Danzhou Yellow Plum Chicken

Danzhou Yellow Plum Chicken

　　“No feast is complete without chicken.” This is a common saying among people in Hainan. Chicken is an indispensable main dish at Hainanese banquets, typically prepared by boiling or salt-baking. Recently, however, a less widely known cooking method has become a hot topic among food enthusiasts in Hainan—Yellow Plum Chicken.

　　“The best yellow plums in Hainan come from Danzhou, and the best in Danzhou come from Dacheng.” The yellow plums from Dacheng Town are renowned for their large size, thick flesh, juicy texture, and sweet taste. For this reason, when it comes to authentic Yellow Plum Chicken, locals in Danzhou usually recommend the version from Dacheng Town. And within Dacheng Town, the Yellow Plum Chicken from Nanji Village in Taisaicun is the most famous.

　　The preparation method of Yellow Plum Chicken is relatively simple. Chef Fu Weizan from the “Fu’s Yellow Plum Chicken” farmhouse restaurant in Nanji Village explains that authentic Yellow Plum Chicken must use local free-range chickens—small birds that typically weigh just over 1 kilogram, raised around homes and fed little to no commercial feed. The chicken is cooked in a pressure cooker. First, a layer of freshly washed yellow plum leaves is placed at the bottom of the pot. After slaughtering and cleaning the chicken, it is placed on top of the leaves, then sprinkled with a saltwater mixture. Another layer of yellow plum leaves is placed on top of the chicken, and it is then pressure-cooked for about 20 minutes. The dish is essentially ready at this point.

　　To create a richer flavor, chefs often add a secret proprietary blend inside the chicken’s cavity before cooking. Chef Fu Weizan says these “secret recipes” mainly consist of locally sourced Chinese herbs. While the basic preparation method remains the same, slight variations in these herbal blends result in distinct flavor profiles.

　　The chef shreds the whole cooked chicken into pieces and serves them on a plate. The steam and rendered chicken fat in the pot combine to form a small amount of broth. A spoonful or two of this broth is poured over the chicken before serving, ready for diners to enjoy. Take a bite of the chicken and you’ll notice the subtle, fragrant aroma of yellow plum leaves fully infused into the meat, with absolutely no greasy aftertaste. Dipping it in the broth at the bottom of the plate enhances the richness of the flavor.

　　It is currently the peak season for ripe yellow plums. Thanks to active promotion by the Danzhou municipal government, visiting Nanji Village to pick yellow plums and enjoy Yellow Plum Chicken has become a popular choice for an increasing number of tourists. Fu Yilong, the Party branch secretary of Taisaicun, said that the current capacity of farmhouse restaurants is limited. During the Dragon Boat Festival, many tourists had nowhere to sit and ended up borrowing tables and chairs from nearby villagers to set up in open spaces, queuing up to try the Yellow Plum Chicken. Some even took one or two chickens home after their meal. Chef Fu Weizan mentioned that at his busiest, he prepares 70 to 80 chickens in a single day. With not enough chickens available in the village, he had to purchase them from surrounding villages. According to incomplete statistics, Nanji Village has received around 10,000 visitors in the past three weeks.

　　Yang Qingguang, a member of the Hainan Cuisine Association and a teacher at Danzhou Secondary Vocational and Technical School, explains that Yellow Plum Chicken is a traditional dish passed down through generations. In the past, people would cook chicken, salt, and yellow plum leaves together in a pot. To achieve a rich flavor, a large quantity of yellow plum leaves was required, and the cooking process took a long time. About 10 years ago, people gradually started using pressure cookers. This not only shortens the cooking time but also preserves the original flavors of both the yellow plum leaves and the chicken, resulting in a more concentrated taste. (Reported by Yue)

　　Source: Hainan Daily