Fastest Hands in the Far East? Hand Shredded Salted Chicken in Guangzhou

Something that I’ve loved since I was a child and was never able to find in Canada is hand shredded salted chicken. The chicken is normally steamed, then hand shredded before being mixed in a magical flavour potion. If done right, the skin will silky smooth, slippery and bouncy while the meat is tender, juicy and give you a punch of spices and flavour. I know this description sounds odd but this is probably one of the few instances where a piece of saucy chicken skin is slurp-able. This dish is never spicy and while it’s typically served as one of the dishes to go with rice during dinner, I love eating this just by itself with a side of beer or rice wine at the end of the night.

So where can you get this magical dish? My favourite place is a small restaurant in the Liwan District called Zuixianju Restaurant (map below). I try to drop by at least once per trip. What is amazing is that they can de-bone half a chicken in 1 minute. This was probably under $50 RMB, which is under $10.00 CAD for half a chicken, shredded before your very eyes. When I say half a chicken, I do mean half a chicken. You will get one chicken feet and half of a chicken head. It’s amazing what you can fit into a small box.

All I want is a place that will sell perfectly cooked and seasoned chicken shredded in one minute on the same continent as me. Is that too much to ask??

Box of hand shredded, salted chicken