This minced pork mix is what I use to stuff a whole deboned chicken. I have made stuffed chicken this way for over 30 years and it is time I posted an article on it. I learned how to remove the bones from a whole chicken, leaving the meat intact in one piece, from my late father-in-law. Stuffed whole chicken was his, and then my, party piece.
How to debone a whole chicken:
a) Place the whole chicken breast side down on a large chopping board
b) Using a small, sharp knife, cut down the length of the chicken skin on the backbone
c) Starting with the backbone, carefully slice the meat away from the rib bones, using the sharp end of the knife. This video shows you how, but for the stuffed chicken Chinese-style (as below) you cannot cut open the thigh and leg. Instead, you will have to cut the meat carefully off the bone in order to place the stuffing into the deboned leg. Retain the wings.
d) what you need to imagine, as you cut along the bones to release the meat, is that you want to end up with a joke shop rubber chicken – the one which looks whole but has no internal structure. You could also make a ’round pillow’ like the English-style stuffed chicken from the butcher, if it is easier to debone a chicken that way. Both will be impressive once cooked, and very easy to carve.
As I am not making a stuffed chicken today, I am fashioning the pork mince into burgers. This can accompany a salad, rice or it can be eaten in a bun.
This chicken has had its internal bones removed, stuffed with minced pork (recipe below), its back secured with metal skewers then roasted before being carved into slices for serving
Some of the ingredients for the burger: shiitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, coriander, orange zest and garlic. If using this as a stuffing, add the quail’s eggs and in Winter use roasted chestnuts instead of water chestnuts
For the Pork Stuffing/ Burgers:
500 g minced pork, no more than 5% fat content
20 g fresh coriander, chopped
zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
150 g shiitake mushrooms (weight without stalks), chopped
150 g tinned water chestnuts (drained weight), chopped
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons soya sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
large pinch of caster sugar
ground white or black pepper
If using the minced pork as stuffing, add 12 quail’s eggs, boiled and peeled. In Winter, use a few roasted chestnuts instead of the water chestnuts.
How to Make:
Place all the ingredients (except the quail’s eggs/ roasted chestnuts) in a large mixing bowl and mix together. I use my hands, covered with food preparation gloves. Form into burgers of around 110 g each and pan fry.
If using as a stuffing:
a) open out the deboned chicken and lay it flat on a chopping board
b) place all the stuffing into the cavity of the chicken, taking care to stuff the leg
c) add the quail’s eggs
d) fold the chicken over so the backbone seams come together
e) use some metal skewers to secure the back of the chicken (my father-in-law used to sew it up, using thread and needle)
f) turn the chicken over and place in a roasting tray, breast side up
g) season the chicken with salt and pepper
h) roast the chicken in an oven (temperature 170 C fan/ 190 C) for around 1 hour 10 minutes, – 1 hour 30 minutes, depending on how large the chicken is. The internal temperature of the pork stuffing must reach 71 C.
Finally, for an added challenge if you can de-bone a whole duck, consider making a whole stuffed duck. Deboning a duck is a different skill. As the duck has less meat, more fatty skin and a slender carcass, it is possible to start trimming the meat off the bone from the top i.e. starting at the neck, and not cutting into any skin.
Imagine the knife going round and round, removing the meat off the bone, as it draws downwards. After the mid-point, it will be like peeling the meat off the bone. I learnt how to do this from Ipoh Auntie and she liked to joke that it was like removing a zipless dress by it by peeling it off from the top (除衫), one roll/ fold at a time.
Ipoh Auntie said that deboning a chicken the way I showed her was for amateurs, whereas removing the whole chicken/ duck without cutting the skin on the backbone showed real skill. I have made the duck several times before but not recently. The younger members of the extended family are coming over for lunch in a few weeks’ time. Perhaps I will make both the chicken and the duck for a special roast lunch that day.