White-cooked chicken with lychee and cucumber salad

Listener 4/2/2011

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Martin Bosley

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I have always wanted to keep my own chickens. Black orpingtons, to be precise. Attractive fat hens, they are excellent layers with quality meat, but frankly the idea of killing one to eat doesn't appeal - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall I am not. I am happy enough to buy one, instead.

If I am going to cook a chicken, it's a fat free-range bird that I want. A whole bird will leave me enough to make sandwiches for a school lunch, but if I use chicken pieces or breasts the result will be a quick dinner.

"White-cooking" is possibly the best technique for cooking a chicken, as it's so gentle. Plunging the chicken into iced water chills it quickly, setting the juices just under the skin, which will tighten up. Do this and the chicken will be moist, tender and flavoursome. A warning, though: this method means that areas of the chicken meat, particularly around the bone, are pink and look raw. Don't panic. It is cooked and perfectly safe to eat.

White cooked chicken

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2 kg	Free-range organic chicken, whole
6 Ltr	Water
2	Spring onions
3 cm	Fresh ginger, peice
6	Garlic cloves
1	Ice, for chilling the chicken

Lychee and cucumber salad

1	Cucumber, small
500 g	Lychees, can
2	Red chillies, small
1 bunch	Coriander, small
1	Lemon, zest and juice
3 tbsp	Olive oil
1 to taste	Salt & freshly ground pepper

Directions

White cooked chicken

Remove any fat from inside the chicken. Rinse the chicken under cold running water then dry it inside and out with absorbent kitchen paper.
Pour the water into a deep saucepan. Slice the spring onions and the ginger, then smash the garlic cloves with the flat side of a kitchen knife. Add to the water and bring to a gentle simmer.
Gently lower the chicken, breast-side down into the stock. Bring it back to a simmer and skim the surface carefully to remove any scum.
Once the stock is simmering, cover the saucepan with a well-fitting lid and cook for exactly 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, do not remove the lid, and leave it to sit for an hour.
Place the ice in a deep container large enough to hold the chicken completely submerged and pour in just enough water to get the ice moving around.
Carefully lift the chicken from the stock, taking care not to tear the skin. Drain the liquid from the cavity and plunge the chicken into the iced water breast-side down.
Place the bowl in the refrigerator and leave for an hour. Remove the chicken from the ice and leave to drain.
Remove the legs and separate the drumsticks from the thigh through the joint.
Using a heavy knife, cut the thigh and leg into round pieces through the bone. It will make a resounding crunch.
Remove the 2 breast fillets with your fingers, keeping the jellied juices intact under the skin. Slice the breast meat into diagonal pieces. Arrange on a large platter with the lychee and cucumber salad and serve.

Lychee and cucumber salad

Cut the cucumber in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon. Slice the cucumber into 2cm chunks then place in a bowl.
Drain the syrup from the lychees, then halve them and add to the cucumber.
Seed and chop the chillies, pull the leaves from the coriander and mix with the cucumber.
Mix the lemon zest and juice with the oil, season with salt and pepper, then toss with the cucumber and lychees. Serve with the chicken.