Fengkai apricot chicken is produced in the areas of apricot blossom and fishing waterlogging in Fengkai County, Zhaoqing City. Because local farmers keep it under the bamboo forest by the stream or under the pine trees on the mountain, it is often eaten by weeds and insects and ants, so it has three characteristics: thin, yellow and short, that is, thin head and thin bones; Yellow mouth, yellow hair and yellow feet; Short body and short neck.
Apricot chicken has plump muscles and uniform fat distribution. Whether it is white cut or steamed, it is as tender, smooth, fresh and sweet, especially white cut. Because the apricot flower chicken slices are cooked with boiling water at 90 degrees Celsius after the chicken is slaughtered and washed, the skin is golden and shiny, and it tastes fresh, sweet and fragrant. The market price is about a catty in 20 yuan. (Zhaoqing)
Xinghua Chicken, a famous chicken in China, is one of the three famous chickens in Guangdong. It's a famous brand, golden phoenix, which is produced in Xinghua Town, Fengkai County. Its appearance features are "three yellow" (yellow feather, yellow mouth and yellow feet), "three short" (short neck, short body and short feet) and "two thin" (thin head and thin limbs). Its body shape is characterized by small size, strong physique and symmetrical structure; Its physical characteristics are thin bones and delicate muscles, and it is famous for its crisp skin and delicious taste. Its nutritional components (because of its good variety, good breeding environment and good breeding feed) are higher than those of other breeds of chickens.
Chicken with preserved apricot can be made into various delicacies by cooking methods such as white-cut chicken, soy sauce, salt sauce, hand-roasted, roasted, braised, fried, steamed, braised and stewed, and can also be used as a whole chicken feast, among which "white-cut chicken" can best reflect the unique fresh and smooth taste of chicken with preserved apricot.
The Historical Origin of Apricot Chicken
Fengkai Xinghua Chicken originated from Xinghua Commune, Fengkai County, Guangdong Province. According to historical records, apricot chicken has a breeding history of 1000 years. As early as the Qing Dynasty, apricot blossom chicken was always presented to the imperial court as a tribute. Fengkai belongs to the ancient capital of Lingnan. It is said that Mo Xuanxin, the first scholar in the Tang Dynasty, brought apricot chicken, a local specialty, to Kyoto for emperors and ministers to enjoy. Because of its excellent taste, it is a feast for Pleurotus eryngii and chicken, and the saying that "no chicken is a feast" spread like wildfire. Apricot chickens are mainly distributed in Fengkai County. In 1980s, the annual feeding amount reached more than 65.438+0 million. It has the characteristics of early maturity, easy fattening, uniform distribution under the skin and between muscles, thin bones and fine muscle fibers, and belongs to small high-quality chicken breeds. Apricot Chicken is one of the 30 chicken breeds listed in China Poultry Breed Catalogue after being approved by the National Breed Catalogue Editorial Committee, ranking first among the three famous chickens in Guangdong.
Main characteristics, origin and distribution of apricot chicken
Apricot Chicken is named after its main producing area is apricot flower in Fengkai County, Guangdong Province. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was renamed Xinghua Township. It is also called "Mi Zi Chicken" locally. It has the characteristics of precocity, easy weight gain, uniform distribution of subcutaneous and intermuscular fat, thin skin and tender muscle fibers. It is a small high-quality broiler, and it is one of the famous chickens with high export economic value of live chickens in China. Apricot chickens are mainly distributed in Fengkai County, Guangdong Province, with an annual feeding capacity of more than 6,543,800+100,000. Apricot chickens have plump muscles and uniform fat distribution. Whether it is boiled or steamed, it is as tender, smooth, fresh and sweet, especially boiled. Apricot chicken is slaughtered and washed and soaked in boiling water at 90 degrees Celsius, so its skin is golden, shiny and delicious. Fengkai Apricot Chicken originated from Fengkai Apricot Chicken, Yulao Chicken and Liandu Chicken. In addition to its excellent varieties, it is mainly because local farmers keep it under bamboo forests by streams or pine trees on mountains, and often feed it with weeds, insects and ants.
Formation of apricot chicken breeds
Fengkai County, located in the northwest of Guangdong Province, is a subtropical region. The Tropic of Cancer runs through this territory. The territory is hilly and the soil is mostly sandy, taking volcanic mud, which is unique to Xinghua Town, as a typical example. In the late 1980s, the story "the Monkey King borrows a banana fan" of new journey to the west was filmed in Yonghe Village, next to the Shui Gu line of the provincial road S226 in Xinghua Town.
In addition to planting early food crops such as rice, corn, wheat, broad beans, peanuts, sweet potatoes and cassava, farmers in closed areas also planted fruit trees on hillsides, villages and streams, providing a good natural environment for local chicken industry and stocking. Because apricot chicken has plump chest muscles, slender muscles, thin skin and uniform subcutaneous fat distribution, it is suitable for cooking white-cut chicken. The finished product has luster and crisp and delicious skin (so-called "glass skin"), which conforms to the habit of Guangdong and Guangxi people who have high requirements for food and emphasize the original flavor. At the same time, it is a good seasoning for wine and is very popular with consumers. As early as 19 15, it was exported to all provinces and ports, and the price was more than 30% higher than that of ordinary chickens at that time, which played a certain role in promoting the directional cultivation of high-quality meat apricot chickens. Xinghua Township is located in the hinterland of mountainous areas. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the traffic was extremely inconvenient, and foreign chickens were rarely introduced. In addition, in history, local people once raised "three yellow" chickens (yellow mouth, yellow feathers and yellow feet), and after long-term breeding, they formed excellent local meat varieties with consistent appearance characteristics and stable heritability.
Meat quality characteristics of apricot chicken
Apricot chicken has plump muscles and uniform fat distribution. Whether it is boiled or steamed, it is as tender, smooth, fresh and sweet, especially boiled. Apricot chicken is slaughtered and washed, soaked in boiling water at 90 degrees Celsius, so its skin is golden, shiny, fresh and sweet, refreshing and fragrant.
Apricot chickens are mainly stocked and feed on natural bait all day, so apricot chickens grow slowly in the early stage. Under the condition of using compound feed, the sexual maturity of Xinghua chicken is about 1 10 days. According to the measurement, the average weight of 1 12-day-old cock is 1256. 1g, and the average weight of hen is1032.7g. Laying hens are generally raised to 5-6 months old and weigh about1000-. After finishing 10- 15d, the body weight can be increased to 1 150- 1300. Apricot chicken feathers grow faster. At the age of 3 days, chicks began to grow main wing feathers, which were 0.5- 1.5 cm long. At the age of 20, they began to grow the main tail feathers. At the age of 40, all parts of their bodies began to grow, and at the age of 60, they were covered with feathers. Hens grow feathers faster than cocks 10d or more. According to the slaughter measurement of 1 12-day-old chickens, the semi-clean chamber slaughter rate was 79.0% for cocks and 76.0% for hens, and the full clean chamber slaughter rate was 74.7% for cocks and 70.0% for hens. The skin is mostly light yellow. Because the skin is thin and has subcutaneous fat, it is fine and smooth, the intramuscular fat is evenly distributed, and the meat quality is excellent, which is suitable for white-cut chicken. According to 1983, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of South China Agricultural College and Guangdong Poultry Research Institute used the same batch of chickens with different weeks as fixed-point measurements of chest muscles. The results showed that the muscle fiber diameter of Xinghua chicken at different growth stages was smaller than that of Shiqiza, the main commercial broiler in Hong Kong at present.
Fengkai Xinghua Chicken, named after its origin in Xinghua Town, Fengkai County, is also known as the three famous chickens in Guangdong with Ma Qing original chicken and Huiyang bearded chicken.
First of all, it has the specificity of origin:
Fengkai is a national geological park with good climate and environment, high oxygen content in the air, rich iron molecules in water, sandy soil, rich crops such as corn, peanuts and cassava, pollution-free feed sources unmatched in other places, and a good natural stocking environment. Yunfu, Foshan, Guangzhou in the province, Jiangsu, Beijing and other places outside the province also have introduced breeding, but the quality is quite different from the origin.
Second, it has the specificity of appearance:
Pure apricot chickens are small in size, and their body characteristics can be summarized as "two thin" (thin head and thin feet), "three yellow" (yellow mouth, yellow feathers and yellow feet) and "three short" (short neck, short body and short feet). Chickens are mainly "three yellows", and cocks have big heads and big crowns. The hen's head is very small, and the feathers at the root of the neck are mostly sesame spots, which are shaped like black pearl necklaces. The scales of male hen's feet are round, the inside of the main feather and aileron feather are mostly black, and there are several Kuroha in the tail feather. The adult cock weighs about 2.5 kg and the hen weighs about 1.5 kg.
Third, it has excellent quality:
Xinghua chicken has the characteristics of early maturity, easy fattening, uniform distribution of subcutaneous and intramuscular fat, thin bone skin and tender muscle fiber. The carcass is in the shape of "Shatian pomelo", which is most suitable for cooking white-cut chicken. The finished skin is bright and transparent, crisp and delicious (also called "glass skin"), which conforms to the delicious habit and emphasizes the original flavor. It is a good table wine for wine and is very popular with consumers.
Four. Evaluation and prospect
Apricot chicken is one of the local breeds with excellent meat quality. But there are also some shortcomings, such as low egg production, low fertilization rate and slow early growth. Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry of our county invested heavily in species conservation and breeding, and cooperated with Guangdong Poultry Research Institute to develop the current commercial broilers, which not only maintained the appearance and flavor of apricot chickens, but also improved the production performance. Through the joint efforts of all walks of life, Fengkai Apricot Chicken registered the "golden phoenix" brand trademark, obtained the national geographical trademark certificate, obtained the national pollution-free food certification in 2003, and won the title of Guangdong famous brand product in 2006.