Silkie Chickens and Voodoo Props

On impulse, I bought a Silkie chicken and brought it home. I wasn't prepared for the reception it received from my mom! She is used to chickens being light colored and plump, not gray and scrawny.


I explained that it was just a different type of chicken and she would love it. I left it on the counter to thaw. Suddenly a scream pierced the silence as I was reading in another room.


I found my mother standing by the counter staring at the chicken in disgust. "That chicken still has its head on," she informed me. I shifted the chicken to see the head, and I found that it also had its feet on, long toenails and all! This was not something that my mother was used to seeing in a kitchen. She was not about to eat this "beast" because it reminded her of props used in voodoo ceremonies to put curses on people. 

I knew I had to do something with it...and fast. I cut the head and feet off of the chicken and put them in a bag in the outside garbage to spare my mother from seeing them again. I then cut the legs and wings off of the bird, and cut the rest into small pieces.


I found a recipe for braised Silkie chicken with shallot and onion, and altered it a bit since I didn't have all of the ingredients...and I had to quickly use the meat.


I cooked the bird as specified in the recipe, except I did not have oyster sauce and cilantro. Instead, I added a bit of sesame oils and sesame seeds. As you can see in the picture below, the meat is grayish pink before being cooked. I then sat down by myself to eat my "voodoo chicken." I enjoyed it quite a bit. You can see the finished product in the picture at the top.

I read that Silkie chickens have a gamy taste, and they are tough and stringy. I believe cooking it in a strongly flavored sauce helped the gaminess. Additionally, it was probably tender because I cooked it in chicken stock at a relatively low temperature for a long period of time.


Since I couldn't convince others to partake of this unusual dish, I had a lot left over. It will make nice lunches for the week ahead though.


According to the New York Times, Silkie chickens are becoming more common in grocery stores. In Asian households it has been traditional to make stews with these chickens. I imagine that these stews  are fantastic, but I probably will not try one until I can convince my family that they really are good and healthy. Well at least it was an interesting experiment!