Today, I am going to enjoy my
shopping journey at St. Lawrence Market. The main reason I choose this market
for purchasing meats is that there are diversified meats and cuts. In addition,
it is a farmer market so their ingredients are usually fresh. Actually, I am
always excited when I walk into the market because I really love conventional
markets and like to explore traditional and classical foods and dishes. I
personally believe that a traditional market is a good place where you can experience
their traditions and hospitality.
Wow...There are many kinds of meats
and different cuts depending on animals. You might feel how excited I am during
this journey through these pictures. Here! Chicken, is one of my favourites. It is very popular and the most common
type of poultry in the world especially in these past decades due to promotion
by various groups. Indeed, chicken is highly nutritious containing, about 20 %
of protein and it is low in fat. Chicken isn't divided into many cuts; however,
it usually consists of white meat (breast and wings) and dark meat (legs). Both
of them are main parts of chicken. Besides, there are some edible components
such as chicken feet, kidneys, neck and giblets. For main cuts, Taiwanese would
like chicken legs more than breast in my hometown because they are juicier.
Therefore, I chose chicken legs for making a presentation this time.
To begin, I think most of us are familiar with
chicken legs and know they are below the joint of the back. However, there are
specific and different cuts from legs such as chicken thigh with back portion,
chicken leg quarter, chicken thigh and chicken drumstick. A chicken thigh with
back portion consists of a thigh and some back. Therefore, it contains a thigh, the upper part of the
leg, a drumstick, lower part of the leg and some back. Sometimes pelvic meat
and fat are attached. Chicken leg quarter is similar to chicken thigh with back
portion. The only difference is chicken leg quarter includes some stomach fat
and tail. However, all of them are dark meat and it means more fat, more
connective tissue and more cooking time compared with light meat. Dark meat is
usually muscle tissue and it needs more oxygen during exercise and movement.
When muscles are used more frequently, the become darker. Therefore, we could
know there is more myoglobin protein in dark meat
Chicken is subject to federal
inspection the same as other meats such as beef and pork and it also could be
graded including Canada Grade A, Canada Utility Grade and Canada Grade C.
However, grading is not compulsory. All right, let's go to purchase chicken leg
quarter and see what price is.
Well, as we can see from photo below,
1 lb for $2.19 so 1 kg for $4.84. It is not expensive compared with other cuts,
breast, wings, drumstick and thigh are 4.99, 3.99, 2.89 and 3.19, respectively.
But how do I utilize this cut for
optimum cost benefit? I am for sure that I usually won't waste any meat even
bones when I prepare to cook. Today, I have chicken leg quarter so I am going
to make Three-Cups Chicken, famous Taiwanese cuisine. First, I debone from
chicken leg and separate bones and meat. I only use meat and fat to make the
dish; therefore, bones will be stored in the refrigeration for creating my own
stock next time. Here is my mom’s recipe below.
Ingredient:
Fat from
chicken---------------------------------> several pieces
Vegetable
oil-------------------------------------> 1 tablespoon
Chicken legs, boneless and bite-si-------------> 2
pounds
Ginger, thinly
slice-------------------------------> 8 slices
Dried red
pepper----------------------------------> 4
Fresh red pepper---------------------------------->
4
(2 for cooking/ 2 for garnish)
Garlic, peeled and
minced----------------------->1 head
Green onion, only white part/medium dice --> 1
bunch
Rice
wine------------------------------------------>1/2 cup
Soy sauce
----------------------------------------->1/3 cup
Basil
leaves----------------------------------------> 4 stalks
(save some for garnish)
Light brown
sugar--------------------------------> 1 tablespoon
Direction:
1. Heat up a wok and then render chicken fat. Strain it
2. Add chicken oil in a wok over medium flame
3. Add chicken meat into pan and pan fried until golden
brown. Dish up and
set aside
set aside
4. In the same wok add vegetable oil over high heat then
follow by chopped
garlic, sliced
ginger, white part of green onion and dried red peppers,
and
sauté until fragrant.
5. Add light brown sugar, stir fry
until sugar melts. Add pan fried chicken,
stirring evenly around 2 minutes
6. Add rice wine, soy sauce and fresh
red peppers and bring to a boil
7. Once it boils then turn it down to
low heat and simmer until sauce is
reduced to reduce to half its original volume. Sauce should be getting
thicken
8. Add basil and lightly stir all
ingredients until fragrant around 30 seconds
9. Turn off the heat
10. Serve
See! It looks so tasty. I chose from many
ways to cook it such as pan fried, sauté and simmer since
chicken leg is dark meat. The reason why I pan fried chicken at first is because
this way of cooking could sear meat and keep the juice inside. The second way
is sauté,
making flavour more incorporated. In the end, it is simmer, keeping meat moist
and tender, making flavours are more concentrated.
In summary, this is a good journey
not only purchasing meat but also creating dish. The more important thing is
that I obtained knowledge about cooking ways depending on their property of
animals and cuts. Indeed, this mission enriches my techniques and thinking. Being a student in chef school, I
should start trying to learn
and grow from different missions. I believe each mission brings a lot of
valuable experience and improves
my skills. They will be highly useful for my future career.
Reference:
Smart Kitchen (n.d.). Chicken Pieces. Retrieved January 22, 2016 from https://www.smartkitchen.com/resources/ingredients/protein/poultry/chicken-pieces
