Zhanjiang White-Cut Chicken

Zhanjiang white-cut chicken uses free-range local sanhuang birds, gently poached whole until just done, then plunged into cold water so the skin stays crisp and the flesh smooth, chopped and served with a dip of sand ginger, soy sauce and peanut oil that lets the natural flavour shine.

White-cut chicken is a Cantonese classic, and Zhanjiang—blessed with fine sanhuang chickens and skilled home cooks—has turned it into a local emblem, where the Leizhou Peninsula saying goes that no feast is complete without chicken.

Chopped and eaten hot with sand-ginger soy dip, the skin is crisp and the meat juicy, often joined by white-cut pork stomach and duck, the centrepiece of any Zhanjiang banquet or family meal.

The golden-skinned, tender bird paired with a sand-ginger soy dip is the unmistakable signature of Zhanjiang white-cut chicken.