Talking about the delicious and strange dishes of Hung Yen province, we cannot ignore the specialty Dong Tao chicken or Dong Cao chicken - a unique and rare breed of chicken in Vietnam.
The outstanding feature of this breed of chicken is its large, rough and ugly legs, with the impression of giant feet. This is also a pet of many people and is also a very popular gift every Tet holiday.
This is a special breed of chicken from Dong Tao commune, Khoai Chau district, Hung Yen province. People used to use it for worshiping and festivals, or to present to the King. Dong Tao chicken is on the list of rare poultry breeds in Vietnam whose genetic resources are currently being preserved.
The chicken is a large breed of chicken, with a majestic appearance, a large body, red skin, a majestic head, and sturdy legs. The male Dong Tao chicken has two basic feathers including plum (purple mixed with black) and plum color. The chicken also has rough legs, the pair of large rooster legs and surrounding the front legs is a layer of scaly skin arranged in no rows, the remaining part (3/4 of the area) is rough skin like the surface of a mulberry fruit, the 4 toes are spread out, the toes are clearly divided, the feet are thick and balanced so the chicken walks steadily. The rooster's comb is a sun comb (short and tapered) purple red, the wattles and earlobes are red, underdeveloped, looking neat and strong.
Hens have three basic coats: banana-shaped coat - light yellow, brown-shaped coat - the color of dry banana leaves, and ivory-shaped coat - milky white. The feathers on the neck and wings of hens often have a mixture of yellow, milky white, reddish brown, and black feathers. Hens also have combs similar to those of roosters, but they are only 1/3 as big as those of roosters.
The featherless skin areas on the chickens (both male and female) are red. Newly hatched chickens have opaque white feathers. Newly hatched chickens weigh 38-40g, feather growth is slow, when fully grown, the male weighs over 4.5kg and the female weighs over 3.5kg. The chicken meat is delicious and sweet with a large, pinkish breast, thigh muscles with bundles of muscle overlapping each other in the meat without tendons, not tough.
A Dong Tao chicken farm. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam+)
Dong Tao chickens are very picky, not used to being kept in captivity, used to running around, so the cages must be spacious so that the meat quality is delicious and firm. It takes one to one and a half years of raising in a free-range environment, eating natural feed without growth stimulants for the chickens to be able to produce meat.
Dong Tao chicken is also popular for its special aromatic meat flavor, which some people say is "like beef," and which no other chicken has.
With a Dong Tao chicken, people can prepare dozens of dishes for the Tet holiday tray such as chicken feet stewed with Chinese herbs, chicken thighs steamed with lemon leaves, chicken sausage, chicken skin mixed with rice powder, grilled sausage, chicken spring rolls, fanned chicken with sausage, chicken sausage, chicken stir-fried with chili, chicken gizzards stir-fried with beans, chicken sticky rice, chicken egg wine, fake dog meat, chicken bones stewed with vegetables...
Dong Tao chickens usually lay fewer eggs than normal chickens. Their large, clumsy feet make them very clumsy at incubating eggs. Chickens start laying eggs at 160 days old. If left to lay eggs and incubate them on their own, they can lay 70 eggs in 10 months. Egg weight is 48-55g/egg.
Currently, Dong Tao chickens are being preserved in many ways, especially through the "Preservation of livestock gene pool" program funded by the State. Many localities are having a movement to raise Dong Tao chickens because they are easy to raise and have high economic efficiency, including the largest purebred Dong Tao chicken farm in Vietnam located in Dong Tao commune, Khoai Chau district.
A Dong Tao chicken as a gift costs from 2.5 to 3 million VND/chicken. In particular, chickens with boat bodies, round legs, fleshy scales, and balanced combs will cost up to 4 to 5 million VND. Chickens that do not meet the standards for gifts are sold at a lower price, about 1 to 2 million VND/4kg chicken. A chicken with a beautiful appearance and big legs can be offered for sale for tens of millions of VND/chicken.
Every year, from the beginning of the 11th lunar month until the days before Tet, visitors from all over flock to Dong Tao commune with the desire to buy quality chickens to eat or give as gifts or to sell. Therefore, chicken farmers never fear unsold chickens, but on the contrary, chickens sell very well./.
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