in Livestock and Poultry Breeding," "NY5036-2001 Pollution-Free Food Guidelines for Veterinary Epidemic Prevention in Broiler Chicken Breeding," and "NY/T5038-2006 Pollution-Free Food Production Management Specifications for Poultry Farming."