Air-Dried Chicken (風雞)

Air-dried chicken (風雞) is an authentic YangZhou (揚州) dish that is famously served in Taipei's Silver Wing Restaurant (銀翼餐廳). The traditional method used to air-dry the chicken meat in open air seems error prone, due to its dependence on weather, esp. the humidity. Our previous attempt to make it in open air was met with a somewhat spectacular failure :-). The recipe below followed this excellent Chinese online recipe pretty closely, with experiments conducted to nail down the quantity of marinating ingredients. The key to success here is to air-dry the chicken in the fridge. We also devised two serving options at the end.

Ingredients

1. ~3 lbs of chicken leg and thigh (with skin and bone). Note- Costco chicken thighs work as well.
2. Per Pound Marinating Ingredients: 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp Chinese Peppercorns (花椒).

Method

1. Pan fry (without oil) at low-to-medium heat- For each pound of chicken leg and thigh, add 1 tsp of salt and 2 tsp of Chinese Peppercorns (花椒), stir constantly till fragrant and the salt turns slightly brown (i.e., the color of the Chinese Peppercorn). Let cool on the side.  Note- The chicken turns out slightly salty. Will reduce the salt and peppercorn to half of its quantities on the next try.
2. Trim excessive skin from the chicken leg and thigh. Rub the pan-fried salt and peppercorns on both sides of the chicken evenly.  
3. Set the chicken leg and thigh in a large plastic container with NO lid.  Leave the chicken in fridge for 7 days (in open air in the refrigeration section, not in the freezer). Turn pieces and drain liquid every 24 hrs. Here is a picture of the back and front side of a piece of chicken leg and thigh, after being air-dried for 7 days in the fridge.
   
4. After 7 days, place the chicken meat in proper plastic bags, and freeze for later use. 
5. When ready to use, remove the Chinese Peppercorns from the chicken meat as much as possible. Steam the chicken for 30 minutes.
6. Hand-shred the chicken meat (along with the skin) into thin slices, and set aside.
7. [Serving Option 1] 3-4 stalks of green onions (slant cut into 1”-1.5”-long thin slices). Heat 2-3 Tbsp of veggie oil at low-to-medium heat till below smoke point (for 30-60 seconds). Pour the heated oil on top of the thin slices of green onions. Stir and set aside.  Thinly slice half a red bell pepper, and add 1/4 tsp of salt into the bell pepper slices. Stir and mix, and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Mix the hand shredded chicken, the green onion slices, and the red bell pepper slices, and serve.
8. [Serving Option 2] Set 2-3 cups of cooked rice in fridge over night. Prepare 2 scrambled eggs, and set aside (with NO salt added here). Mince 1 stalk of green onion.  Heat 1 Tbsp of veggie oil at medium-to-high heat, add in the cooked rice and the shredded chicken, stir for 2-3 minutes, add in the scrambled eggs, stir for another 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat. Add in the minced green onion. Stir and mix, and serve.