How to Cut a Whole Chicken Chinese-Style

Step 1: Remove the head and neck.

1. Place the chicken on the cutting board. Cut off the neck where it meets the body of the chicken, and cut off the head (if attached). Put on one side of the platter. This is decorative and symbolic, but you can simply discard it if you prefer. Set the neck aside.

Step 2: Remove and trim the chicken feet.

1. Cut off the feet at the joint where the drumstick ends. If you have chicken feet lovers, trim off the nails and place them on the platter, alongside the head if you have it. Elders love chicken feet, but if you have no takers, save it for chicken stock. 

Step 3: Split the chicken in half.

1. With the chicken breast-side up, split it in half. When your knife pushes through to the back of the chicken, cut one half off of the side of the backbone, cutting straight through the length of the chicken, leaving the tail intact.
2. Next, cut the middle backbone lengthwise up through the neck, and you’ll have three pieces, as shown. Two halves, and the backbone with the tail on one end and the neck on the other. If you prefer, you can use sharp kitchen shears instead of a cleaver for this step.

Step 4: Trim the neck, back bone, and tail pieces.

1. I usually cut the neck pieces and backbone, place them in the middle of the plate, and pile the nicer pieces of the chicken on top, with the tail at the side of the platter opposite the head. You can also save all these pieces for chicken stock instead.

Step 5: Separate the thighs and drumsticks.

1. Next, take one of the chicken halves, and make a cut in the skin attaching the thigh to the breast. Fold the thigh and drumstick backwards, and it will almost separate itself. Use the cleaver to cut through the cartilage that attaches the thigh to the body.
2. Separate the drumstick and the thigh by cutting through the cartilage at the joint. If you have a small family or young kids, you may want to leave the whole drumsticks intact on the serving plate. Otherwise use some solid strokes with the cleaver to cut each drumstick into halves on a slight angle/diagonal. Do the same to cut the thighs into ¾-inch pieces.
3. Keep the cut thigh and drumstick pieces together, and place them on the lower end of the plate

Step 5: Cut the wings.

1. Next, cut off both whole wings at the joint where the drumette meets the body of the chicken. Next, cut each wing into three pieces: the flat, the drumette, and the wing tip. Place the pieces on one side near the top of the plate where the head is.

Step 6: Cut the breast.

1. Make a lengthwise cut to separate the rib from the breast, and cut each into 3/4-inch wide pieces. Keep the pieces together as best you can, lifting them off the cutting board with your cleaver and onto the plate.