My father had a medium sized poultry in Wawa, Binangonan, Rizal. I must be in high school when he decided to expand into pigs and chicken, aside from duck raising against my mother’s will.
Madaling araw pa lang gising na sya. He would already be at the farm by 5 am because chicken vendors from the nearby towns of Taytay and Angono come to our poultry to buy live chickens in bulk, and pigs too.
One afternoon, I came home from school and I saw a big sign on my parent’s store “DRESSED CHICKEN FOR SALE”. I didn’t know what dressed chicken meant. My singular mind was thinking “bakit nila bibihisan yung mga manok?”
When I entered our garage, at least 5 people were busy dumping the chickens in boiling water in a casserole almost as big as half the size of a drum. Awang-awa ako dun sa mga manok. They were removing the feathers, ginigilitan yung leeg, tapos they drained the blood.
When my mom saw me standing there she yelled “Huwag kang manood, tumulong ka”. How the heck would I be able to kill a chicken?
I didn’t kill a chicken, thank God. But I was taught how to chop it up.
This post might not be relevant to you but I am posting this for my daughter and my son, in case they find themselves living by themselves, with no maid and they bought a whole chicken from the grocery. It’s better that you know how to do it, even if you don’t have to do it. This is just a simple added knowledge. So here’s what I learned that afternoon:
Wash the whole chicken before you slice.
The first to go are the legs. Spread the legs. Ibukaka mo.
Spread it until you are able to see the joints between the legs and the hips.
Ibuka mo hanggang singit.
See that? Ganyan dapat kabukaka.
It’s very easy to slice through the singit. Don’t chop the hip bone or the leg.
Next is the wings. Same way you cut the legs. Ibuka mo rin yung pakpak till you see the joints. Sa tao ang equivalent nyan ay yung kili-kili.
All the wings of love. Can you see the joints? O dun mo sya hiwain. It’s very easy to slice thru it.
Success. Make sure you keep your fingers off the knife at baka maisama sa tinola yung daliri mo.
Cut the neck off next. There’s no joint but the neck bone is easy to cut. Hindi naman sya matigas.
O see, very easy. it can be done in 10 minutes.
The liver, gizzard and heart are separated. Put them aside. Ngayon pala they are now wrapped in plastic and placed inside the chicken.
Next, chop the body. Spread the bottom part with the breast part so you could see where to cut through.
The body could be chopped into 8 smaller pieces. The breast (4) and the ribs (4)
The photos clearly illustrate the simple process of chopping a dressed chicken.
Chicken breast
Ribs and back
You can split the leg into two parts thru the joints.
Very easy no? But it’s easier to buy cut chicken, although there’s a little premium.
While I was cooking this chicken adobo, Edmund said ang bango daw.
I served it with hot steaming rice and both husband and daughter enjoyed it. Super sarap daw. A truly nice compliment which I never expected because I haven’t cooked adobo since I was in high school. Don’t ask for a recipe because I have none. Kung anu ano lang tinalbog ko because I didn’t have the exact / complete ingredients.
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On my way to Mt. Tagapo in your town, I happen to talk to some of your kababayan who knows your family. In this article of yours I surmise that the motivation for your father to work hard is that he had many families. I was told that yours is the second family. That the granddaughter of your father in his first family is a doctor holding her clinic right in the town plaza itself.