Empress Chicken - why chilled?

[hzrt8w]

A few restaurants in our town serve the dish "Empress Chicken" ("Kwai Fai Gai" in Cantonese). Invariably, they serve the chicken chilled. Not in room temperature, but chilled in the refrigerator. To me it seems that Empress Chicken is just the same as White Boiled Chicken (Bak Jum Gai). Am I off? What is the difference?

And why chilled? I can understand serving it in room temperature. But why deliberately refrigerate the chicken before serving?

[Kent Wang]

Is this similar to the salt-pressed (yan shui ji) or drunken chicken?

I prefer these chilled. For me, all foods should be either heated or chilled, not room temperature, as it is more interesting.

[annachan]

Maybe it has something to do with the skin? When it's chilled, would the skin be more al dente like?

[hzrt8w]

This "Empress Chicken" seems to be a classical dish. I would imagine the recipe existed from way back when... predating the refrigeration technology. How would they have served this 100 years ago?

Maybe the restaurants just keep them in the refrigerator for sanitory reasons only?

[Dejah]

This "Empress Chicken" seems to be a classical dish.  I would imagine the recipe existed from way back when... predating the refrigeration technology.  How would they have served this 100 years ago? 

Maybe the restaurants just keep them in the refrigerator for sanitory reasons only?

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I am sure, if the chicken is to be served cold, that they must keep it refridgerated for health-safety reasons. Chicken cooked Chinese style tends to be "just cooked". If this dish is on the regular menu, the restaurant must prepare several in anticipation. These must be refridgerated, or as with BBQ chickens sold in places such as Safeway, kept under heat lamps at a specific temperature.

There was one incident of food poisoning that I remember well. Many salty chickens were purchased from a Chinese BBQ shop in Winnipeg for an elderly lady's 80th bday. The city is 2.5 hours from Brandon where I live. We were invited to the early sitting. All of the guests ate chicken from the same purchase and were fine. The second sitting was 2 hours later, for guests who had to work late. The remaining chickens were kept on a counter in the kitchen where the room temperature was neither high enough or cool enough to prevent bacterial growth. Several guests experienced major food poisoning and spent days in the hospital. The hospital, by law, had to report these incidents. The health inspectors were called in and there was a major investigation. Eventually, it was established that the chickens were fine at their source. It was the inappropriate storage handling at the destination that caused the major outbreak of food poisoning.

In the past, would the item be offered in the same extent as they are in today's restaurants? Perhaps this dish would be prepared only for special occasions, cooled immediately and served as soon as possible.

[Naftal]

A few restaurants in our town serve the dish "Empress Chicken" ("Kwai Fai Gai" in Cantonese).  Invariably, they serve the chicken chilled.  Not in room temperature, but chilled in the refrigerator.  To me it seems that Empress Chicken is just the same as White Boiled Chicken (Bak Jum Gai).  Am I off?  What is the difference?

And why chilled?  I can understand serving it in room temperature.  But why deliberately refrigerate the chicken before serving?

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As usual, I must be in the minority:my favorite place serves Empress Chicken hot.

Edited January 7, 2008 by Naftal (log)

[hzrt8w]

As usual, I must be in the minority:my favorite place serves Empress Chicken hot.      

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I am afraid some restaurants may use the term "Empress Chicken" for different dishes. Would you describe your hot Empress Chicken? Is it one whole chicken (or half a chicken), chopped Cantonese style, with bones in and skin on?

[rooftop1000]

If this dish has anything to do with the Hainanese chicken served as chicken and rice in Singapore....they explained the chilling part of that dish on Bourdain season opener Monday

After boiling the whole chicken is dipped in ice water to set the layer of fat between the meat and skin and to keep the layers separate

tracey

[hzrt8w]

If this dish has anything to do with the Hainanese chicken served as chicken and rice in Singapore....they explained the chilling part of that dish on Bourdain season opener Monday

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I am not sure if Empress Chicken and Hainanese Chicken are the same, Tracey. If not the same, they are very similar. But the Chinese restaurants who serve Empress Chicken do not serve it with the flavored rice though.

[Naftal]

As usual, I must be in the minority:my favorite place serves Empress Chicken hot.      

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I am afraid some restaurants may use the term "Empress Chicken" for different dishes. Would you describe your hot Empress Chicken? Is it one whole chicken (or half a chicken), chopped Cantonese style, with bones in and skin on?

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Hello- The restaurant I frequent serves a dish made of chunks of boneless chicken served with an spicy translucent sauce. It is served over rice.

Edited January 11, 2008 by Naftal (log)

[hzrt8w]

Hello- The restaurant I frequent serves a dish made of chunks of boneless chicken served with an  spicy translucent sauce. It is served over rice.

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This sounds like a different dish than the one I was questioning. Perhaps that restaurant just used the same name "Empress Chicken".