Hoanh Bo chicken is a distinctive local breed whose fragrant, sweet meat is favored by diners. The Hoanh Bo rustic roast chicken dish preserves nearly all the natural flavor of the chicken meat along with the aroma of Northwest spices.
Traveling to Quang Ninh, remember to enjoy the specialty of Hoanh Bo rustic roast chicken
Hoanh Bo rustic roast chicken is made from a local specialty breed. This breed is small, with hens weighing only 1.8 – 2.2 kg and capons 2.5 – 3 kg. These chickens have very small, short legs with bright yellow skin.
Through generations of farming, local residents have selected the breed and perfected the best care routine. To ensure flavorful, delicious chicken, locals have their own farming secrets. The chickens are mainly free-range, fed on “bloomed paddy and corn”—meaning unhusked rice and corn that are soaked and boiled (as this breed has a sensitive digestive system, boiling the grains helps them digest more easily).
Hoanh Bo chicken. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
After the free-range phase comes the “caged” fattening phase. During this time, the chickens are kept completely cooped up, fed warm cooked rice, and kept from moving around to fatten them up, making the meat more fragrant and tender. According to folk experience, locals sometimes even give the chickens warm water and hang the cages from trees to prevent diseases.
With a good breed and meticulous care, Hoanh Bo chicken is highly sought after as a culinary specialty. Notably, when boiled, the chicken has glossy yellow skin that is thin and crispy, with very little subcutaneous fat. Sometimes, as the chicken is being boiled and chopped in the kitchen below, guests in the living room upstairs can already catch the rising fragrant aroma.
Ingredients for marinating the chicken. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
To make Hoanh Bo rustic roast chicken, the most crucial step is preparing the marinade mixture. Spices and aromatics such as lemongrass, shallots, garlic, chili, galangal, doi seeds, and mac khen seeds are finely chopped and crushed in a mortar. The highlight is the doi seeds and mac khen seeds—two signature spices of the Northwest mountainous region.
Mac khen seeds.
Next, pour the spice blend into a bowl and season with sugar, seasoning powder, fish sauce, soy sauce, and more. All of the crushed seasonings are stuffed inside the chicken's cavity along with a sprig of pandan leaves. Notably, a beer can is also inserted into the chicken's cavity to both enhance flavor and help shape the chicken.
Doi seeds.
Finally, the chicken is tightly wrapped in fresh banana leaves, covered with an inverted cast-iron pot, and then smothered with rice husk ash and charcoal, which is kept continuously burning. In this manner, the chicken is roasted for about 4 – 5 hours as the cast-iron pot continuously heats up and cooks the meat inside.
After nearly 5 hours buried under hot ash and embers, the Hoanh Bo rustic roast chicken is ready to serve. The finished chicken boasts thin, crispy golden skin with very little fat. Even though it is roasted whole, the meat remains evenly tender right down to each fiber, and remarkably, the flavorful natural juices are almost completely retained.
The finished roast chicken. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
Although it takes nearly 5 hours of waiting before savoring the dish, the chicken will not disappoint even the most discerning diners. From its fragrant aroma to the flavor of the meat, it is unlike any other roast chicken. Dipping the chicken into a custom-blended sauce creates a truly complete, authentic feast.
