White Cut Chicken (Bai Qie Ji)
白切鸡
Cantonese simplicity at its best — whole chicken gently poached, served cold with ginger-scallion oil. Pure chicken flavor.
📋 Ingredients
What Is White Cut Chicken (Bai Qie Ji)?
💡 Ingredient Notes: White Cut Chicken (白切鸡, bái qiē jī) is the ultimate test of Cantonese cooking — a whole chicken poached so gently that it stays silky and juicy, served cold with a simple ginger-scallion oil dip. There's nowhere to hide: the chicken must be perfect, the technique flawless. The poaching is done at a bare simmer — never boiling — for 30 minutes, then the bird sits in hot water to finish cooking. The result is tender, flavorful meat with gelatinous skin. Eaten cold, sliced, with ginger-scallion oil — the purest expression of chicken in Chinese cuisine.
Ingredients You'll Need
The Chicken
- 1 whole chicken (about 1.5kg)
- Water to cover
- 3 slices ginger
- 3 scallions
- 1 tbsp cooking wine
Ginger-Scallion Oil
- 3 tbsp finely minced ginger
- 3 tbsp finely minced scallion whites
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 tbsp smoking hot oil
- 1 tsp sesame oil
📝 Instructions
Poach the chicken
Bring a large pot of water to a boil with ginger, scallions, and cooking wine. Submerge the chicken breast-side down. Bring back to a boil, then reduce to the lowest possible simmer (barely bubbling). Cook for 30 minutes covered.
Ice bath
Remove the chicken and immediately plunge into ice water for 10 minutes. This stops the cooking and gives the skin its signature gelatinous texture.
Make the ginger-scallion oil
Combine minced ginger, scallion whites, and salt in a heatproof bowl. Heat oil until smoking, then pour over the aromatics — they'll sizzle. Add sesame oil. This is THE dipping sauce.
Carve and serve
Pat the chicken dry. Brush with a little sesame oil for shine. Carve Chinese-style (bone-in pieces). Serve cold with the ginger-scallion oil.
💡 Pro Tips
- 💡Never let the water boil — a bare simmer keeps the meat silky. Boiling makes it tough.
- 💡The ice bath is non-negotiable — it creates the gelatinous skin texture that defines this dish.
- 💡Use a free-range or yellow chicken — the flavor is better than factory chicken. Cantonese cooks insist on 'yellow skin' chickens.
- 💡The ginger-scallion oil makes the dish — don't skip it.
📊 Nutrition Facts
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How is this different from Hainanese chicken rice? Similar poaching technique, but Hainanese uses the poaching liquid to cook flavored rice and comes with three sauces. White cut chicken is simpler — just chicken and ginger-scallion oil.
