The whole chicken for the altar

Ingredientsserves 6

Equipment

• A stockpot big enough to take the whole bird, head and feet, with room to spare
• A big bowl of iced water, and a probe thermometer
• A platter that takes the bird without folding it; failing that, a roasting tray lined with foil

How the time splits

1. 20 minBoil the water, prepare the bird, dip and lift it three timeshands on
2. 35 minThe bird steeps off the heathands off
3. 15 minCheck the temperature, ice bath, brush with oilhands on
4. 1 hrOn the altarhands off
5. 15 minBack to the kitchen to chop for the tablehands on

Method

1. A bird bought for the altar comes with its head and feet on and the giblets wrapped separately. Clean the cavity, pull out the fat, trim the claws, wash the giblets and tuck them back inside: an altar bird must be complete, and one missing piece and it does not count.
2. Bring a big pot of water to the boil with the ginger, spring onion, salt and wine. Holding the bird by the neck, lower it into the boiling water and lift it out, three times over, so the cavity fills with hot water and the skin tightens.
3. Submerge the bird breast down, and when the water comes back to the boil, cover it and turn the heat to the lowest or off. Steep it thirty to thirty-five minutes for a 1.6 kg bird, turning it once halfway with a chopstick in the cavity, never through the skin: the skin of an altar bird must be whole, and a torn one is bad luck.
4. Put the probe into the thickest part of the thigh; it must reach 75 °C, and the giblets inside must be cooked through too. If it is not there, steep five minutes more and check again.
5. Lift the bird into the iced water for ten minutes, dry it, and brush it all over with sesame oil so the skin shines. Set the head straight, tuck the wings in, and lay it whole and uncut on the platter.
6. On the altar, the roast pork goes in the middle, the chicken on the left, and a roast duck or a fish on the right, all with their heads towards the altar. The chicken can stand at room temperature for two hours at the very most, and less in hot weather; take it back to the kitchen as soon as the offering is done.
7. Only back in the kitchen is it chopped, reassembled in its shape on the plate and served with the ginger dip, made as for 白切雞. Leftovers go into the fridge that day and must be reheated right through before eating.

Take care

• Poultry, sesame. The thickest part of the thigh must reach 75 °C, and the giblets in the cavity must be cooked through as well. An altar bird stands at room temperature for two hours at most, less in the heat; refrigerate leftovers the same day and reheat them right through.

The story

The cooking is 白切雞's; this page is about the altar. An altar chicken must be complete — head, feet and giblets, not a single cut — as a mark of respect. It should be a young cockerel, for its vigour, and it must be poached white, never soy-braised, because the offering should be 清清白白, clean and white, and a dark bird is a bad omen. The three offerings are laid out, and only when the worship is over does the bird go back to the kitchen to be chopped, which is why the 白切雞 on the reunion table has always been cold for an hour. 拜神唔見雞, the chicken that vanished from the altar, is a joke every Hong Kong child knows, and this is the chicken it is about.

Same kind

Pork hock braised with dried oysters and peanutsTaro and pork belly, steamed and turned outPoon choi, the walled-village basin

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.