Chicken (food) - Edible Components

Edible Components

Main

• Breast: These are white meat and are relatively dry.
• Leg: Comprises two segments: 1) The "drumstick"; this is dark meat and is the lower part of the leg, 2) the "thigh"; also dark meat, this is the upper part of the leg.
• Wing: Comprises three segments: 1) the "drumette", shaped like a small drumstick, 2) the middle "flat" segment, containing two bones, and 3) the tip, sometimes discarded. Wings are often served as a light meal or bar food. Buffalo wings are a typical example.

Exotic

• Chicken feet: These contain relatively little meat, and are eaten mainly for the skin and cartilage. Although considered exotic in Western cuisine, the feet are common fare in other cuisines, especially in the Caribbean and China.
• Giblets: organs such as the heart, gizzards, and liver may be included inside a butchered chicken or sold separately.
• Head: Considered a delicacy in China, the head is split down the middle, and the brains and other tissue is eaten.
• Kidneys: Normally left in when a broiler carcass is processed, they are found in deep pockets on each side of the vertebral column.
• Neck: This is served in various Asian dishes.
• Oysters: Located on the back, near the thigh, these small, round pieces of dark meat are often considered to be a delicacy.
• Pygostyle (chicken's buttocks) and testicles: These are commonly eaten in East Asia and some parts of South East Asia.

By-products

• Blood: Immediately after slaughter, blood may be drained into a receptacle, which is then used in various products. In many Asian countries, the blood is poured into low, cylindrical forms, and left to congeal in to into disc-like cakes for sale. These are commonly cut into cubes, and used in soup dishes.
• Carcase: After the removal of the flesh, this is used for soup stock.
• Chicken eggs
• Heart and gizzard
• Liver: This is the largest organ of the chicken, and is used in such dishes as Pâté and chopped liver.
• Schmaltz: This is produced by rendering the fat, and is used in various dishes.