How to cut chicken for Doro wot

How to cut chicken for Doro wot

Hi food enthusiasts! Today, we’re diving into Ethiopian cuisine and discovering how to slice a chicken into 12 pieces for the official Ethiopian dish, doro wot. Doro wot is a flavorsome stew made with succulent chicken and fragrant spices. It’s often accompanied by a sourdough flatbread known as injera.

While most recipes online suggest using chicken thighs or drumsticks, the traditional way of preparing the dish involves using a whole chicken sliced into 12 pieces. These pieces represent the 12 apostles of Jesus from the Bible.

In my experience, Doro wot isn’t complete without the whole chicken divided into 12 pieces. This step is crucial to allow the right flavors to soak in and shorten the cooking time. Slicing a chicken into 12 pieces might need some practice, but it’s not challenging.

Choosing the right chicken for you Doro wot

The key to making a truly delicious Doro Wot is choosing the right chicken. Using the right chicken can take your dish from just okay to absolutely amazing. Choosing the right chicken is crucial for getting the desired taste and texture for Doro Wot. Trust me; you don’t want to settle for less!

Throughout my time living in the United States, I have experimented with various chicken spices while preparing authentic Doro wot. However, I have yet to find any chicken suitable for Doro wot, apart from stewing hen.

Stewing hens, also known as retired hens, are female chickens that have stopped laying eggs and lived their full life. They have hard, chewy meat and require more time to cook than younger hens. But don’t worry! These hens add a lot of flavors to your broth. The meat is full of connective tissue that can support gut, joint, and brain health. Their bones are filled with minerals that help restore our blood and bones. Moreover, using stewing hens is an eco-friendly choice as it prevents you from throwing them away. So, next time you go grocery shopping, ask for stewing hens or look for them in local farms and specialty stores. Trust me; you won’t regret it!

Now, where to find these hens might be your next question. First, check out local farms around you. You’ll be amazed at the number of small farms that raise meat chickens and sell them to local markets. If you can’t find any nearby, don’t worry. Specialty stores that sell fresh meat and produce could have more options for you. If you can’t find anything still, go online and order stewing hens from trusted sources. Nonetheless, ensure you read customer reviews before placing an order. That’s it, friends! Don’t hesitate to discover the perfect stewing hens for your savory broth. Happy hunting!

How to cut the hen into 12 pieces

Now that we have identified the chicken to use for making Doro wot, let’s proceed to learn how to cut it into twelve pieces with my step-by-step guide. Get your knives ready, and let’s start!

Cut the feet, always look or feel for the joints for an easy cut.
Remove the head
Cut the wings leaving the bottom part
cut at the joint.
Remove the skin and keep it aside to use it for broth instead of water. This will enhance the taste of your dish.
Cut the butt lol I couldn’t find any other name.
flip the legs towards the back for an easy and precise cut.
now you are ready cut the legs.
make sure you cut all the meat alongside the joints.
next is melalachas which are the side breasts, cut on the solder right at the joint
Cut through about 3 inches in make sure you cut the veins for an easy peel of the breast.

when you pull the breast make sure you pull it towards the front part of breast for clean peel. As Showen in the picture.

not it is time to part the front part of the breast, start with cutting apart the bone that holds the front breast with the back of the hen.
cut both of them but not all the way just enough for you to pull the back and front apart, then pull them apart.
there is your feresegna. Does it look like a horse rider? that is what it means.
cut the neck into 3 pieces.
finally cut the back into two. This is extra but it will help your Doro wot with the flavor form the bones.

Cleaning and shaping

cut the lower part of the bone from the feresegna as shown in the picture.
part the leg and drumstick right at the joint.
marinate with salt, lemon, vinegar and water for 3 hours or overnight. Then rinse for 3 to 4 times until your water is clean of blood.

Here is Video on How to cut your chicken.

Your 12 pieces of meat are are ready for your doro wot. To ensure consistent cooking and to enhance the meat’s flavor with the sauce, simply make small cuts in the meat.

one thing I forgot to take a picture is to cut the very pointy tip of the wing. And make sure there is no hair.

For my Step-by-Step Authentic Doro Wot recipe click here

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