Peacock Spreading Tail Chicken
A classic Zhejiang dish featuring fried chicken pieces and assorted ingredients arranged into a peacock shape—ideal for entertaining guests.
Ingredients
Air-dried crispy skin chicken
1 (whole chicken weighing about 800 g)
Chicken liver coated with egg powder
50 g
Pan-fried sea bass fillet
50 g
Stuffed minced shrimp balls
6
Rolled egg yolk rolls
50 g
Quail eggs
7
Stir-fried long choy sum
7
Minced ham
4 g
Cilantro leaves
7 slices
Vegetable oil
1 kg (about 150 g actually used)
Instructions
1
Steam the quail eggs
Coat a tablespoon with a thin layer of vegetable oil, then crack a quail egg into it. Sprinkle minced ham on top and press it onto a cilantro leaf. Steam in a steamer basket until cooked through, then remove and shape each egg into a lute-like form.
2
Deep-fry the side ingredients
Deep-fry the chicken liver, pan-fried sea bass, minced shrimp balls, and egg yolk rolls in oil until cooked through. Cut all of them into 6 pieces each, except for the minced shrimp balls.
3
Arrange the peacock's tail
At one end of a large long platter, lay the stir-fried choy sum diagonally into 6 sections to outline the shape of a peacock's tail. Place a lute-shaped steamed quail egg at the top of each choy sum stalk. Then arrange the fried chicken liver, sea bass, minced shrimp balls, and egg yolk rolls (one piece of each, in sequence) into the sections to form the peacock's tail feathers.
4
Deep-fry the chicken
Pour vegetable oil into a wok and heat it over high heat until 70–80% hot. Place the air-dried crispy skin chicken, belly-up and back-down, on a slotted spoon and lower it into the oil. At the same time, use a ladle to repeatedly scoop hot oil and pour it through the belly slit into the cavity. After about 3–4 minutes, when the chicken is deep golden brown all over, fry it briefly once more until done.
5
Assemble the dish
Once fried, chop the chicken into several pieces and arrange them as the peacock's body. Combine with the head and tail pieces to complete the peacock. Serve accompanied by a thickened sauce and Huai salt on the side.
