What Kind of Chicken Is the Three-Yellow Chicken? A Detailed Guide to Breeds, Recipes and Farming Techniques

Chicken is one of the common meat dishes on our dining tables, nourishing the blood and building health, loved by both the elderly and children. The name “Three-Yellow Chicken” was personally bestowed by Zhu Yuanzhang. This chicken is raised free-range by farming households in the natural environment. Its meat is tender, its flavor delicious and its nutrition rich, and it enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad. So what kind of chicken is the Three-Yellow Chicken? What breeds of Three-Yellow Chicken are there? What farming techniques are used for Three-Yellow Chicken? How do you cook Three-Yellow Chicken so it tastes good?

I. What kind of chicken is the Three-Yellow Chicken?

The Three-Yellow Chicken is one of the most famous native chickens in China. Its name was personally bestowed by Zhu Yuanzhang, and it ranks first in the authoritative work of the Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese Poultry Breeds. It is raised free-range by farming households in the natural environment; its meat is tender, its flavor delicious and its nutrition rich, and it enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad. It has excellent characteristics such as a small body size, a “three-yellow” appearance (yellow feathers, yellow feet, yellow beak), strong survival ability, high egg production and tender meat. An adult chicken weighs about 3-4 kg.

The Three-Yellow Chicken has densely covering yellow feathers all over its body. The rooster's neck feathers are golden yellow, the main wing feathers are red mixed with black, and the tail feathers are black; the hen's main wing feathers are half yellow and half black, the tail feathers are black, and the neck feathers are mixed with speckled black-gray feathers. The beak is yellow, with a single comb; the rooster's comb is relatively high, with 5-7 comb teeth. The comb and wattles are bright red, the eyelids are thin, the iris is orange-yellow, and the ears are pale yellow. The shanks and feet are yellow, with no feathers. The body is compact, well-proportioned and dainty, with a straight back, tightly held wings and high-raised tail feathers, shaped like a “gold ingot.” The head is moderate in size.

II. What breeds of Three-Yellow Chicken are there?

The Three-Yellow Chicken includes many breeds and is very widely distributed. In Guangdong there are mainly the Three-Yellow Bearded Chicken, Qingyuan Partridge Chicken, Xinghua Chicken, Zhongshan Shalan Chicken, Yangshan Chicken, Wenchang Chicken and Huaixiang Chicken; there are also the Pudong Chicken of Shanghai, the Xiaoshan Chicken of Zhejiang, the Beijing You Chicken, the Putian Chicken of Fujian, and the Shouguang Chicken of Shandong, among others. These Three-Yellow Chickens are deeply welcomed by consumers in the domestic market, in Hong Kong, China, Macao, China and Taiwan, China, and in Southeast Asia.

III. Farming techniques for the Three-Yellow Chicken

1. Building the chicken coop

The Three-Yellow Chicken has relatively high requirements for its coop: it must have good warmth retention. Especially during the brooding period, the chicks are weak and very easily chilled, which can lead to death, so the coop's warmth retention must be good. In addition, the coop is best with a cement floor, and it should also have a slight slope, which makes it convenient to clean and disinfect the coop. The coop must have good ventilation measures; in summer's high temperatures, poor ventilation will cause the entire flock to become listless. The coop should also contain feeding equipment and lighting equipment, which makes feeding convenient and provides lighting conditions.

2. Feeding techniques

The most important thing in feeding the Three-Yellow Chicken is water. Water is an indispensable substance in the growth of the Three-Yellow Chicken; its water intake is 2-3 times its feed intake, and especially in high-temperature seasons the water intake will be even greater. Therefore, providing sufficient water is an important guarantee for the success of raising Three-Yellow Chickens.

When the chicks enter the coop, first disinfect the coop. After they enter, first feed them sugar water by hand, and wait for them to slowly eat on their own. Drinking water utensils must be sufficient and placed evenly; their placement height should be adjusted as the chickens grow. To prevent water from spilling and making the coop damp, spread a layer of dry bedding material inside the coop. The Three-Yellow Chicken needs rich nutrition for growth, so the feed nutrition must be sufficient. To prevent the deficiency of any trace element, it must be evenly balanced.

3. Disease and epidemic prevention and control

In raising Three-Yellow Chickens, attention must be paid to the prevention and control of infectious diseases. These are spread by various pathogens through various routes; once an individual chicken becomes sick, it will spread on a large scale throughout the entire flock, causing great harm. The prevention and control of infectious diseases starts from three aspects: eliminating pathogens, cutting off transmission routes, and improving the chickens' resistance. Daily cleaning is the key point in reducing pathogens; the hygiene inside and outside the coop must be done well, and feeding equipment must also be cleaned in time. Sick or dead chickens found must be isolated and handled promptly to prevent the spread of pathogens from expanding. During feeding, the feed proportions must be evenly balanced to increase the various nutrients for the chickens' growth and improve the chickens' resistance.

IV. How do you cook Three-Yellow Chicken so it tastes good?

Three-Yellow Chicken Stewed with Potatoes

Ingredients: half a Three-Yellow Chicken, two potatoes. Seasonings: 5 g scallion, 2 g dried red chili, 1 g Sichuan peppercorn, 2 g star anise, 1 g bay leaf, 5 g cooking wine, 4 g dark soy sauce, 5 g sugar, 5 g salt, 2 g chicken essence.

Method:

1. Cut the chicken and potatoes into chunks.

2. Put oil in the wok over high heat; when it is 70% hot, add the scallion, dried red chili, Sichuan peppercorn, star anise and bay leaf. After they release their aroma, add the Three-Yellow Chicken and potatoes and stir-fry a few times, evenly.

3. Then add the cooking wine, dark soy sauce and sugar, add an appropriate amount of water, cover the wok and turn to medium heat, stirring occasionally in between, because with the sugar there is a risk of burning the pot.

4. Just before taking it off the heat, add the salt and chicken essence.

5. The stewing process takes about twenty-five minutes. Because woks and heat levels differ, adjust the time according to the actual situation.

Chestnut Three-Yellow Chicken

Ingredients: 1 Three-Yellow Chicken, 1 bowl of fresh chestnuts, half a bell pepper, salad oil, 4 g salt, rock sugar, 5 g ginger, 5 g garlic, 10 g light soy sauce, 5 g dark soy sauce, an appropriate amount of pepper powder, a little baijiu.

Method:

1. Preparation: Remove the head, tail, rump and fatty parts of the Three-Yellow Chicken, rinse the inner cavity clean, then chop into chunks and set aside. Remove the shells and skins of the raw chestnuts and set aside.

2. Add oil to the wok; when the oil is hot, fry the chestnut kernels and garlic cloves until the outer skin is fragrant and browned, then scoop them out and drain the oil, and set aside.

3. Leave the base oil in the wok, add the chicken chunks and stir-fry. When the chicken skin shrinks and curls and the oil comes out, add the rock sugar and stir-fry.

4. After stir-frying until the water has evaporated and the chicken chunks are coated with the caramel color, pour on 1 spoonful of baijiu and continue stir-frying.

5. Add the refined salt, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce to enhance the flavor and adjust the color. Transfer the chicken chunks into a clay pot, add clear water (or stock), just level with the surface of the ingredients, add ginger slices and knotted scallion, and bring to a boil over high heat.

6. Pour in the fried chestnut kernels and garlic cloves from step 2, mix well in the pot, turn to medium-low heat, cover and simmer.

Three-Yellow Chicken Stewed with Yuan Mushrooms

Ingredients: half a Three-Yellow Chicken, salad oil, salt, ginger, cooking wine, light soy sauce, scallion, white sugar, a little five-spice powder.

Method:

1. Wash the Three-Yellow Chicken, remove the unusable parts, then chop into small pieces. Boil briefly in water with added ginger and cooking wine, then drain the water.

2. Soak the dried Yuan mushrooms until swollen in warm water, pick them clean, tear into small pieces, then squeeze out the water.

3. Put a little oil into a clean wok; when it is 30% hot, add the scallion chunks and ginger slices to release their aroma, add the blanched chicken pieces and stir-fry over medium heat. After the fat in the chicken has been fried out, add the light soy sauce, cooking wine, white sugar and five-spice powder, stir-fry evenly, then add the soaked Yuan mushrooms and continue stir-frying for a while over medium heat.

4. Add an appropriate amount of boiling water to the wok, and after it comes to a boil, turn to medium-low heat and stew for about 40 minutes until the chicken is tender and falling apart. Add salt to season and it is ready.