Before we get into the details of the actual boning process, a small overview of is important. Americans today focus on using white meat in a lot of their preparations. Of course the primary reason being is because it contains less saturated fat. Red meat however, tastes better and it is for this reason that Chinese preparations utilize both dark and white meat, hence, combining quality nutrition with good taste.

Essential to the boning process are the tools that you’ll utilize. After all, the best tools give the best results. A Chinese cleaver is the tool for boning a chicken. In addition it is a multipurpose utensil that remains unbeaten in cooking. The sharp edge of the cleaver is used for cutting while the blunt top edge is used to pound and tenderize meat. A high carbon stainless steel cleaver should last long enough before it needs sharpening.

Initially boning a chicken may seem a tedious task. But once you get an idea of the bone structure and technique, you’ll be ready to cut through with no effort. De-boning a chicken at home is economically cheaper as opposed to buying store products. The bone and skin left after the process can be used to create your own chicken stock.

  1. Place the chicken on your cutting board lying on its front. Extend the wings out and use a cleaver to detach the wings from the breast joint. Place the wings aside or freeze them for later use.
  2. Make a slit through the skin, along the length of the spine. Hold the skin firmly and pull away from the meat. Place the skin aside or freeze it for later use.
  3. Hold the leg and twist it away from the body to have the thigh bone come out. Use the cleaver to cut between the body and the leg-thigh joint. Then, cut around the joint to detach the leg-thigh portion. Repeat the same procedure for the other leg-thigh portion.
  4. What remains now is the breast portion only. Start by making a slit along the wish bone across the length of the breast.
  5. Hold the breast and gently slice it away from the body.
  6. Gouge out the cavity near the wish bone and pull out the remaining tender portion. Repeat the same for the other breast portion.
  7. Start boning the detached leg-thigh portions. Place the leg-thigh portion with leg facing away from you. Using a cleaver, make a slit along the leg-thigh end through the meat deep enough to expose the leg bone.
  8. Now, slit through, exposing the thigh bone.
  9. Cut around the ball end of the leg, cutting loose the tough tendons. Then, cut around the leg bone to separate the meat form the bone.
  10. Cut around the thigh bone, again separating the meat from the bone. Cut off the bone cap attached at the bottom part of the leg-thigh meat. Repeat the same for the other leg-thigh portion.
  11. Chop the bone left into pieces for stock preparation.