Black chickens are also known as silkie chicken which can also be spelled as silky chicken.
Photo source: Sugar Pond at flickr
The silky chicken is fairly small compared to a normal chicken. It does not necessarily have black feathers. In fact, its plummage is more furry than feathers and many have snowy white plummage.
It is called black chicken because its beak, bones, flesh, skin and even internal organs are black or dark blue in colour.
It doesn't look very appealing because of the dark colour and the meat is fairly dry (in my opinion) but it is valued for its curative effects.
Modern scientific research has discovered that the silky chicken's level of protein, vitamin B, 18 amino acids and minerals are much higher than normal chicken while cholesterol and saturated fats are much lower.
It is almost always prepared in tonics or herbal soups together with chinese herbs to alleviate certain ailments such as fatigue, osteoporosis and iron deficient anaemia.
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I personally prefer black chickens in herbal soups so here are 3 soup recipes.
A light nourishing tonic for the ladies
Ingredients1 black chicken
8 red dates 红枣 (hong zao)
1 teaspoon of goji berries 枸杞子 (gou qi zi)
500ml water
salt to taste
Substitute with a small fresh chicken if you can't find or do not like the silky.
Directions- Wash the little black bird and cut into smaller pieces
- Parboil the chicken in water for 2 minutes and trim away any excess or visible fats. Parboil means to boil the chicken in a pot of water for about 10 minutes
- Place the chicken, dried goji berries and red dates into a slow cooker
- Boil the water and pour into the slow cooker
- Using the low setting, gently simmer the ingredients for 25 minutes
- Add a pinch of salt to the soup before serving
Recipe link: A light nourishing tonic for the ladies
Soup with goji berries and chinese yam
Photo source: casual chin at flickr
This soup is doubled boiled using a ceramic double boiling jar. If you do not have one, you can use a ceramic tureen with a cover and steam it in a large stock pot or wok. Bring the water in the pot to a boil and lower the heat and simmer.
Recipe link: Black chicken soup with goji berries and chinese yam
Herbal hair tonic
This soup is a common soup tonic for both men and women. It contains he shou wu, ginseng, red dates and ginger. It is steamed in a big wok.
Recipe link: Herbal hair tonic
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