Super Hot Spiced Chicken
6 min readSpiced chicken is a kind of Hui traditional dish in Xin jiang. It looks the same as the plain chicken in Guangdong and the sliced cold chicken in Sichuan, but tastes entirely different. For food lovers who are fond of spiced chicken, it remains unknown whether it is the spicy or the hot that makes it very delicious. And till today, everyone cannot answer it.
With the authentic spiced chicken chewing in the mouth, its spicy makes you feel a strong wind blowing and the hot makes you sweat. Maybe people cannot resist the taste temptation of combining spicy and hot, which is heavier than Saut Spicy Chicken and richerthan sliced cold chicken, and more brisk than spicy and hot chicken. It is the unique tastewhich makes people can’t stop the chopsticks until the mouth is trembling and the body is sweating.
I have heard about the story of spiced chicken with chili sauce since my childhood from the aged. It was originated a century ago by a cook whose family name is Song from the Hui ethnic group. Then it became a kind of delicious food among ordinary people. Different spiced chicken prepared by different Hui women has different tastes, which seems to tell different happiness in their own families. In those years, the spiced chicken with chili sauce prepared and sold by Master Song was well known in Urumqi and his stand was located around the God of Wealth Building at Nanguan(now around the No.2 Halal canteen).
Master Song was a short and old man, so the acquaintances always made fun of him calling him “Song the Dwarf”. Once mentioning the spiced chicken, people will praise with one voice that the chicken prepared by Song the Dwarf is the best. Master Song’s home was at Xiaodongliang(now in the Heping South Road area). About noon, he would pick up the carrying pole with the greasy and glossy spiced chicken already prepared to the God of Wealth Building to sell. He carefully separated each chicken’s leg and breast from the midposition into two parts, and those were called the four ma jor possessions; the two chicken wings, chicken neck and tail were called the four small possessions; and each chicken would be separated into eight possessions. At the same time, half a basin of soup was prepared in a ceramic bowl. In winter, there was the coal fire, so the soup was always warm and the aroma spread afar. In summer, the cool spiced chicken was also prepared. The price varies according to the different possessions of chicken for customers to choose. The spiced chicken prepared by Master Song was strived for the great condition of ripeness, cooked conditions, taste, aroma and appearance. Holding the chicken legs in a fine porcelain saucer with red flowers, then pouring two spoonful of soup, the taste would be great mellow. Master Song was so warm-hearted that without hesitation he would pass cooking ways of the spiced chicken with chili sauce to housewives. After Master Song, there were no longer people from the Hui ethnic group coming out to sell the spiced chicken. On the contrary, the spiced chicken became the must-do-food of the housewives in the Hui ethnic group. But, in a transmission process, house wives simplified the process of cooking spiced chicken and added their own understanding in cooking, thus finally itbecame the spiced chicken in today. It has already become the favorite cold dish by all ethnic groups in Xinjiang.
Spiced chicken has already been favored for several decades, and it was also entitledas one of the”Chinese Famous Snacks”. Spiced chicken is unlike the plain chicken in Guangdong province which is neatly put in the plate with the compact saucer for gently dipping after it is sliced; or the sliced cold chicken in Sichuan province which is loadedin a bowl or a plate with a diameter of about 40 centimeters with mixed seasoning for serving after being sliced. Spiced chicken in Xinjiang must be made of husky and free-ranging localchicken, and the fire must be slow fire to boil the chicken in a state of thoroughly cooked but not mushy. After cooling down by icy water, the chicken shall be drained off to keep the rich, fresh and tender tastes of the chicken. Then, add the tribute pepper with specialflavor and rich color, and hot pepper with moderate spicy degree. And then cook the spicedpepper soup in accordance with the ancestral secret recipe. Boldly and generously tear up the chicken, collocate it with the delicious and tasty soup, green Chinese onion and red pimiento, you must be attracted by the immersed chicken skin with flavor and the crisp chili as well as the natural smooth, delicious, pliable and tough chicken. Pepper and chill are separated, which attracts people until the tongue has been spiced with no feelings.
Probably, the spiced chicken does include a kind of characteristic which reflects the bold and unconstrained passion of Xin jiang people.
In Xinjiang, no one knows where the most authentic spiced chicken is, and no one knows when its market in Xin jiang started booming, but it is extremely popular. It is not long since spiced chicken has appeared on the public dining table. The story starts from a father and a son of the Hui ethnic group.
It was in the summer of 1995, people trying to avoid the heat were going to the night market by two or three, and the snack stand soon became busy. The scene could not be forgotten by many people. Father and son of the Jin family with their spiced chicken developed for five years appeared in this summer. In the first year, everyday business was very bleak. Sometimes till the closing time, they could only sell a chicken leg or a chicken wing. They had to look at the long line of the stand next door which was selling the hot spicy chicken. The second year, the father and son changed their strategies; they allowed customers to try before they bought. This was very effective, for not a long time it attracted a lot of returned customers. These returned customers not only came to eat, but also brought a lot of friends and family members. The fame was spreading, and in a short time, the father and son rose to fame. The stand of spiced chicken in which no one showedinterest from the beginning became well-known and it is the rudiment of today’s “Fat Ma n”. The famous “Fat Man Spiced Chicken”, because of its components, fresh taste, and fair price, quickly became a snack known to every family, but the little stand could no longer satisfy the guests from everywhere. In 2001, the”Fat Man Spiced Chicken”opened up the first exclusive shop in Henan East Road and finally registered the trademark “Fat Man”.
Since then, with the persistent and belief of two generations of the Jin family, the “Fat Man Spiced Chicken”has become a local snack brand favored by numerous diners. In 2008, with bigger developing and exploring space, the “Fat Man Spiced Chicken”officially changed the name to “Fat Man Halal Food Corporate Chain”, which brought the home-cooking food passed down from generations among the Hui people onto the recipe.”Fat Man”insists on selecting the superior raw materials and food material, strictly following the traditional custom to slaughter and process, persisting on famous chefs, and carefully improving on the characteristic flavor, dishes and traditional Muslim noodles, and finally it wins the praise and affirmation of customers. Through the reputation legend, specialty like “spicec chicken”,”the Fat Man braised jacks”, and “entertaining guests first and second dishes”become the regular food for food enthusiasts and tourists from home and abroad.
At the same time when Xin jiang spiced chicken becoming more and more popular in the market, the local enterprises have also begun to focus on its appearance. At present, there has been a kind of vacuum-packed and delicious and authentic spiced chicken, and also it can be stewed to soup, which is welcomed by inland people.
