How to Poach Chicken for Mexican Dishes

Chicken tacos

Shredded chicken is a versatile ingredient for Mexican recipes. It's an easy thing to make, especially if you have a Crockpot. Once you finish, you have meat for tacos, salads, burritos, enchiladas and soups. Poached chicken can even be used as a filling for chiles rellenos. A bonus is the delicious broth you'll have when you're done. Use the broth for part of your sauce or as the base for tortilla soup or caldo de pollo.

Things You'll Need

• Chicken (whole or in pieces)
• Pot deep enough to hold the chicken
• Liquid to cover the chicken
• Flavoring fruits and vegetables (your choice)
• Flavoring herbs and spices (your choice)

Instructions

How to Poach Chicken for Mexican Dishes

1. Rinse your chicken. Trim any hanging pieces of skin or fat, but don't skin the chicken before poaching. Make sure you remove the bag of giblets and neck if you're using a whole bird.

2. Put your rinsed, trimmed chicken into the pot.

3. Add any flavoring vegetables or fruits that appeal to you. Add them to the cavity or in between the pieces or around the perimeter of the bird. The standard is onion, celery and carrot, but you'll also want to add a whole chile or two and citrus juice and pieces. These are things that will add flavor to the chicken, then be discarded or liquified as part of a gravy or sauce.

4. Add any herbs or spices that strike your fancy. Mexican classics are oregano, bay, epazote para comida, cinnamon and cloves. Citrus peel is a great addition. You may want to use a chipotle pepper or two and maybe some of the sauce. Don't forget pepper and salt if you can use it.

5. Fill the pot with water (or other liquid) to cover the chicken. Water is the usual, but you can also use tequila for part of the liquid. You can also add fruit juice. You can even use chicken stock or broth to end up with a double-flavored broth.

6. Cook, barely simmering, until chicken is thoroughly cooked and pulling away from the bones. Allow to cool in the broth, then remove the meat from the bones and skin. Remove the fat from the top of the broth.

Tips & Warnings

• The best way to do this is overnight or all day in a Crockpot. Put it together, turn it on low and let it cook.

• On a stove top, allow about two hours on a low flame for a whole bird or about an hour for pieces.

• Once you've disassembled the bird, you can put the meat in one freezer bag and the broth in another. Freeze the broth flat and you'll have it on hand in an easy-to-store form. You can also freeze the broth in ice cube trays, then store the cubes in a bag.

• Don't let animals get hold of the cooked chicken bones. They can splinter and be fatal to dogs and cats and others.

• Use caution and gloves when handling chiles. Whatever you do, don't touch your face, eyes or any sensitive skin after working with chiles.