Mouthing Off

Chicken skin: never mind should I eat it, do I want to? That depends how it’s cooked

You either hate or love chicken skin, whether it’s on a crispy fried drumstick, a sauce-coated wing or a soggy chicken’s foot

Andrew Sun shares his thoughts on chicken skin’s various incarnations, and its health-giving properties

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A plate of grilled chicken with crispy skin – the kind columnist Andrew Sun likes, as opposed to the rubbery kind in soups and Hainan chicken. Photo: Shutterstock

Andrew Sun has dabbled in many shades of the media spectrum for 25 years, from college radio, TV, print and online columnist to starting film festivals, managing music labels and authoring food books.

Published: 7:45am, 4 May 2023

Who doesn’t love a little skin. Yeah, baby! But some of us like it a little more than others.

I’m talking about chicken skin, of course. Who can resist the crispy, salty layer on a nicely battered Southern fried thigh, the gorgeous mahogany canvas of a roasted breast or some sweet and spicy pieces of lacquered Korean fried chicken.

It’s so irresistible, my former editor Susan Jung left her Post gig to write a whole book on the subject: Kung Pao and Beyond: Fried Chicken Recipes from East and Southeast Asia.

However, not everyone enjoys it so much. It used to be common to see health-obsessed folks peel off the tastiest part of their poultry entrée. I remember a friend did that when we went for roast duck noodles.

Hong Kong noodle soup with duck. Do you eat the skin? Photo: Shutterstock

This person, not even on a diet, ripped off the succulent red skin and placed it on the side of the plate. I was mightily tempted to say, “Can I have that”?