Alhamdullilah, recently, fresh chickens are being imported again from Malaysia, albeit at raised prices, after the export ban in June 2022. Interestingly, before the ban, one-third of Singapore’s fresh chicken supplies came from Malaysia. That is a lot of chickens! And we probably took for granted that they would always be ready on our plates as food.
Sometimes, I wonder whether our young have really seen a live chicken and prepared it as food. For some, the sight of live chickens, let alone having to hold and touch them, would be a challenge.
“Eeee…! Geli aku!” they may say in Malay.
“Will it bite or peck?”
“Will it scratch me?”
“Does it smell?”
And many other concerns.
What if I tell you that, there is a way to overcome those fears? Read on.
Where can we get live chickens?
In Singapore, those days when you could actually see live chickens at the wet market were over. Nowadays, you would only see fresh, de-feathered, gutted, cut and cleaned chickens in the markets.
Before the advent of Avian Flu and H5N1, we could still get live chickens locally from the egg-producing farms in Singapore. However, I would not recommend it.
It was during one of the Saff-Perdaus camps at that time. The chickens were old and ready to retire from their egg-laying days. Eating one of those chickens was like eating a plank of wood!
We actually came across another farm before the egg farm. The funny thing was that, we saw and heard chickens in the farm, so we told the owner that we wanted to buy some chickens. When he asked what it was for, we told him we were buying them to learn how to slaughter them for food. He went in and upon coming out, told us that the chickens were not for sale. That was when we realised that the farm was for pet animals!
For some of our past programs held in Malaysia, we got the participants to purchase the live chickens in town and carry them as they walked to the campsite. They needed to ensure that the chicken was fed along the way and kept alive until they were ready for the next step.
Overcoming Fear
Chicken slaughtering is part of confidence-building and understanding the fiqh of eating and drinking. How do we determine the halal status of what we eat? What does it mean by slaughtering the halal way?
Our reference book was “The Lawful and The Prohibited in Islam”, written by the late Syeikh Dr Yusuf Al-Qardhawi. The techniques of chicken slaughtering are actually simple yet meticulous.
The underlying spirit behind the preparation is Ihsan, which means excellence as well as compassion. As Islam is a way of life, all actions will be considered a form of Ibadah (worship) to Allah s.w.t., if done for His sake. Knowledge is key to understanding the Ibadah.
Here are what our youth participants went through in slaughtering live chickens in some of our programs in the past:
Part One – The Location
In the jungle or campsite, we had to ensure that the slaughter/food preparation areas were away from the sleeping area. This was to avoid wild animals which might come and forage the blood-stained areas. The positions for the holding of live chickens, slaughtering, gutting and cutting were also distanced from one another. The live chickens’ view was blocked off from the slaughtering and gutting/cutting areas, as part of our efforts to be compassionate towards the chickens.
At the slaughtering area, a small hole was dug up for the blood and a separate area was also prepared to let the slaughtered chickens bleed out.
At the de-skinning/gutting area, a strong rope or string was tied between trees where we would tie the legs of the slaughtered chickens and let them hang upside-down for de-skinning/gutting. A black rubbish bag was placed on the ground to contain the innards and unused parts of the chickens.
The cooking area was also away from the chicken preparation area to maintain a certain level of hygiene.
Part Two – The Slaughter
Slaughtering chickens can be done individually. But we used to have two participants, one to hold the chicken while the other to do the slaughtering. The one who was holding the chicken would need to calm and comfort the live chicken. The one who was slaughtering would need to ensure the knife to be used was as sharp as possible. He/she would also need to know and feel the two carotid arteries at the chicken’s neck. The name of Allah s.w.t. is invoked before the two carotid arteries were severed completely to ensure a humane, rapid death through slaughter.
Part Three – Post-Slaughter
In a jungle-camping setting, we chose de-skinning rather than de-feathering as it was the most efficient way to prepare the chicken. Shallow incisions were made from the chicken feet to the mid-section, and the skin was pulled down and stripped from the flesh. Then, the innards were removed carefully without bursting the gallbladder to prevent it from affecting the flesh (the taste would be bitter). Usually, we would not cut the chicken into smaller parts. Instead, we would cook it whole.
Part Four – Cooking
Cooking was the second-most exciting part next to eating. Cooking was easy but starting a fire was not. One could roast it, boil it, fry it or bake it – as long as it involves fire. So, no sashimi method, please. We could choose whichever technique, depending on how hungry we were at that time! My favorite was roasting over fire or frying it in either Coke or Sprite. I guess sharing recipes shall be for some other opportunity.
By now, you would have some insights on how and what it takes to prepare chicken as food, right from the start. But, it does not beat doing it hands-on. Perhaps, such experiences can now be offered again in our programs in the future.
Just don’t chicken out!
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the articles on The Ocean’s Ink are the authors’ own, written in their personal capacity. They may not reflect the view of The Ocean’s Ink or IMSGP as an organisation.