Wuding Chicken 武定壮鸡

Wuding Chicken (武定壮鸡) is a specialty of Wuding County (武定县). A July 2021 Yunnan Net (云南网) report describes a ten-month raising cycle for castrated Wuding chickens and their place as substantial festival food or gifts when visiting relatives and friends.

A long raising cycle

Yunnan Net profiles breeder Hu Jianmei (胡建梅) in Maojie Town (猫街镇), who raises Wuding chickens under trees. It describes the meat from her birds as fine and firm. The specialty is associated with the county’s chicken breed, local environment and raising practices.

Chicken and wild mushrooms

Wild-mushroom season brings a surge in demand for the birds. In 2021, Yunnan Net counted more than thirty restaurants serving wild-mushroom Wuding chicken soup pots on the county town’s specialty food street. Restaurants featuring Wuding chicken had also expanded to Chuxiong (楚雄) and Kunming (昆明). At home, Yunnan Net describes the bird as an occasional festive purchase rather than an everyday menu item.