Chicken Carcass Cuts for Indonesia's Favorite Chicken Dishes

Dishes made from chicken carcass are a favorite for almost everyone. The most popular is usually fried chicken, which can be served as pecel ayam (fried chicken with sambal chili paste and fresh vegetables). When preparing chicken carcass cuts, or whole cut-up chicken, you need to match the cut to the dish you are making. This makes the dish tastier and helps the seasoning soak in better. Here are some chicken dishes along with the cuts that suit each one.

1. Chicken in Sauce

These saucy dishes usually use a coconut milk base, such as opor ayam (chicken braised in coconut milk), gulai ayam (chicken in spiced coconut gravy) and kari ayam (chicken curry). Dishes like these do not need large carcass cuts. For this kind of dish, one chicken can be cut into 8, 10 or 12 pieces so it is easy to eat.

Also read 4 Ways to Raise Chickens and Prevent Dangerous Diseases

2. Ayam Bakar (Grilled Chicken)

For ayam bakar, the carcass can be split into 2 equal halves.

3. Pecel Ayam

For this dish, the chicken can be split into 2 halves, then one half is cut crosswise between the thigh and the wing. The cuts used here are usually the breast and the thigh.

Tips for choosing chicken carcass cuts:

• Choose a live chicken to be slaughtered and dressed. Pick a healthy bird with no physical defects at all.
• If you buy frozen chicken, check the packaging and do not buy it if the packaging is damaged or flawed. Damaged or flawed frozen chicken packaging is easily contaminated by bacteria.
• Store the chicken in a closed container in the freezer, set the temperature properly and make sure it stays stable.

Knowing which chicken carcass cut you will be cooking makes the dish tastier and lets you measure seasonings more precisely for that cut. Always make sure the carcass cut matches the dish you are cooking, so the food is not only delicious but also easy to eat.

Also read 3 Essentials for Growing a Chicken Carcass Business