Thursday, February 26, 2015

The Wet Market Chicken Stall

"Visit a local market" is an oft heard piece of advice when traveling internationally. It's a great way to take a peek into the daily life a local. For many visitors to Penang's Pulau Tikus Wet Market, also known as "The Rich Wives Market," the tour starts off pleasantly enough. The din of hundreds of customers and vendors echoes through the air, and there are plenty of exotic fruits and vegetables to ooh and ahh over. The fragrant, vividly hued blooms at the flower stall just beg to be photographed. Everyone is having a jolly good time.

Then....they come upon the chicken stall.

A chicken is weighed before being slaughtered.

For anyone who does all their shopping at a grocery store, the chicken stall is an eye-opener. If you're used to getting your chicken out of a refrigerated case on a styrofoam tray neatly wrapped in plastic film, the wet market chicken stall hits you over the head with the reality of how chickens end up on the plate in Penang. This realization left one visitor I was with standing there stunned with her mouth hanging wide open and a look of abject horror in her eyes. (Don't worry. No bloody photos ahead.)

There was something extra tragic about a living, breathing bird being weighed on a scale surrounded by members of his flock who had only recently been bled out and plucked. Did she fathom that she was about to share their fate?

Delivery trucks make their way around Penang daily with cages of live chickens piled high in the back. They drop off the live animals at markets and restaurants around the city. 

Chicken delivery man

Caged chickens

I'll leave it up to your imagination to conjure up what it smelled like next to this truck.

The chickens are slaughtered and processed right before being sold. You can pick out which live chicken you want, and it's weighed feathers and all. Some rare customers prefer a hands-on approach and step into the back to finish off the chicken themselves.

Other customers choose a chicken that's already processed and lying on the table. Nothing is refrigerated, chilled, or even kept on ice. I think that was the biggest culture shock for me. You can point at which pieces you want or select them by hand yourself. If you don't want the head or feet on your whole chicken, just let the chicken man know so he can take them off. You'll still be charged for those parts, though.

Freshly processed chicken

A handy bucket of water sits on the ground for you to swish your fingers around in to rinse off the raw chicken juices. The person who puts your chicken in the bag is also the same one to handle all the money. Here's your change. Don't pay attention to the damp, raw chicken juice on the bills. You get used to it after a while, and it no longer seems strange.

At Pulau Tikus Wet Market, you can purchase black chickens which are said to have great restorative properties when cooked in a Chinese herbal soup. Everything about the chicken is black — the skin, the meat, the organs and even the bones. It's special breed and has nothing to do with what the bird is fed or how it's processed. 


Black chicken

On a parting note, here's a photo of the flock of stray chickens that hung out next to our school parking lot. You read that right... stray chickens.



This post is part of the following link-ups. Check them out for more around-the-world travel inspiration.


28 comments:

  1. I didn't know about black chickens...

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  2. Great post! My parents grew chickens so as a child I got to experience -- hands on -- the experience of fresh chickens. To this day chicken isn't one of my favorite food items and the smell you described, lets just say I remember it well!

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  3. Okay, I love a market...even, I must say, a chicken market. I think it's great they are so fresh. It doesn't bother me at all. Actually, it makes me hungry just thinking about it. Great post Michele!

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  4. this is just informative. reminds me of the local scenario we have here.
    what a coincidence though, we just had one the other day.
    well, my granny used to make the most delicious herbal Sibot soup. ^0^
    nowadays, we just buy one from a local chinese resto,

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  5. Awesome post, Michele! A few seasons ago on Top Chef (one of my fav cooking shows) one of the chefs made a black chicken dish for Charlize Theron. It looked amazing and was a winning dish if I remember right. Being an animal lover I do not like to see animals being slaughtered. Now, that said, I constantly remind myself also to NOT be a hypocrite because I eat animal products. In this case chicken. You talked about the bills being wet during the money exchange...is that safe?? I mean as far as contamination, etc? I love posts like this that are real world. I hope you, your honey and the kids are doing great my friend! :)

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    1. I'm sure the bills are contaminated. I try not to think about it and to use those bills to pay the next person so that they never go into my wallet.

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  6. Hi Michelle, oh my gosh, your post just reminded seeing a chicken being slaughtered in a relative's backyard while I was growing up in the Philippines. I was horrified! It's so interesting that people in this market can actually pick live chicken and have them finished right on the scene. I didn't know that there's such a thing a black chicken! Have you tried them? I wonder if they taste much different than the regular chicken - not that I eat then anymore; I'm just curious.

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    1. I hear that the black chickens taste about the same as regular chickens. Your story reminded me of the time my mom had to slaughter a chicken in the Philippines because the maid who usually did it was gone that day. I think I would freak out.

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  7. Now the question is since you're back in the States - do you miss shopping like this? I think - despite the gory part - that there is something to understanding where your meal comes from.
    Did you ever hear of people getting sick because of unrefrigerated chicken?

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    1. Yes, there's definitely something to be said about knowing where your food comes from. I'm going to have to admit that I like the ease and convenience of grabbing the pre-processed chicken from a refrigerated shelf. It's mainly because I like doing my shopping in the afternoon, and these types of markets are typically morning only. Surprisingly, I never heard of anyone getting food poisoning from the unrefrigerated chickens.

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  8. I love visiting local markets but I can't say I've ever seen anything quite like this! Thanks for linking up to the #WeekendWanderlust :)

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  9. Here in Singapore,we visit wet markets and buy chicken,but they are already slaughtered,processed and ready for sale.Only difference is that they are not packed in foam plates as found in super markets.I've seen black chicken here too,but haven't tasted.
    Although I am a non-veg,it is pity to see live chicken in cages.
    Amila @leisureandme.com
    #WeekendWanderlust

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  10. You know what I think. I think we all need to stop being so SHOCKED that MEAT comes from animals. I think that there is something rather honorable about the people who step in the back to finish off their chickens!! Why are these animals good enough to eat but not good enough to slaughter? It is like all things in the modern world, we want pretty without the pain. People want real leather, but won't accept how it is created.

    This was an eye opening experience indeed and thank you for sharing. A refreshing reminder that in the rest of the world people are not shocked by mundane things and probably have a much better appreciation for everything that goes into their mouths.

    I'm just catching up on your blog today, and as usual you give me so much fresh perspective and food for thought.

    #weekendWanderlust - please come by!

    Angie from reasons to dress

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  11. I think it's a good thing to be very aware of how meat ends up on your table. You tend to have more respect for and interest in where it comes from, how it's handled, etc. you take it less for granted. And I love wet markets in Asia, smells and all.

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  12. I am aware of how chicken ends up on my plate, but this still made me sad. I don't want to be too hypocritical though because I eat a lot of chicken. Luckily, I haven't seen live chicken stalls yet in my travels in Southeast Asia. I don't think I can stomach seeing live chickens getting killed in front of my eyes. :( I have however bought chicken at a market/grocery stall before and had my change handed to me with chicken juice all over it. It really amuses me that it's not a concern in this part of the world!

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  13. Oh my goodness, when you see the live chicken being weighed, you really make the connection between the bird and the meat!

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  14. A black chicken!!!! WOW, I had zero idea that was possible.

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  15. I went to this market with Pearly. We definitely did not see this. Chicken at any market in Asia makes my stomach lurch. I would never buy it from a wet market. We have black chickens here in Korea, too. They're the most expensive. I've eaten them in restaurants and really don't think they taste any different than regular chicken. Thanks for linking up this week. #TPThursday

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  16. I love wet markets, although I prefer fruits and vegetables rather than raw meat.
    Happy travels and have a great week.

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  17. A black chicken!!! I've never heard of such a thing, how fascinating! You know, we have some of these live chicken marts right here in NYC (upper Manhattan and the Bronx--seems to be super popular with certain immigrant population!) I've walked by but never been inside:-)

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  18. I love going to local markets on man of my travels but this is certainly an experience I haven't had! Funnily enough, the thing that I would find it hardest to get used to, even though it doesn't seem to be a big deal out there from what you've described, would be the whole raw chicken juice all over things and handling notes covered in it etc. I'm sure you get used to it after a while but I know it certainly would take me a bit of time!

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  19. Well that's fascinating.

    I'm interested in what makes a wet market 'wet', or rather, are there also dry markets and how are they different?

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    1. Wet markets usually keep their fish on ice which melts and makes puddles that customers end up walking through. As the market closes down, stall owners splash water on the tables to rinse them off, and that causes a lot of puddles, too.

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  20. It's very interesting to learn about how the wet markets work but I think I prefer not knowing where my food comes from - it makes me feel a little better not connecting the dots! ;)

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  21. This post brings back some childhood memories of seeing chickens being slaughtered in the Philippines. It's a bit sad but I'd be more concerned with the same hands touching the chicken and money consecutively. This would be such an interesting visit. Although, it may tun me off chicken for awhile. Wow...never heard of black chicken before.

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  22. I think in the west, we're so far removed from the food chain and the process of how food gets to the grocery store that it really can be such a huge shock. I think a lot of people would think twice about their meat consumption if they had to see an animal being butchered before them or even have to do it themselves. It's important to know where your food comes from.

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  23. Well, at least you never have to wonder if your chicken is fresh - right? Poor chickens. I'd much prefer not seeing my food alive before it makes its way to my plate - lol. This reminds me of buying chickens in Jave's hometown in Jamaica. His neighbor actually has a chicken coop and runs a small grocery out of the front of her house. Customers just come by and pick which chicken they want and she slaughters them in the backyard. I love these kinds of cultural nuances that travel sheds light on.

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