Why do Chinese cut chicken across the bone?

By this I mean, many Chinese recipes, particularly restaurants on the mainland, leave the bone in the chicken and cut the meat across the bone, so that shards and pieces of bones and cartilage are in every bite. This makes it hard to eat, even more so with chopsticks, because you have to tongue and tooth the meat off the bone and spit out the inedible. It can't be because of frugality (like chicken feet or thousand year eggs probably began as) because a lot of the meat is wasted and spat out with the bone. Is it something to do with marrow, like chicken-bone marrow gives you a long and glorious life?Why do Chinese cut chicken across the bone?
I believe in Chinese culture, serving the whole chicken including the head and feet represents two things...



1. You are getting what you ordered.

2. It has to do with superstition and luck... foods represent something symbolic... so you don't want any of your luck missing so the chicken is served with everything attached.



In regards to bone shards, the person who cut up the chicken has terrible knife skills. I've eaten at many Chinese restaurants and had no problems with bone shards.... Sure a piece here and there, but you're not spitting out the whole bite.



Also, maybe you're putting too much in your mouth at once if you're spitting out a lot of meat.Why do Chinese cut chicken across the bone?
I think cutting up the bones is supposed to give more flavor to the dish. I never cook it that way myself. I prefer to work harder in the kitchen and relax in the dining room.Why do Chinese cut chicken across the bone?
The Chinese are naturally thrifty %26amp; believe in making full use of everything. Even if the chicken was de-boned, the carcass (including head, neck %26amp; feet) is prized for making soups. For stewed chicken dishes, leaving the bone in does add to the robustness of the stew by enriching the gravy. For stir-frys, it's usually a matter of economy as it bulks up the dish, they would need to use a lot more meat if only using boneless chicken.



I would say it's an exception rather than the norm to have bits of bone in almost every bite. Unless the restaurant is a really small one, the chefs only do the cooking while the ingredients are prepared by kitchen hands or apprentices. So maybe someone has unusually bad chopping skills, was too rushed for time or his cleaver was not sharp enough. Even home cooks with an authentic Chinese cleaver %26amp; enough experience can chop up a chicken cleanly with minimal bone splinters.



Again, Chinese people are perhaps too used to Chinese-style chopped chicken to even notice any bone pieces, subconsciously the tongue %26amp; mouth just knows how to dexterously manage, same thing with fish bones. You'll be amazed at how cleanly Asians can strip the meat from the bone inside their mouths, even with awkwardly shaped bone pieces that only have slivers of meat left in hidden crevices.



I've never heard of any superstitions related to serving chicken pieces with bone intact. Actually a major concept in Chinese food is symbolism, which is not quite the same as superstition. For example serving cooked chicken by 're-assemblying' the chopped pieces, together with the head, butt %26amp; feet; this is to symbolise completeness %26amp; during Chinese New Year (time of family reunion) to signify family unity %26amp; desire for a good start and end for the new year ahead.

auto salvage