The Bo Bo Chicken Review I

It's not easy finding good chicken. In America, chicken has become almost like tofu in its blandness. It's a boring food for picky eaters who want something both low in fat and flavor. It doesn't have to be this way. A good chicken has its own flavor and holds up favorably to a good steak in deliciousness.

While poultry isn't my favorite meat, is is affordable´and relatively easy to cook well. I've bought several types of chickens this year and plan to buy more in the interests of um...research? Yes, if you are buying truly different types of breeds and production styles, the taste difference can be quite dramatic. 

A good example is the cult Bo Bo chicken. I know...what the heck is a Bo Bo? It's merely a brand of premium chickens primarily raised for the traditional Chinese market. There is a stigma that meat in ethnic food is poor quality and perhaps that is true. This NYTimes article on Bo Bo notes that some Chinese restaurants reserve the high quality dark meat for Chinese customers and leave the low quality frozen white junk for other customers. Kind of bad, but also kind of hilarious. I remember when I, like most Americans, thought the white meat was the "good" meat. It's only good if you are adverse to flavor and fat, which I admit I was. 

I picked up a cornish cross Bo Bo chicken at the Park Slope Co-op. Next time I'll definitely pick up their more unusual breeds, but they are much more expensive. The chickens sold at the PSFC are headless, but when Bo Bo is selling to the Chinese market they leave the heads on, as it is preferred by Chinese Buddhists to have an intact animal for prayer and to gauge the quality. Another thing they sell is stew hens. It seems like a waste of meat, but a stew hen goes intact into the stock pot. It's not a waste since the broth becomes potently flavorful and nutritious. Stew hens are typically last season's egg layers (yes vegetarians, your eggs = chicken death) and their flesh is too tough for eating. I suspect David Chang of Momofuku uses Bo Bo stew hens for his ramen broth since they are affordable and high quality. You can't get them at PSFC yet, but I think you might see them soon since stock making might be the next hipster food trend after canning has run its course. 

My headless chicken had a surprise though. Tucked instead the chest cavity were the chicken's impressively muscular feet. This chicken had definitely been running around. My boyfriend was helping me and was at first shocked by how large and ugly the feet were. I was delighted. They went in the stock pot with some other chicken bones, shallots, garlic, kombu, carrots, peppercorns, and some bacon ends. The resulting stock jelled perfectly, which is a marker of high quality stock. Also present was the liver. I made a paste by heating creamed coconut and mixing into it some crushed ginger, chopped cilantro, jalapeno, and red pepper curry paste (no PUFAS, just lemongrass, garlic, hot red pepper, etc.). I sauteed the liver in that and then added lime juice. It was a fairly tasty snack. Sadly, the heart was absent and I was confused with the packet of something pink that was in the chest cavity...no idea what it was at all. 

The legs and thighs of the chicken were absolutely delicious! They were full of a rich meaty flavor and just needed some salt and pepper. The wings though were a little gamey and I just don't like breast anymore, though I don't have the heart to simply throw it in the stock pot. 

I'm curious to try their black chicken next...or maybe their guinea hen...there are so many types of chicken to try, it's a good thing most are delicious!