12.102 Break Fast Chicken

12.102

17 (Sat) April 2021

Break Fast Chicken

3.5

by me

at home

-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

solo

Among the many theories about how best to break a long fast (on top of the many more theories about fasting per se), I am inclined to believe anything promoting the consumption of lean proteins.

Literally two birds: a pair of spring chickens, combining for just under 1.4 kg.

To kill two birds with one stone, I am using this opportunity (i) to break the fast with boiled chicken and (ii) to make stock for a dish that I am planning for tomorrow.

SIDEBAR: Daepa (대파) is a Korean scallion (see generally 3.154 Stir-Fried Buchu & Eggs).  The term means “large (dae) + scallion (pa),” though commonly referred to as “pa” by default, being the most common form.   Smaller scallions similar to spring/green onions in the West are called “jjokpa” or “silpa,” which are used in other specific applications.
For stir-fries, I like to use the white bases, which have the intense fragrance of onion without all the water and mushiness.  I reserve the middle light green parts, sweet and tender, as a garnish for soups, tossed in at the very end.  When making stock, I use the dark green scapes, which are a bit grassy and a bit tough to eat directly.
I went with smaller chickens to maximize the amount of bones and cartilage, better for a thicker stock; I put the chickens in 2 liters of water, plus whatever aromatics that I had on hand: daepa + onion + carrot + garlic (and later pyogo, which I remembered after everything was already boiling) + 2 tablespoons of salt.
After simmering for 1 hour, the flesh was fall-off-the-bone tender, and the stock was rich in flavor and dense in texture, reduced to about 1.5 liters.
I set aside the breasts for use tomorrow.
An occasion to boil chicken provides a major windfall for Louis, who gets all the remaining meat and organs and skin and cartilage.

The chicken quarters were awesome.  Granted, I was coming off a long fast.  Even still, the meat was luxuriously tender and savory sweet.   I could eat this every day.

W has recently been sneaking in some of her own dishes (more on this in a future post).

I deplore old school European-style chinaware, especially mass-produced ones with colorful flowery prints (e.g., Royal Albert, as here).  A friend once theorized that they were originally designed, often in England, to brighten up inherently dull-looking food.  As today’s dish would strongly suggest, the plates make dull-looking food look bizarrely grotesque.

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