_poultry To Truss Recipes

Steps:

• If the bird is intact, suspend it by its neck, using clean white string. Otherwise, suspend the bird by its tail section, using a curtain hook or similar wire device to support it. Hang in a cool, airy place to dry, with a drip pan underneath.The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.

Steps:

• Place the bird breast-side up. Take a length of clean white string slip it around the back, then under and around the wings. Cross the ends of the string at the tip of the breastbone and pull them taut to hold the wings down. Then loop one end around each leg and tie securely.The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.

Steps:

• 1. Wipe chicken with a damp cloth and truss (see HOW-TO, _Poultry: To truss). 2. Bring water to a rolling boil in a large heavy saucepan. Add salt and carefully lower in chicken. Cover pan tightly and turn off heat at once. Let stand to cool for an hour or so without removing lid. 3. Drain chicken, reserving liquid for stock. Place bird in large bowl or glass container and add sherry to cover. Seal container tightly. Place in coolest part of refrigerator let stand 7 days. 4. Drain chicken, reserving sherry (which can be reused in cooking). Remove string. Then, with a cleaver, chop chicken, bones and all, in 2-inch sections. Serve cold. VARIATIONS: * For the sherry, substitute sauterne. * In step 2, add to boiling water 1 scallion stalk, cut in 1-inch sections and 2 garlic cloves, crushed. * For a 3- to 4-pound chicken, simmer 30 minutes in step 2, instead of turning off the heat and letting the chicken stand. Then drain bird, let cool and dry and refrigerate overnight. Cut chicken in half and pick up steps 3 and 4. The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.