Chicken In the Box (revised)

BY ALAN LIN
The chickens in the heated boxes invite everyone to catch their taste.

Within the short brick oven, fire rages around the steel boxes. Located in Jiouchiunghu, Sinpu (Hsinchu County), the chickens hung in the boxes draw tourists here to taste their wonderful flavor. On holidays, a lot of hikers stand in a line to have a roast chicken as their “reward” after the long walk in the adjacent hills.


At irregular intervals, the cook would add some wood into the fire to keep it burning fiercely, and thus give chickens a special wooden fragrance. Some people may well ask what makes chickens here so special, as Tungtzu chickens are roasted in steel barrels as well. Indeed, both kinds share similar roasting ways; yet, if we say that Tungtzu chickens smell more pleasant than roast chickens by electric ovens, we could further say that roast chickens here have their succulent flavor reserved. The heated steel boxes allow the chickens inside to be fully cooked, and improve their savor. Besides, chickens here derive their refreshing aroma partly from Hakka preserved vegetables stuffed in their bellies, which are rarely seen in non-Hakka villages.



As the chicken is ready, the cook would not chop it into pieces but serve the chicken as a whole in a pot. At this moment, just forget your knife and fork at home and simply use your hands to enjoy the meal: It is no time for table manners!