Chicken served to guests

(Baonghean)Underneath the floor of traditional Thai houses in Nghe An, there was always a chicken coop (loc cay), located directly beneath the fireplace frame. This coop served as a night shelter for about twenty to thirty chickens, both large and small. The coop was enclosed with bamboo, had a small door for the chickens to enter and exit, and was also closed at night to prevent foxes and weasels from catching them. The nests where the chickens laid and incubated eggs were placed in the upper part of the coop, at head height.

Chicken is the main dish in the Thai offering meal.

On occasions when distinguished guests, strangers from afar, or relatives visit, if the family has the means to raise chickens at home, the Thai people will slaughter one of the chickens to treat the guests. At noon, because the entire flock of chickens is allowed to roam freely and forage, catching them is quite difficult. Using a crossbow to shoot chickens for guests is considered taboo. At dusk, to catch a chicken, one simply calls them all back to the coop to feed them, after which they all return to the coop, allowing one to choose whichever one they want. When catching, a net is extended through the coop door, the desired chicken is caught, and then pulled out. In some cases, about a dozen young chickens are selected and kept in a raised platform, called "cay cam nhang." With this method of confinement, the chickens can be slaughtered whenever desired.

Knowing that guests often feel apprehensive about preparing meals, when slaughtering a chicken for guests, people usually do it quickly and efficiently, and the key is to avoid the chicken squawking loudly... Before plucking the chicken's feathers, they use a small branch or twig to hit the chicken on the head to kill it, not to cut its throat, before dipping it into a pot of boiling water, prepared for plucking. For the Thai people, slaughtering a chicken is in accordance with the will of Heaven because it is necessary and expressed with a heart of "love." Therefore, before slaughtering a chicken, the Thai people will let it know that they need to do so, not out of malice or hatred. Using their left hand, they firmly grasp both legs and both wings of the chicken and say aloud to it: "I kill you today, so you will come back to me tomorrow!" It is necessary to say this so that the "spirit" of the chicken can feel the owner's love, and later its spirit will be reincarnated, and the owner's chicken farming will continue to thrive normally.

According to the Thai people's concept of life, death, and reincarnation, when a person dies, their body returns to the earth, and their soul ascends to the heavenly realm to the dwelling place of their ancestors. When the opportunity arises, they will be reborn… Similarly, when an animal dies, its “soul” also “ascends to Heaven” to be reborn as an animal again. In Thai legends, there are also stories about the “commitments” of buffaloes, cows, chickens, and ducks… when they ask permission from Heaven to descend to Earth, with the purpose of serving humans, because Heaven has ordained humans to be the center of development for all living things. Accordingly, chickens and ducks voluntarily “sacrifice” themselves to become delicious dishes for hosts to entertain guests, as well as to become “sacrificial animals” in ancestral worship ceremonies and rituals.

Since guests are being entertained in the main room of the stilt house, plucking and butchering the chicken is done in the back room or right next to the fireplace. If the chicken slaughter is accompanied by a ritual offering, the neck, head, and thigh joints are slit and the whole chicken is boiled. For cooking, the chicken meat is chopped into pieces to be prepared as desired. Whether boiled or stewed, the two chicken thighs are always reserved for the children in the house...

Sam Van Binh

Yen Luom, Chau Quang, Quy Hop