After freezing, boiling chicken can easily cause the meat to become bland and crumbly if you are not skillful in handling it.

Why is boiled frozen chicken not delicious?

Chicken after freezing often has reduced nutrition compared to fresh chicken. Furthermore, freezing causes the chicken to cool down. When boiled, it is exposed to hot water, so if not handled carefully, the chicken will suffer heat shock, making the meat friable, not delicious, and losing all its fresh juices.

However, many families often buy delicious chicken from the countryside, so they cannot help but store it in the freezer. Many people don’t handle it well, so they blame it on the fact that the chicken has been frozen so it’s no longer delicious when boiled.

Apply the tips below, defrosted and boiled chicken will still be delicious, you can’t even tell the difference.

Defrosting is extremely important

If not defrosted properly, boiled chicken will be very crumbly and the meat will be dry. To defrost properly, you must remove the chicken from the freezer to the refrigerator for about 1 night so that the chicken can completely defrost without worrying about infection like defrosting at normal temperature.

The chicken must be completely thawed inside, the meat must be soft, then boiled to be as delicious as fresh chicken. But if it’s hot and defrost outside, when it thaws inside, the outside will be contaminated. Therefore, it must be kept in the refrigerator. Furthermore, if the chicken is not defrosted completely, when boiled, the chicken will be dry and less sweet.

So remember to defrost it completely before boiling the frozen chicken.

The chicken must be completely defrosted before being boiled so the chicken will not dry out

How to boil delicious chicken

After defrosting, wash the chicken with diluted salt water to clean and remove refrigerator odors from the chicken. When boiled, the chicken will smell like fresh chicken.

Choose a pot large enough to fit the chicken to avoid tearing its skin due to being too tight in the crib. The amount of water that covers the chicken is best.

There are 2 ways to boil: 

– Boil from cold water: Put the chicken in the pot with the thighs facing down. Add enough water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer until the chicken cooks slowly without tearing the skin.

– Boil from boiling water: Bring a pot of water to a boil and then drop the chicken in. Let the water simmer immediately so it won’t tear the chicken’s skin and the chicken’s fresh water won’t be absorbed into the boiling water, so the sweetness of the chicken will be retained. But remember not to let the water boil for long, but let it simmer until the chicken cooks slowly.

In both of the above methods, you need to remember not to let the chicken lie in boiling water because it will be soft on the outside but not cooked on the inside, leading to a situation where when the inside is cooked, the outside is too soft and loses its sweetness, or the outside is overcooked. but inside is still alive.

To make the chicken have an attractive aroma, add 1 grilled onion, grilled ginger, and a few lemon leaves into the pot of chicken broth. Add a little seasoning to make the chicken more flavorful.

You can add a little turmeric into the pot of boiling water to help the chicken adhere to the turmeric color and turn the skin golden. You can also add turmeric mixed with fat and then brush evenly over the chicken body after boiling.

– By simmering chicken, the chicken cooks slowly so it cooks evenly, the chicken is delicious and the skin is not torn, the sweetness is not lost, the meat is tender, and when chopped, the chicken inside is succulent.

When you take the chicken out, immediately put it in a bowl of cold ice water. The heat will shock the chicken, which will help crisp the skin and keep the juices in the meat.

Let the chicken cool completely before chopping so the chicken will not fall apart and will be in beautiful pieces.

You need to cut the chicken with a sharp, heavy knife so that the pieces of chicken will be beautiful.

Note: Many people when boiling chicken use chopsticks too much into the chicken and it will secrete sweet juice. Many people use a knife to cut into the chicken thighs to help them cook quickly. This method causes the chicken to lose its juice and the chicken meat becomes dry and not succulent inside. You should avoid doing that. Let the chicken heal and braise the chicken as above, depending on the size of the chicken, braise for about 15-20 minutes then turn off the stove and continue braising. Take a thermometer into the chicken and see that it shows 80 degrees, which means the chicken is done. Or use a toothpick to penetrate deep into the chicken thigh and see there is no red juice left, then it’s done.