Netizen: Please smoke the chicken to distinguish between loyalty and treachery! How delicious is the smoked chicken that is popular on the Internet?

Recently, a marriage observation variety show "Goodbye Love 4" became a hit, causing heated discussions across the Internet and even became popular abroad.

In an episode aired on November 8, the "smoked chicken incident" caused by one of the guests sparked heated discussions among netizens: With a limited travel budget set by the program crew, she insisted on buying foods such as smoked chicken and milk skin, and made everyone believe in her ability to identify food.

As soon as this incident happened, netizens' sympathy for him plummeted. In addition, the evaluation of one of the observers also changed, and he even shouted to the smoked chicken: Please smoke the chicken and distinguish between loyalty and treachery! This incident was also jokingly called "The Smoked Chicken Incident" by netizens.

Image source: "Goodbye, Love 4" November 8th program

Therefore, smoked chicken has also become popular. When searching for smoked chicken on e-commerce platforms, "Goodbye Lover Smoked Chicken" is listed prominently. The sales of Zhuozishan smoked chicken in the program have soared sharply, and the sales of one brand of smoked chicken in the online store have even increased by 100 times.

But if you look closely, you will find that smoked chicken also has a long history. Different regions have different types of smoked chicken. What are the differences between these smoked chickens? Which one is the most delicious?

What are the characteristics of different smoked chickens?

There are many time-honored smoked chicken brands in China that are highly recognized by consumers and have strong regional characteristics. The most famous ones are Goubangzi smoked chicken and Zhuozi smoked chicken.

1. Goubangzi smoked chicken

Goubangzi smoked chicken was first created in the 15th year of the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty (1889 AD). It is a specialty of Goubangzi Town, Beizhen City, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province. It is also one of the famous local specialty braised meat products in my country. It is known as the "Four Famous Chickens in China" together with Dezhou Braised Chicken, Daokou Roast Chicken and Fuliji Roast Chicken.

Goubangzi smoked chicken has a distinct aroma, and its appearance is oily yellow and dark red, with tender meat and a smooth taste. It is also beautifully shaped. First, the chicken leg bones are broken and coiled into the belly, then the right chicken wing is inserted through the incision on the lower side of the chicken head and out from the mouth, then the chicken head is coiled up, and finally the chicken butt tip and belly skin are tied up (traditionally with horseweed).

Image source: an e-commerce platform

2. Zhuozi Smoked Chicken

The smoked chicken that became popular in the "smoked chicken incident" in "Goodbye, Lover 4" is Zhuozi smoked chicken, also known as Zhuozi Mountain smoked chicken. Zhuozi Mountain smoked chicken is a traditional delicacy in Zhuozi County, Ulanqab City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It is deeply loved by consumers for its large size, ruddy color, delicious taste and tender meat.

Zhuozi smoked chicken was founded in the 1920s and has a history of nearly 100 years. It is made by inheritors of smoked products in Hebei Province who combine the original smoked product technology with local braised chicken methods.

Zhuozi smoked chicken is usually made from three-flowered chicken or reed-flowered chicken. The best local chicken for making smoked chicken is the red-feathered chicken, a native chicken from Zhuozi. The traditional process is to heat the smoke pot, add an appropriate amount of sugar and sawdust (camphor), put an iron grate, put the marinated chicken on the grate, cover it and smoke for 3 to 5 minutes. The modern process uses a smoke box, and the chicken is hooked into the smoke box by the neck, which is fully smoked and evenly flavored and colored. Some also have a continuous feeding function, which greatly improves efficiency and ensures the quality of smoking.

Image source: an e-commerce platform

In addition to the above, there are many delicious smoked chickens, such as Liaocheng smoked chicken produced in Liaocheng City, Shandong Province. It is cooked in a brine with more than 20 kinds of precious Chinese medicines during the production process, and then smoked for 24 hours (the smoking time of Goubangzi smoked chicken is mostly 2-3 minutes), with a large loss of water and low water content. Because of the low water content, the salty taste is more obvious, and the meat is slightly harder than other smoked chickens.

In addition, there are Leting smoked chicken, Yutian smoked chicken, Jinshan smoked chicken, Tengqiao smoked chicken, etc. Although these smoked chickens have different names, the production processes are generally similar, and only some differences in details create different smoked chicken flavors.

Why does smoked chicken make people addicted?

Many people say that once they start eating smoked chicken, it is hard to stop. Especially when they tear open the chicken, they can smell the strong aroma, which makes people swallow their saliva. Before they know it, they will "finish" a chicken.

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Why is smoked chicken so delicious? In fact, the reason why smoked chicken is so delicious is closely related to its production process.

During the cooking and heating process of smoked chicken, the double bonds of unsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic acid, linoleic acid and arachidonic acid, will undergo oxidation reactions, and hydroxy fatty acids will be hydrolyzed to form hydroxy acids, which will be dehydrated and cyclized by heating to form lipid compounds, producing a pleasant meaty aroma; in addition, the vitamin B1 rich in chicken will produce sulfur-containing compounds such as thiazole and thiophene during the heating process, which has a strong meaty aroma; the sugar used in the production of smoked chicken will undergo the Maillard reaction at high temperatures, which makes an important contribution to the improvement of the color and flavor of the smoked chicken; the seasonings and spices used in the cooking of smoked chicken also have an important influence on the flavor formation of the smoked chicken.

In addition to the salty, umami and sweet flavors produced during the production process, the smoky flavor is the "big trick" of smoked chicken.

Smoking is different from barbecue. It is a cooking method that uses smoke produced by incomplete combustion of wood to smoke food. It can give food a unique smoky flavor.

The type of wood you choose when smoking is the key to affecting the flavor of food. Wood contains lignin. The higher the lignin content, the harder the structure and the higher the burning temperature. Lignin is the key substance that makes smoked food delicious. Most of the aromatic compounds in the smoked flavor come from the burning of lignin. When the temperature is higher than 300℃, lignin will decompose into phenolic compounds with an earthy fragrance, exuding the special aroma of vanilla and cloves, as well as spicy and sweet taro.

In addition, the sugars in the cellulose and hemicellulose in the wood will also decompose when they are burned, giving off sweet, fruity, floral and bready aromas. Most wood also contains protein, which can produce browning reactions to color food and also produce baking aromas.

These complex flavor compounds permeate the food, giving smoked chicken a unique and complex flavor.

Smoked chicken is delicious, but it is often not eaten properly

However, there is one thing I must remind everyone about smoked chicken!

During the processing of smoked food, carcinogens such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and benzopyrene may be produced, and pollutants such as formaldehyde, N-nitroso compounds and β-carboline alkaloids may also be present. The "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents" mentions that eating smoked food frequently may increase the risk of gastric cancer and esophageal cancer.

Moreover, many smoked chickens taste salty and have a high salt content. Eating them frequently or eating too much at one time may lead to excessive salt intake throughout the day, increase the risk of high blood pressure, and increase the burden on the kidneys.

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Although hand-shredded smoked chicken not only relieves stress but also satisfies our taste buds, for the sake of health, don’t be greedy!

References

[1] Zhang Xudong, Wang Dianfu, Li Li. Analysis of microbial distribution during smoked chicken processing[J]. Journal of Microbiology, 2015, 35(06): 109-112.

[2] Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Market Supervision Administration http://amr.nmg.gov.cn/zw/zyxw/202410/t20241017_2592112.html

[3] Zhan Yong, Yang Yong, Li Xiaobin, et al. Zhuozi smoked chicken technology[J]. Meat Industry, 2019, (07): 12-13.

[4] Zhao Zhinan. Comparative analysis of edible quality of smoked chicken with different local characteristics[D]. Bohai University, 2019.

[5] Written by Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young, and Maxime Billet; Photographed by Ryan Matthew Smith and Nathan Myhrvold; Translated by the Modernist Cuisine Translation Team. Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, Volume 2: History and Foundations [M]. Beijing: Beijing Fine Arts Photography Publishing House, September 2016.

[6] Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents[M]. People's Medical Publishing House. 2022

Planning and production

Author: Xue Qingxin, member of Chinese Nutrition Society, registered nutritionist, health manager, public nutritionist

Review丨Zhang Yu, researcher/PhD, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, national health science expert