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2009-06-29
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Fresh chickens are hard to come by these days in Hong Kong, so the easiest way to find one is to go straight to chicken specialists who pride themselves for using nothing but fresh chicken. When I walked into the counter at 燦記路邊雞 and asked the chef, he guaranteed “全部都係新鮮雞,無新鮮雞唔賣!” Neat! Exactly what I wanted to hear. But using fresh chicken is only half of the battle, as it doesn’t necessarily mean tasty chicken. Does 燦記 prepare it properly to respect the ingredient?The regular order of 招牌路
Fresh chickens are hard to come by these days in Hong Kong, so the easiest way to find one is to go straight to chicken specialists who pride themselves for using nothing but fresh chicken. When I walked into the counter at 燦記路邊雞 and asked the chef, he guaranteed “全部都係新鮮雞,無新鮮雞唔賣!” Neat! Exactly what I wanted to hear. But using fresh chicken is only half of the battle, as it doesn’t necessarily mean tasty chicken. Does 燦記 prepare it properly to respect the ingredient?
The regular order of 招牌路邊雞 ($58例) didn’t look very attractive at a first glance. My request for the leg piece was met, along with a piece of seemingly very dry breast meat. The cutting skill wasn't very professional as the skin and meat were somehow detached and flying around. The skin didn’t have a shiny oily glaze and looked dull, and there was only a little translucent chicken “jelly” that I could spot at the lower leg area (小腿雞皮下有少少透明jelly). Surely the appearance wasn’t very impressive and failed to arouse my appetite.
What about the taste? The chef didn’t lie about the fresh chicken as I could vaguely taste the fresh chicken taste (有新鮮雞味). Compared to the chicken at 金山 or in China, 路邊雞 chicken flavor wasn’t a bit weak, but already noticeably stronger than most chain productions. The skin wasn’t bouncy or “crispy” enough, too soft for my liking (雞皮不夠爽脆, 軟腍腍). Yellowish fat could be found underneath the skin of quite a few pieces, which I don’t mind but may be a negative for some people.
The chicken meat wasn’t my ideal in texture. Most of the meat was smooth in mouth, but when bite in, it’s again lacking bounciness and a bit chewy (雞肉滑但缺乏彈性, 口感帶點韌). Chicken breast was really a let down, totally dry and tough (雞胸更是非常嚡口) and not even worth for making chicken congee. I couldn’t help but to think that the fresh chicken was wasted as I believe it could be an excellent, flavorful chicken with better preparation to create a more palatable texture.
The pleasant surprises were the condiments! The boiled cabbage (椰菜) underneath the chicken was sweet and juicy with a little chicken flavor, possibly boiled in chicken juice and broth. The side ginger and scallion sauce 薑蓉汁 wasn’t your particular one with oil, but rather a mix of ginger and scallion in salted water 薑蓉+鹽水. It balanced out the fatty chicken skins quite well.
Overall, if one were in the neighborhood and were to just sample the chicken leg by 燦記, I think they will be satisfied with the chicken flavor and chicken taste. But even their price point at $98 for half chicken, you can find more delicious fresh chicken else where. 燦記 shows that a simple fact that 新鮮雞 ≠ 美味雞, at least not there.
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